acting within the scope of his federal authority? i think that is a hard thing for him to show. chiefs of staff do lots of things and the chief of staff to a president of course does lots of things. but this was a political effort to thwart a fair and free election. and if mr. meadows is going to get tripped up over anything, it's this notion that he was acting within the scope of his federal authority. so he has a plausible claim. it's not a frivolous claim. but i think the judge is going to be skeptical that he meets that second prong to show that he was acting in the scope of his federal authority. >> chuck, why is it that every smart lawyer in the country looking at the news today said that it was shocking that mark meadows decided to take the stand and testify let alone for five hours in this hearing?