welcome to "prime weekend." i'm nicole wallace and let's get right to the week's top stories. threats and intimidation leading to doxxing and s.w.a.t.ing apparently. not enough to satiate donald trump and his maga accolytes. of course that was for concealing hush money payments to a porn star and it was meant to hide that information from the american voter ahead of the 2016. now trump allies are propertying their revenge and their retaliation against the people who have had the audacity to hold the ex- president accountable. of course all this happens at the expense of the rule of law. basic decency and our very democracy. "new york times" out today with quote, within hours of a jury finding trump guilty last week, the anger congealed into calls for action. since then prominent gop leaders and out of government have demanded that elected republicans use every available instrument of power against democrats. including targeted investigations and prosecutions. here's how trump henchman steven miller puts it. >> is every house committee controlled by republicans? using its subpoena power in every way it needs to right now? with every republican da starting every investigation they need to right now? the every donor off the sidelines in the game that big dollar guys the rich guys and wealthy guys? every facet of republican party politics and power has to be used right now to go toe to toe with marxism and beat these communists. >> i could barely hear what he's saying. maybe he knows. i don't know. i don't know. echoing miller's tirade, trump's comrades in arms in the january 6th insurrection steve bannon, has said this to the "new york times" quote, bannon said in a text message to thetimes on tuesday that now is the moment for obscure republican prosecutors, around the country to make a name for themselves while prosecuting democrats. there are dozens who need to seize the day and own this moment in history bannon wrote. threats of revenge are of course nothing new. it's actually the oldest trump story i have covered. team trump has been calling for hillary clinton to be investigated and prosecuted for nearly decade for special prosecutor to go after president joe biden for years. it's all part and parcel of trump's brand and of his political movement. he also now is a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. not anything resembling a public servant. but the fur rye in the wake of trump's criminal conviction is new. and we should pay attention. "new york times" says quote the intensity of anger and open desire for using the criminal justice system against democrats after the verdict surpasses anything seen before in trump's tumultuous years in national politics. what's different now is the range of republicans who were saying retaliation is necessary. and who are no longer cloaking their intent with euphemisms. plans are already being drawn up by the red tide brigade. the guys that appears in support of donald trump during the trial. as we reported yesterday on this program, speaker mike johnson is planning on punishing doj using any tool at his disposal. all of it in service of the guy who had the sex with the porn star and paid to cover it up. the disgraced four times indicted donald trump made it crystal clear that this is his vision. for revenge. last night, trump mused about imprisoning hillary clinton and other political enemies. watch. >> wouldn't it be terrible to throw the president's wife and the former secretary of state -- think of it. the former secretary of state, but the president -- the president's wife into jail. wouldn't that be a terrible thing? but they want to do it. so, you know, it's -- it's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to. and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them. >> donald trump and the movement plotting to take a wrecking ball to what's left of the rule of law in america. in the wake of the ex-president being held criminally accountable is where we begin today. former rnc spokesman tim miller is back. and plus former top officials at the department of justice and msnbc legal analyst andrew weissman is back with us at the table. chief political columnist host of the podcast "in politic" and i'm going to be on soon right? hopefully. yes. yes. [ laughter ] national affairs analyst john hallowman is here and msnbc national security contributor mike schmidt is back with us at the table. mike, i remember one of the first times i read about how much trump was trying to do this as president was a story you wrote about efforts to get don mcgahn to get trump to prosecute i think it was hillary clinton and jim comey and maybe another combination of others. he was restrained in the years from doing that somewhat. durham ended up investigating unnecessarily a bunch of people but this is now the centerpiece of his re-election effort and it appears based on today's times reporting it's been turbo charged by his conviction. >> i think this falls into the category of things that -- he sort of has figured out he figured out in the last weeks of the presidency. that he could do a lot more without the guardrails around. and so something that he would plow directly into if he came back. he really wanted this to be done when he was president. he really -- at one point, there's this anecdote in the mueller report that doesn't get a lot of attention where he essentially held sessions' job over his head and said look i'm going to get rid of you unless you prosecute hillary clinton. he wanted to order the justice department himself to do this. but there were these guardrails. don mcgahn writes a very lengthy memo to him saying this is why you cannot do this. this is why this is a terrible idea. and they were able to contain trump and obviously among many other things, if he were to come back you know, in the same way he talks about his use of pardons to free the january 6th rioters. these are things that he would -- he would use the government's power proactively to go after his enemies and i need to say that's different than obstruction. obstruction is a serious thing. and it's illegal. but to use all the powers of the federal government against an enemy would be a new chapter. >> yeah. it's difficult because i think you look at how the presidency ended and ends with a deadly insurrection and where hanging by pence was the self- proclaimed mission statement. and i think there's a -- you know, how much worse could it be than that but what you are saying is i think people sort of sigh when they hear this idea of guardrails but this was a specific thing he wanted to do from day one and there were people around that had enough muscle memory of how the institutions of doj and the institutions of the white house counsel's office were supposed to function. even if it was imperfect, they were enough of -- of a rein on him and you are saying that's over. the gig is up. he's going to come out -- >> also wasn't sophisticated enough to figure out how to plow through that. to get beyond that certain point and to get beyond john kelly or don mcgahn. he couldn't figure out how to do that. he's gotten better at figuring that out. that's like a new -- a new muscle that he has developed that he figures he can move through. and i think -- i think he has to take him at his word. >> you know, you were on -- the mueller investigation. i think people have to think about this as radically as it's being reported. right? i mean, there wouldn't be a mueller investigation. there wouldn't be a jeff sessions if he -- i mean, no one would last five minutes if they displeased him. he would nosh -- i mean, jim comey was fired for not letting mike flynn go. mike flynn would never be charged. i mean, it's such a departure from trump 1.0 and i think there are lots of areas that would be a million times worse and we focus a lot here on our alliances and pulling out of nato but this is one that demands our focus in this moment. >> so i think mike has it completely right. that there were people -- particularly at the start of the trump sort of 1.0, administration, that just won't be there. jeff sessions, whether you agree or disagree with his political views, and what he wanted to do with the department. he understood it needed to be independent and as we reported in -- the mueller report, he himself gave the information about what it was that the president -- then president trump -- wanted him to do with respect to hillary clinton. and at that point he got rid of him and bill barr was his lackey. and that is what will be the scope of a trump 2.0. but you don't really have to worry about sort of like what would happen because you are seeing it right now. now there was all of the people who are -- who know much, much better and are going along with this. i keep on sort of using senator collins as an example. because she knows well that this is -- fundamentally inconsistent with what it means to be a democracy. under the rule of law. and is not saying anything. and that is the road to hell for this country. and it's -- it's coming with such -- such poor grace at this moment when you have the department of justice prosecuting democrats. you have senator menendez on trial right now. you have hunter biden on trial right now. and so you understand why a defendant like defendant donald trump would have this grievance with respect to the justice system. but what is so anathema to the rule of law and to our remaining a rule of law country is all of the enablers who are going along, who don't see themselves as a jeff sessions or a don mcgahn. and are willing to be completely complicit with, you know, really the demise of this country as a democracy. >> larry hogan, might have had the effect in another time to miller. focusing the mind of the republicans who are not enthusiastic about the country turning into an autocracy and i used to be able to name them. i'm not sure who they are anymore. i guess in a past life i might have thrown out names like kornyn. does he want the rule of law the die? he must. no one has said in defense of the three prosecutions going on right now. andrew named two. one of them is of menendez and the other of hunter biden and the other was alvin bragg's prosecution of donald trump on facts that are barely in dispute by anybody. but it not seen them. do you see anything different out there. >> here's a good frame to think about it. the big lie 1.0. the election lie. right? we all saw the damage that that ended up -- damage that ended up being wrought because of big low 1.0. overwhelmingly the republicans went away with it. some kind of played it halfsy you know, mitch mcconnell didn't really want to talk about it. there were a couple of republicans that spoke out against -- most obvious ones were cheney and kinzinger. now we have the big lie 2.0 and big lie 2.0 is that donald trump was convicted because our justice system is rigged. that lie is just as pernicious and just as wrong as the first big lie. and this time -- every single republican is in lockstep with him. every single one. aminationed larry hogan and maybe throw mitt romney out there but even susan collins as andrew mentions. all of them are going along and most of them very happily, in echoing his talking points. and going after the jury. and going after merrick garland and going after the fundamental american system of justice. and the -- end game of that is going to be the same as the end game of big lie 1.0. right? like the result is always the same. it's not going to be pretty and we don't exactly know if it will be a storming of the capitol or some other type of uprising but if people are told, you know, if half the country is being told by their media outlets and by the politicians a lie about how the justice system is broken and the government is coming for them, well, then some of them are going to fight back. like that -- that's just logical. and you know, any national security expert. they will tell you that. i know you have many of them on this show. that's the most pernicious thing about this and i think if you just look at the republican party as a whole, and you compare to the 2017 era that mike schmidt was talking about and how that many of them were kind of resisting trump a little bit. at some level. at some level and the big lie there were fewer but there was still some. now there's -- essentially none. >> i mean, tom, it is the right frame to put around this. right? big lie 1.0 leads to the deadly insurrection and it's jim talking i'm thinking of stephen ayers the public hearing witness on january 6th who when asked under questioning he was there because trump asked him to be there you know. now -- his supporters are asking people to -- i want to quote them. steve bannon quote, of coursebragg should be and will be jailed. steve one of the top voices of maga told us. charlie kirk a fellow who's going to be talking to trump tomorrow, quote, how many republican das or ags have stones? what is that a synonym for cojones? >> i believe they relate to balls. >> indict the left or lose america. we know from southeastern ayers that when these folks speak and present themselves as speaking on behalf of donald trump, his supporters follow. >> well, so -- several things to say here. one -- mike schmidt great statement at the table here. especially like in with the sleeves rolled up. no jacket on. anything this -- this is the hard working reporter right here. >> i look like reporter. >> that's what i'm saying. take a look at mike schmidt. two, i thought you were going to say when you mentioned three -- people under defense and prosecution right now. you mentioned trump who, you know, obviously ha all his issues but there's another democrat from south texas congressman. just indicted federal indictment on -- money laundering and bribery charges and -- on behalf of foreign government. he's now at risk democrat. again, federal -- the biden supposedly rigged system where the bidens control all the indictments for some reason are still targeting incumbent texas democratic congressman. now i'm not saying he shouldn't be indicted. i'm saying guys the federal process is still working. i think -- it's worth saying something one more thing about the example that mike gay and that we've talked about here. because it's a very acute version of trump amnesia. i think if you went around to a lot of well educated people, and particularly a lot of the republicans we've been talking about who have had their qualms with trump and now kind of drifting back towards trump or have is. if you asked them and said hey you know, donald trump said lock her up. put hillary clinton in jail. they would say to you what they remember is yeah he said that during the campaign and as soon as he became president it didn't happen you know. trump says a lot of stuff. and then it doesn't happen. and i think it's -- as a political challenge for the biden campaign, and for anybody who cares about the future of democracy, explaining to people you know, people don't know this story. that's buried in the mueller report that's contained in there. even people who follow politics don't necessarily know the story. trump didn't just walk into the office and say now it's time to grow up. the campaign trail was one thing. now i'm president. he went into the oval office and wanted to do the thing he said he wanted to do over and over again on the campaign trail. he said directly to hillary clinton's face on the debate and tried to do it and it was not like he put it aside. most people don't remember that. it's a key political challenge. on the broader scale of getting rid of -- trying to attack trump amnesia, these very specific things that the biden campaign has to do. and of course you should listen to steve bannon and steve miller, of course you could. should. because whatever you think of them they have been accurate predictors and forecasters of what would happen throughout the trump administration whether they were in his good graces or out of the good graces. in or out of the white house. steve bannon you know, in october 2020, sat down and, you know, with me on camera, on the circus and laid out what was going to happen after election day. brazenly just said it on camera. we're going to have fights in the counting room and this is going to go all the way to january 20th. we're going to get -- end up putting trump in office in the house of representatives. said it out loud. what he said that kind of thing in the "new york times" i'm like, that's the plan. when we comb back, top trump surrogate on the short list to be his vice presidential running mate just said this -- black families in the country benefited under jim crow. that happened. that was said in the year 2024. congresswoman jasmine crockett will be the next guest to respond here at the table. about cashback we're not talking about practice? no. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. not a game! we've been talking about practice for too long. -word. -no practice. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. i mean, we're not talking about a game! cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... how do you cashback? so i wear a lot of hats. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up! so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back... now with skyrizi, i'm all in with clearer skin. ♪ things are getting clearer...♪ ( ♪♪ ) ♪ i feel free... ♪ ♪ to bear my skin, yeah that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything ♪ ( ♪♪) with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and most people were clearer even at 5 years. skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions... ...and an increased risk of infections... ...or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,... ...had a vaccine, or plan to. ♪ nothing and me go hand-in-hand, ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin, that's my new plan. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything ♪ now's the time,... ...ask your doctor about skyrizi,... ...the number one... ...dermatologist-prescribed biologic in psoriasis. learn how abbvie could help you save. but st. jude has gotten us through it. st. jude is hope for every child diagnosed with cancer because the research is being shared all over the world. during jim crow, the black family was together. during jim crow, more black people were not just conservative, black people always have been conservative minded. but more black people voted conservatively and then hew, linden johnson, and then you go down that road and now we are where we are. >> it's perverse talking about the jim crow era. like a better time. the good old days. and that was not just anybody. that's byron donalds florida congressman and trump surrogate and contender for the republican party's vice presidential nomination after mike pence walked away and said no thank you. never, no now. not going to do it. this guy now seemingly pining for a time when black americans