Criminal President Trump installs stooges and lackeys throughout legal system with Republican help

Summary

Summary of "Criminal President Trump Installs Stooges and Lackeys Throughout Legal System with Republican Help"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Briefing with Jen Psaki
• Host/Author: MSNBC
• Description: Jen Psaki tackles the biggest issues of the week and features one-on-one interviews with newsmakers.
• Episode: Criminal President Trump installs stooges and lackeys throughout legal system with Republican help
• Release Date: July 30, 2025

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1. Introduction to the Issue

In this episode, Jen Psaki delves into the alarming trend of former President Donald Trump appointing loyalists to key positions within the U.S. legal system. The discussion highlights how these appointments undermine the integrity of the Justice Department (DOJ) and the broader judicial system, raising concerns about the erosion of checks and balances in the United States.

2. Emil Bovey’s Nomination and Controversies

Andrew Weissman, a former FBI general counsel and MSNBC legal analyst, introduces the central figure of the discussion: Emil Bovey, Trump's former personal attorney. Bovey was recently confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, a crucial federal court overseeing Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Bovey's nomination is marred by significant controversies:

• Suppression of Corruption Case Against Eric Adams: Under President Biden, the DOJ charged New York Mayor Eric Adams with bribery, conspiracy, and wire fraud. However, Bovey allegedly instructed prosecutors to drop these charges after Adams aligned himself with Trump, leading to the resignation of at least seven career prosecutors who refused to subvert justice for Trump's agenda. (Andrew Weissman, [03:00])

• Whistleblower Allegations: Multiple whistleblowers have accused Bovey of instructing DOJ officials to ignore court orders concerning Trump's immigration policies. When questioned during his confirmation hearing, Bovey claimed to have no recollection of such directives. (Andrew Weissman, [04:03]; Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, [04:19])

3. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s Critique

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, provides a vehement critique of Bovey's nomination:

• Erosion of Checks and Balances: Whitehouse emphasizes that the confirmation undermines the foundational checks and balances of the U.S. government. “[Senator Whitehouse, [16:56]]: 'This is a nail in the coffin of that system that we have had for over 200 years in this country.'"

• Disregard for Qualifications: He argues that the unanimous Republican support for Bovey, despite overwhelming evidence of misconduct, signals a dangerous prioritization of loyalty over qualification. “[Senator Whitehouse, [19:15]]: 'They are unfit for the position.'"

4. Trump's Influence on the Department of Justice

The episode outlines a broader pattern of Trump installing loyalists within the DOJ and the judiciary:

• Appointment of U.S. Attorneys: Trump has employed tactics to retain his appointed U.S. Attorneys beyond the standard 120-day interim period by making them his own assistants, effectively bypassing the normal qualifications and impartiality expected of these roles. For instance:

  • Alina Habba in New Jersey was ousted by judges but reappointed through a loophole in the law. (Andrew Weissman, [06:00])
  • Similar strategies were used in New York, Nevada, and California, where appointed attorneys pursued cases that favored Trump’s interests while neglecting or dropping significant prosecutions against his allies. (Andrew Weissman, [07:00])

• Impact on Legal Proceedings: These appointments have led to procedural irregularities, such as the dismissal of fraud cases against major Trump donors and the pursuit of unfounded cases against political opponents.

5. Resignations and Whistleblowers

The confirmation and actions of Emil Bovey have led to significant internal turmoil within the DOJ:

• Mass Resignations: At least seven career prosecutors resigned in protest against Bovey's attempts to manipulate justice for Trump's benefit.

• Multiple Whistleblower Reports: The Senate Judiciary Chairman, Chuck Grassley, despite his long-standing reputation for supporting whistleblowers, has dismissed these reports, demonstrating prioritization of party loyalty over ethical governance. “[Andrew Weissman, [05:00]]: 'There is only one rule in Trump's Republican Party. Loyalty to Trump above all else.'"

6. Implications for the Legal System

The episode underscores the profound implications of Trump's influence on the legal system:

• Undermining Judicial Independence: Appointing unqualified and loyalists to judicial positions compromises the impartiality of the courts, eroding public trust in the legal system.

• Legislative and Judicial Pushback: While some defense attorneys are challenging these appointments in court, arguing their illegitimacy, the long-term effects include a potential increase in politicized prosecutions and a weakened judiciary unable to act as an effective check on executive power.

7. Additional Topics Covered

Beyond the primary focus on Trump’s influence on the DOJ, the episode briefly touches upon other related issues:

• Trump’s Attempts to Influence Other Sectors: Discussions about Trump’s former attorneys being appointed to various roles within the government to further his agenda.

• Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Although not directly related to the main topic, the episode includes interviews with David Miliband from the International Rescue Committee, highlighting the severe famine and humanitarian issues in Gaza, calling for increased aid and intervention. (David Miliband, [37:47])

8. Conclusion

The episode presents a compelling case against the ongoing efforts to politicize the U.S. legal system through strategic appointments by former President Trump and supported by Republican lawmakers. It emphasizes the urgent need to uphold the integrity of the DOJ and the judiciary to maintain the foundational checks and balances essential for a functioning democracy.

Notable Quotes:

• “[Senator Whitehouse]: ‘This is a nail in the coffin of that system that we have had for over 200 years in this country.’” (16:56)

• “[Andrew Weissman]: ‘There is only one rule in Trump's Republican Party. Loyalty to Trump above all else.’” (05:00)

• “[Senator Whitehouse]: ‘They are unfit for the position.’” (19:15)

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Note: Advertisements, intros, outros, and non-relevant segments have been omitted from this summary to focus solely on the episode's core discussions.

Transcript

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[Andrew Weissman]

Download Today, there's a lot of news coming out of Washington as we get an update on the vote. We fully expect the direction it's going, but we'll bring that to you as soon as we learn it. Nomination Again, as Chris was just talking about, it's Trump's former personal attorney, Amel Bovey. He's being nominated and now about to be confirmed for a lifetime appointment as a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which is a very big deal. That court oversees federal courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. And I'm going to talk all about this with Andrew Weissman in a moment. I'm also going to talk with one of the leading voices against this nomination, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, in a moment as well as before we get there. And I know we just talked about this a little bit, but it's worth remembering just what makes Bovie such a controversial nominee and unqualified and unacceptable nominee to begin with. I mean, since the beginning of Trump's second term, Bovey has been serving as a top ranking official at the Justice Department. It's not been that long. He was in that position for just six months. And in that time on the job, Bovey is basically outdone himself and probably historically anyone else who has served in this position with his sheer willingness to ignore and violate the rule of law. I mean, first there was his role in squashing the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. We all remember that. Under President Biden, the Justice Department charged Mayor Adams with bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud. But after Mayor Adams essentially allied himself with Donald Trump, Bovey reportedly ordered prosecutors in the Justice Department to drop the case against Adams. Now, when that happened, that led to. And just to give you a quick update, he has been confirmed by the Senate to a lifetime appointment. We're going to talk about this through the course of the show. But just as a reminder, again, when he had that role in the Eric Adams. Overturning the Eric Adams case, that led to the mass resignation of at least seven career prosecutors who refused to subvert the course of justice for Trump's own personal agenda. That was certainly a moment of strength from within the Justice Department, but he was the one who prompted that. That alone should have been disqualifying for Bovey, but that wasn't the only thing. There was more. I mean, months later, a whistleblower came forward and alleged that Bovey had instructed Justice Department officials to ignore court orders while carrying out Trump's immigration agenda. According to that whistleblower's complaint. Not the only one. Bovey told DOJ prosecutors that if a judge tried to stop some of Trump's most controversial deportations, DOJ prosecutors, quote, would need to consider telling the courts f you and ignore any such court order. Not a thing you do as the Deputy Attorney General or someone who is going to be confirmed by a majority in the Senate. But apparently they still did. And when Bovey was asked about that allegation at his confirmation hearing, his memory of the last six months suddenly became quite fuzzy. This is important to remember. Did you say anything of that kind in the meeting, Senator? I have no recollection of saying anything of that kind.

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

To the extent I don't.

[Andrew Weissman]

You recall, Mr. Bove, if you said or suggested during a meeting with to Justice Department lawyers, maybe they should consider telling the court you. It seems to me that would be something you'd remember. Unless that's the kind of thing you say frequently.

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

Well, I've certainly said things encouraging litigators.

[Andrew Weissman]

At the department to fight hard. Well, did you suggest telling the courts you in any manner?

[David Miliband]

I don't recall.

[Andrew Weissman]

You just don't remember that. Now, again, to Senator Schiff's point, wouldn't you remember if you told people at the Department of Justice to tell courts to f off? I think you would. Unless that's something you said all the time. Now, again, that whistleblower allegation and that non denial from Bovey should have been more than enough to sink his nomination. Would have been enough in most times. But then we got a second whistleblower allegation backing up everything the first whistleblower had said. And if that wasn't enough. In just the past 24 hours, we got a third whistleblower allegation against Bovee. This one alleging serious misconduct in the Eric Adams case. Another whistleblower on that. Now, attorneys for one of the whistleblowers says that the Justice Department sat on their client's complaint for months, claiming they had conveniently lost that complaint. That's very hard to believe. All of these whistleblower allegations, though, have ended up on the lap of Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley. That's where they go. He is the one overseeing this process for the nomination. He's overseeing the Bovee nomination. Now, for context here, the 91 year old senator has spent much of his long career building a reputation as someone who really cares about whistleblowers. I mean, in 2007, a group of 25 whistleblower advocacy groups even gave Grassley a lifetime achievement award for his work with government whistleblowers. This is kind of his thing, or it has been for a long time, throughout his career. But I guess those groups underestimated partly how long Senator Grassley's lifetime in the Senate would be, to be honest, and also how much Donald Trump would influence the later years of his time in the Senate as chairman of this committee. Because Senator Grassley has effectively dismissed those whistleblowers in pushing Bovey's nomination through. That's because Senator Grassley and Emil Bovey both understand that there is only one rule in Trump's Republican Party. Loyalty to Trump above all else. That's it. The only thing that matters to them is what Trump wants. No law or DOJ rule or judge's order or lifetime Senate reputation. And Even when you're 91 years old, I guess, can stand in the way. That is why Bovey was nominated in the first place. I mean, remember that before Trump took office for a second time, Bovey's previous job was as Donald Trump's personal attorney, defending him against the myriad of criminal charges and civil lawsuits he faced. And this lifetime federal appointment is Trump's way, I guess, of rewarding Bovey for his loyal service to him, I suppose, while also making sure that Bovey keeps on doing Trump's bidding for the rest of his days on earth. And I would also note there are higher courts after all of this as well. Beyond the Third Circuit, who knows if he wants one of those? Who knows? And Bovey isn't the only one. I mean, Trump had a big roster of attorneys defending him in his various legal troubles, and almost all of them have been given new roles as loyal stooges in his administration. Take, for instance, Trump's other former attorney, Todd Blanche. After Blanche defended Trump in his criminal trial, Trump made Blanche the Deputy Attorney general. And now Todd Blanche appears to be using that new position to help Trump find a way out of the Jeffrey Epstein debacle. Not a role for any Deputy Attorney general. Last week, he flew to Florida to interview Jeffrey Epstein's convicted co conspirator, Trump acquaintance and sexual predator Ghislaine Maxwell. And Blanche said that's how he described it. He wanted to ask her, what do you know? And that is not something the Deputy Attorney General is supposed to do. But just days after Blanche found out what Maxwell knew, Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility of granting convicted sex predator Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon.

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

Would you consider a pardon or a commutation for Ghislaine Maxwell?

[Todd Blanche]

If it's something I haven't thought about, it's really something.

[Andrew Weissman]

I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about. Mr. President, rule out a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell being landed. Is that something you would ever consider? And why? Pardon for who? For Ghislaine Maxwell. Well, I'm allowed to give her a.

[Todd Blanche]

Pardon, but nobody's approached me with it.

[Andrew Weissman]

Nobody's asked me about it.

[Todd Blanche]

It's in the news about that, that aspect of it. But right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it.

[Andrew Weissman]

So would it be now. Today, Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney is saying publicly that Maxwell wants to testify before Congress. But. But she is threatening to assert her Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination unless she gets immunity and gets the questions in advance. Now, so far, the House Oversight Committee is saying they will not offer her immunity. We don't know what the Trump administration will or will not do yet. And meanwhile, Maxwell's attorney raised another possibility that will make it much easier for her to testify if Trump grants her clemency for the 20 year sentence she is serving for being a child sexual predator. Literally ask for that out loud. So Donald Trump sends his former personal attorney to interview Ghislaine Maxwell about what she knows. Trump then spends the weekend floating the idea that he could pardon Maxwell if he wanted to. And suddenly, the woman's got a lot to say. As long as Trump helps make the whole convicted child sex predator thing go away. And all of the various survivors and victims out there, they don't think about them. This is the kind of completely shady dealing that only happens in very bad mobster movies. Bad movies. Or I guess, of course, in Donald Trump's presidency. And like I said, there are more former personal attorneys where those two characters came from. And Trump has ceded them all throughout the government to do his bidding, too. There's his former attorney, Tim Parlatore, who is now a top lawyer at the Defense Department. That former Trump attorney is now being investigated as part of Signalgate for potentially obtaining access to classified information beyond his clearance level. There's Trump's former attorney, William Scharf, who now has the important job of handing Trump things to sign and telling him what they are. I guess Trump has also just appointed him to be the chairman of an important D.C. planning Commission, a job he's used to help Trump wage war on the Federal Reserve chairman. And then there's Trump's other, other very, I guess, personal attorney, Elena Haba. Trump appointed her to be the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey despite a complete lack of qualifications for the job and a history of saying things like this. Somebody said to me, alina, would you rather be. Would you rather be smart or pretty? And I said, oh, easy, pretty. I can fake being smart. I don't know if you can, Alina. That's the thing. Now, US Attorneys are really not supposed to be lackeys for the president. Just to state the obvious, there's only 93 of them across the country. And under the law, Trump could only make Alina Haba or anyone else who's in this position, Interim US Attorney for 120 days. After that, 120 days was up, judges for the Federal District Court in New Jersey, they got to decide whether or not to keep her in that job. And those judges chose not to let Haba keep serving as U.S. attorney, choosing another prosecutor to replace her. And then the Trump administration abruptly fired Habba's replacement and took advantage of a loophole in the law to put Haba back in the job. They essentially made Alina Habba her own assistant so that once the job was open, she could step in and fill the role, even though her time is up. It's a completely blatant end run around the normal process for making sure that US Attorneys are qualified and impartial prosecutors. And the Trump administration is doing this to install loyalists as U.S. attorneys all across the country. In the Northern District of New York, Trump appointed a man named John Sarcone to be the interim U.S. attorney, just like Alina Haba. He served for 120 days, after which the judges in that district chose to kick him out of that job. And just like Alina Habba the Trump administration kept him in that job by making him his own assistant. What a trick. Same thing in Nevada. Trump appointed a member of the Republican National Committee for the Nonpartisan role of U.S. attorney. More than 100 retired federal and state judges wrote the court opposing her nomination specifically. But Trump used a similar trick to keep her in that role as well. And then there's Trump's pick to be the U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, a former Republican state lawmaker with a long history as a bit of a conservative crusader. Now since taking that job, he has brought federal charges against a California union leader arrested in ICE protest. He stood idly by during the violent detention of US Senator Alex Padilla, who was tackled to the ground trying to ask a question at a press conference. He's pushed prosecutors to bring more cases against immigrants, even when those cases lack evidence. Under Asseli, the U.S. attorney's office in central California has already lost a third of its career staff. No wonder why. And just today, his office dropped a fraud case against a fast food chain owner and major Trump donor who the Justice Department has called a serial tax cheat. Now the Trump administration has used that same trick to keep him in that job as well. There are 93 U.S. attorneys serving in all 50 states plus U.S. territories. They are the ones in charge of prosecuting any federal crime that happens within their jurisdiction. Medicaid fraud, financial crimes, even terrorism cases all end up on the desk of U.S. attorneys. That's why that job is supposed to be completely apolitical. But Trump is taking unprecedented steps to put his own hand picked people in at least some of those key jobs. And they all know that to keep those jobs, they will need to be loyal foot soldiers for Trump. Trump's own personal attorneys have provided them all the example and role modeling that they need. So what does this all mean for our justice system? One of my favorite people to talk with about this, probably one of your favorite people, Andrew Weissman, joins me here to discuss it in just 90 seconds.

[Nicole Wallace]

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[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

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[Andrew Weissman]

Joining me now is one of my favorite legal minds, probably one of yours too. He's Andrew Weissman. You know, he's a former FBI general counsel and former assistant U.S. attorney, as well as an MSNBC legal analyst. Okay, Andrew, there are so many things I want to ask you about. I just want to start with the Bovee news because he was just confirmed in about the last 15 minutes. You understand very well the importance of the Third Circuit Court. Specifically, I believe you've brought cases there. What are, what are the consequences of Bovi sitting on that bench for, for a lifetime appointment?

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

Well, I think one has to zoom out and think about this in terms of what it says about checks and balances in this country. The fact that Congress, if you needed any more proof that Congress is asleep at the switch and has become sort of a lap dog to Donald Trump, at least the Republican controlled Congress. This is an example. This is not a normal candidate. And the amount of proof as to why he is unfit is sort of overwhelming. And second, if you think about that in terms of what has happened to one check, which is Congress, this is another attack on the only other branch that has served to be a check, which is the courts. And you either can try and intimidate them, you can file complaints as they did just yesterday against the Chief Judge in D.C. judge Boasberg, or you can try and sort of pack the courts, which is what you're doing with this nomination, that it's now been confirmed. And so I think if you just think about it in terms of checks and balances, this is a nail in the coffin of that system that we have had for over 200 years in this country. And he is really exhibit A in some ways. I might say exhibit Z to this because there have been so many. But I think that's what it means to me tonight.

[Andrew Weissman]

Yeah, it's putting it in stark terms, but those are required. Let me ask you, I mean, because one of the other things I know you've been following, we've been following, I just talked a lot about is just this en run on US Attorneys and putting them in place in acting positions. And New Jersey. Alina Haba, of course, is the example in New Jersey. Everybody's heard of her, knows her name. And there's been some real consequences already. I mean, a defendant has sued to get his case thrown out. Pretrial conferences and hearings set for defendants to enter. Pleas were called off. There's a lot of things happening. According to Politico, There are about 1500 criminal cases in the District of New Jersey a year. I'm sure it fluctuates, but help us understand that's been a day or a few days. What could happen if she insists and they insist on keeping her in this job?

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

So in all of the districts that you mentioned, Jen, where they've done this sort of end run, there is zero reason if you are defense counsel for a defendant who's now been charged, not to bring a challenge saying that this is not a duly authorized U.S. attorney and that this is legally questionable. So there will be that litigation. But again, if you step back again, Jen, just to the norm here, it is unreasonable. Heard of that? The judges do not just confirm and sort of go along with the person who served for the first hundred and twenty days. That's true of every administration. I've served in so many Republican and Democratic administrations. You just, the judges don't play politics in this. They're not concerned about the policy of the U.S. attorney as long as the person's qualified. So the big take home here is not just the end run which will be legally challenged. It's the idea that these people were so, so unqualified that really, I think for the first time that I'm aware of in history, you have the judges saying, no, we're not actually going to go along with this because the person simply is not qualified to do this job. They're unfit for the position.

[Andrew Weissman]

That is a really stunning thing. And it's an important reminder that that's not normal. I mean, these judges have decided they don't want to continue with a number of these U.S. attorneys Trump has named. It's also, also what it sounds like you're saying is that in all of these cases and There could be more because other people could hit 120 days. Defense attorneys might question whether or not they should move forward with cases.

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

Sure. Look, I've been a defense lawyer. There is zero reason not to question it. And to have the courts rule in the various districts, I mean, there's zero downside for it. You may not win, but it's certainly against the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law. And that's the kind of thing that you can bring to the courts and let them decide whether this was done appropriately. But again, even, even if the courts were to say that legally the Trump administration could do this end run, what does it tell you about the qualifications and what is going on? The big picture of these people are so unqualified that you have judges of all stripes, of all political persuasions saying, we're not going to go along with this. To me, that is sort of the for the American public.

[Andrew Weissman]

Andrew Weissman, thank you as always for providing lots of direct clarity. Really appreciate you joining me tonight. Thank you again.

[Senator Sheldon Whitehouse]

Nice to be here.

[Andrew Weissman]

Okay, we have to take a quick break, but after that break, we're going to talk about more on the breaking news with Republicans handling Trump's controversial formal criminal defense attorney, a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals judge. We're going to talk about that with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. He's been one of the loudest voices against his nomination. That's next.

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[Andrew Weissman]

In the last hour, Senate Republicans voted to confirm Donald Trump's former defense lawyer and top Justice Department official Emil Bovey to a lifetime judicial appointment on the Third Circuit Court Court of Appeals. Now, regardless of the mounting evidence against him, Republicans confirmed his nomination 52:49 with all Democrats voting no. Joining me now is Rhode Island Democratic Senator Shelton Whitehouse. He serves as a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he's been one of the most outspoken members against Bovey's nomination. So this just happened in the last 25, 26 minutes here. Thank you for coming, for walking straight over. Not a long walk. First, I want to get your reaction to this confirmation. Not a surprise, but also just put in perspective for people. I mean, he is now is a lifetime appointment to the 3rd Circuit. You've been in the Senate for almost 20 years. You're a former U.S. attorney. You've been involved in judiciary issues. For context, how do the allegations against him compare to the nominees you've seen in the past?

[Todd Blanche]

Flass, by himself, this is a genuinely bad guy. He was in the Department of Justice for all of six months and managed to rack up three separate significant episodes of prosecutorial misconduct. I mean, most prosecutors go a lifetime without doing that. And these weren't little Brady violations. This was like big deal first principles violated real problems. A fake criminal investigation, dangling another investigation over the head of an elected official to try to get him to comply on policy stuff. And then the famous, you know, you gotta be ready to tell the courts f you if they disagree with Trump. So all of that. And then aside from those three prosecutorial misconduct episodes, he wouldn't say a word about what he did with the Epstein files during all those months when he was their prime minister.

[Andrew Weissman]

You think he did something with them?

[Todd Blanche]

He wouldn't answer questions. The Republicans didn't make him answer questions. That's part of our problem. The Republicans are giving this guy a free pass.

[Andrew Weissman]

No question about it. And I haven't even. We haven't talked about the Epstein files as it relates to Bovey. But that is an interesting point you just brought up. Let me ask you, you and Senator Durbin sent a letter to the current Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, asking him for more information. I mean, the fact that he went on this trip last week and spent two days we don't know anything about meeting with a convicted sexual predator is very bizarre and very weird, as you've called it. What are you asking for? I assume you haven't heard back, but what are you asking for?

[Todd Blanche]

What we're asking for, whatever records were kept of that meeting, it would be extremely unusual for a senior Department of Justice official to go and meet with the subject of an investigation or inquiry and their lawyer and have no note taker present, no stenographer present, no recording made of the meeting. But that may have happened if there were some record of the meeting. We want to know what was said. Here's a really obvious question that she should have been asked. You put the birthday book together for Jeffrey Epstein. The President just said that the page he put in it either didn't exist or was a fake. Well, tell us about that page, because you assembled the book. We have the letter you wrote to Jeffrey Epstein saying, here's the book I assembled. So, you know, things like, did that question get asked? Because whether the question was asked or not asked, each is very telling.

[Andrew Weissman]

It's challenging with not being in control of the Senate or the House to get things that you should get right. I mean, in the House, there is some sort of strange bipartisanship in this, I guess, in trying to get more information and get access to information that Epstein files. Is there any potential for that in the Senate? Do you see that potential?

[Todd Blanche]

I don't see it yet. But you know, this isn't going away.

[Andrew Weissman]

Yeah.

[Todd Blanche]

And to the extent that the House decides to bring Ms. Maxwell to testify, if she gets immunity and all of that, then they can ask her these questions. But at some point, when the Deputy of the Attorney General of the United States goes down to meet with an individual, some record of that has to exist somewhere. And ultimately we will find out. But in the meantime, they're doing their very best to cover, cover all this up and make it all go away. What you can't make go away is that the Deputy Attorney General of the United States has no proper regular business going multiple states away to meet with.

[Andrew Weissman]

A witness, which is so important to remind people because it's not normal course of business. Not normal. You again, as I've just stated, have been around this for a long time. I mean, what. There's so many conspiracy theories out there, we don't know what they talked about. We don't know what's happening here. But she has asked for a pardon. Her lawyer asked today for a pardon. Trump has not rolled out a pardon. What do you think is going on here, as you think about it, if.

[Todd Blanche]

You remember the Godfather.

[Andrew Weissman]

I do.

[Todd Blanche]

There was a moment when Tom Hogan goes to visit Frank Pentangelo in the prison to get him to not discuss the Godfather's dealings in front of the Senate Rackets Committee. And that's the image that keeps coming to mind when I see this guy with no legitimate or regular official business with this woman going down to do this long two day interview out of all regular ordinary government Department of Justice procedure and violating a very basic Principle. When I was the U.S. attorney, I would not go to a witness interview because now I'm a witness to the witness interview. Prosecutors don't want to be witnesses in their cases. That's why agents do witness interviews. Or maybe the line AUSA does one. But the idea that the Deputy Attorney General is doing one, it's. There's going to be a lot more dugout before this is over.

[Andrew Weissman]

What could it mean, a witness to a witness? What could that mean for Todd Blanche? He's putting himself, it sounds like you're saying, in a very awkward position here. What could it mean for him?

[Todd Blanche]

It could mean for him that Ms. Maxwell and her lawyer say this is what was discussed in this meeting. This is what was promised to us in this meeting by the Deputy Attorney General. And if there isn't a transcript and if There isn't an FBI 302 notes being taken, and if there isn't a tape, then it's really up to who's telling the truth. It's two stories. And the. Blanche is now a witness in the question of what Blanche agreed to in that meeting. And he and the office of Deputy Attorney General Sidekick, who he brought down with him. So they put themselves in a very awkward situation if there's any question about what happened in that meeting, because now they're subject to deposition, to having to give testimony, to being put under oath to be cross examined. If something relevant was done in that meeting that then is contested later.

[Andrew Weissman]

The House Oversight Committee has. I mean, they think they're going to get access, right, to some forms of the Epstein files. They think. Do you think they will?

[Todd Blanche]

We'll see.

[Andrew Weissman]

And if they do, I assume you want access to them.

[Todd Blanche]

I think the more of that that comes out, the better. And I think that the House work is terrific, but I also think that the Senate Finance Committee work looking at $1.5 billion in suspicious activity reports on wire transfers involving Jeffrey Epstein, none of which were investigated by the Bondi Maga Department of Justice. It's called the Suspicious Activity Report for a reason. It's because it's supposed to be investigated.

[Andrew Weissman]

Well, follow the money. You're gonna have to come back and we'll talk about that one. Senator Whitehouse, thank you for being here. You covered a lot. Really appreciate it. Okay, coming up, we have another topic to talk about. One company's failed attempt at currying favor with Donald Trump. It involves putting his name and likeness on all of the things, and I literally mean all of the things I'm going to tell you all about it after a quick break. Okay, this is a fun story. Last week, Republican Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho introduced a bill that would rename the Opera House. And at the Kennedy center in Washington, D.C. after First Lady Melania Trump. That's not the fun part. The very next day, Republican Congressman Bob Ander of Missouri introduced a bill that would rename the Kennedy center altogether as the Donald J. Trump center for the Performing Arts. Which does not in any way roll off the tongue. But it also turns out both bills might be against the law. But I don't think actually passing those bills was ever the point anyway. I mean, for months now, we have seen a slew of bills from Republicans just like these that seem to have just one singular purpose. Sucking up to Trump bill in Tennessee could change the name of Nashville's airport to Trump International Airport. Dulles Airport could have a brand new name.

[Todd Blanche]

House Republicans are reintroducing a bill to.

[Tim Miller]

Rename it Donald J. Trump International Airport.

[Andrew Weissman]

Good Lord. Now, both of those bills were from the same week. The first week of Trump's second term in which Republicans wanted to name not one, but two airports after him. The next week, a Republican from Florida introduced a bill to add Trump's face to Mount Rushmore. Why the heck not? Now, the next month, a Republican from South Carolina pushed for Trump's face to be printed on a brand new $250 bill. The month after that, a Republican from Texas pushed for Trump's face to replace Ben Franklin's on the $100 bill. A few months after that, a Republican from Arizona pushed for Trump's face to be on a $500 bill. We're all just carrying those around all the time, I suppose. And back in May, a Republican from Florida introduced a bill to rename DC's metro system. I kid you not on this one. The Trump Train. Now, all of those proposals are almost certainly doomed to fail. I don't think anyone in D.C. will be riding the Trump train to work anytime soon, thank God. But clearly, this exact brand of flattery, kind of flattery, sticking Trump's name and face on stuff really works on the guy. So it's no surprise when private companies started to try and play the flattery game, too. I mean, Semaphore was first to report that private companies had begun launching things like fine porcelain dinnerware with Trump's face on it. Okay. And bedsheets branded as the Mar A Lago Collection. And snow globes depicting Trump in front of the White House. How soothing. And again, I kid you not, on this one I'm not making any of this up an instapot pressure cooker with the Make America Great Again slogan written across the side. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that all of those companies, the dinnerware company, the bedsheet company, the snow globe company, the instapot, all of those companies are actually owned by the same parent company, a private equity firm called Centre Lane Partners, which the Times reports wanted the Trump administration's help with tariffs and a looming antitrust inquiry. Hence the Trump snow globes and mag instapots. And you'd think, I guess Trump would love these things. I mean, look at what Republicans are doing in Congress. This seems like the logical extension of that, right? If you're a private sector company. Turns out, no, it's not. The Trump Organization warned the private equity firm that if any of its companies used the Trump name and trademark without permission, they would have no choice but to take appropriate legal action. There you go. Now, for those of you Christmasing in July. That's a thing. And shopping for the perfect white elephant holiday gift. You know that game. If you know, you know. Does that mean there will never be a Make America Great again? Instant pot. What a great present. That's unclear right now. Well, we're going to report back on that. We'll stay close on the story. But emails reviewed by the New York Times show that the lobbyists seem to keep open the possibility that the private equity firm would return to their plans for Trump merchandise. But next time, they would just ask for permission. Neither the private equity firm or its lobbying firm gave a direct answer when the Times asked if the plans for Trump merchandise had been canceled. There are many thoughts on strategies, the firm's lobbyist said. How vague. So let this be a lesson out there, I guess, to all the corporations and lobbyists trying to suck up Trump. Can't just stick his face and name on the stuff. Can't just do that. You have to make sure you give the guys some money, too. That's part of the thing. I'll be right back. Today, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK Will recognize Palestine as a state by September unless Israel moves toward a ceasefire in Gaza. This comes just days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will fully recognize Palestinian statehood in a move designed to revive momentum for a two state solution. Even here in Washington, there have been smaller signs of change in how elected officials on both sides of the aisle are viewing this ongoing humanitarian crisis, with a small but increasing number of elected officials even calling for conditioning aid to Israel over its military action in Gaza. Leading global hunger monitor, the UN backed IPC has declared that the, quote, worst case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip. And while the group stopped short of a formal declaration of famine, it noted that two out of three official thresholds have been met, plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition, adding that there is mounting evidence for the third famine indicator which is a rise in hunger related deaths. As my next guest recently said, it is never wrong to feed and treat people in need. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not the only emergency in the world, but its resolution is straightforward, so there are no excuses. Feeding people does not promote terrorism, it keeps people alive. Failing to feed them is the real danger. So what is needed to stop the spiral of suffering and starvation inside Gaza? And what can be done to address it? David Miliban is the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization working to deliver much needed aid to Gaza and he joins me now. David, I'm so grateful that you could be here with me tonight. I just wanted to start. Let's put all the politics and global dynamics aside for a moment and just share with us what is the scope of what is needed right now in Gaza in terms of humanitarian assistance. I know it's not just food, but it's also just not one shipment or one set of trucks. Help us understand that.

[David Miliband]

Well, thanks for having me on, Jen. The truth is that in February and March of this year we had a run through of what is needed to be done. There was a ceasefire in those months and over the course of six weeks we were able, the humanitarian community, to not just halt the descent of Gaza into an absolute hellscape, but actually start to rebuild some of the bodies, some of the people, some of the institutions that deliver health care. We were able to make a start. And what that showed was that you need 60,000 tons of food to stop things getting worse. If you can't deliver that, you're going to set yourself on the course to malnutrition and famine. In April and May, 0 was the amount of tons of food that went in. In June it was just 36,000. So that's how you end up in a situation where this independent agency, a technocratic small C conservative technical agency, says that there's man made famine in Gaza. Two million people, our own staff, we have about 50 to 60 staff members there, they can't feed their own children. So they are becoming clients of humanitarian aid, not just staff workers. And the resolution of this, I Don't want to sound simplistic, but it is actually pretty simple. You open the gates of Gaza to trucks that have been cleared, assessed to make sure that they're secure so that food and medical aid can get through. We have some of our own on the wrong side of the border. You've got to open the crossings so that screen trucks of critical life saving, medical, but also food aid gets through. It would also help to open the commercial traffic as well.

[Andrew Weissman]

This is such an important point because I think sometimes people hear updates and they think, wow, that's a big development. But it's important to put it in perspective. I mean, Israel says 52 aid packages were dropped over Gaza today. That's better than no aid packages. That is a very, very small amount you've said, which I think is important for people to understand that dropping boxes of food from the sky is not efficient. It can be dangerous. Help us understand why.

[David Miliband]

Well, it's expensive for starters. When you just think you can either drive a truck across a border or you can put up a helicopter to drop aid, it's dangerous because you don't know where it's going to land. But also you have no organization on the ground where it lands. You have no organization at all. So it's expensive, it's dangerous and it doesn't get aid to the people who most need it. The people who scramble their way to reach an airdrop are not those in the greatest need, almost by definition. And we've got a very basic thing here. Since March, when the ceasefire was ended by renewed fighting, what happened is that the Israeli government said it would support this Gaza humanitarian foundation, but that has become a poster child for how not to do humanitarian aid. A thousand people have been killed queuing for that aid. But of course, getting people to go to aid isn't the same as taking aid to people. It's not the same as taking health care to people who need it and can't move. There is a proven system that can keep people alive and at the moment it's not being used. It couldn't be more serious.

[Andrew Weissman]

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a senior nutrition manager with your organization, Mohammed Mansour, just wrote an op ed where he was critical very, I think is how I read it of the infrastructure as you referenced and how it's working right now. They're not in many places, as I understand it, right. There are not many places that Gazans can go and get food. That's very different from how it used to work and how it works works in other places where There are issues of humanitarian starvation. What are the numbers? How is it different from how it's supposed to work or how it used to work?

[David Miliband]

Well, the basic rule about how we do our job is we go to the people. What the Gaza Humanitarian foundation says, if you can't make it to one of four distribution sites, you don't get anything. So it's very, very fundamental, this. And I keep wanting to bring people back to the fact that in late January, February, March, we made progress. Even in the midst of Gaza, even in the midst of all the destruction, even in the midst of 80% of buildings being damaged, we were able to save lives and do our jobs. At the moment, we can't do that because of the blockade on aid, including medical aid, but also critical nutritional supplements, and, of course, because of the continued fighting.

[Andrew Weissman]

David Miliband, thank you for the work you do. Thank you for helping us understand the work you do and what's going on over there. I really appreciate your time.

[David Miliband]

Thanks very much, Jen. Thanks.

[Andrew Weissman]

We'll be right back. Okay. We're ending this show with a very exciting announcement. You may have heard about it, but just in case you haven't, one of the most rewarding parts about doing this job is being able to meet you and hear from you directly when you like something, when you don't like something, when you want to see more of a guest, when you have questions, whatever it may be. And there's one special space where we can connect live and in person, which is very different from talking to you on television with your fellow MSNBC viewers and hosts. All of us. We'll all be there. We did it for the first time last year. I got to meet so many wonderful viewers. Some of them you can see there. I still remember that little girl I met from all across the country. It was really a day of just pure joy and community with all of you at a time when we really need it. So we're bringing it back this year. MSNBC Live 25 is October 11th in New York City. Tickets are available now at msnbc.comlive25, or you can scan the QR code on your screen if that is easier. Do that. I'll be back this year along with more than a dozen of my amazing MSNBC colleagues. It's a chance to engage and interact and talk about the moment we are living through the hard stuff and even some hope, I promise. And who knows, maybe Rachel and Lawrence might do a dance again. Can't promise, but anything can happen. You never know. That does it for me. Today. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern Eastern on MSNBC. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.

[Nicole Wallace]

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