← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump goes off the deep end after judge halts his ballroom pet project
00:42:01
Donald Trump is so enamored of his White House ballroom pet project that he talks about it every chance he gets, regardless of the setting. Sometimes it seems like he wishes Americans would be as distracted by it as he is. But now a judge has put a halt to the project, reminding Trump that he is a steward of the White House, not the owner, and requiring him to get approval from Congress first.
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- [01:01]
Michael
in the fifth week of Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran, and the White House just announced Trump will be addressing the nation Tomorrow night at 9:00pm Eastern, as you just heard Chris mention. And that is notable because the president's attention has been, well, how shall we say, drifting a little bit lately. Just listen to him answering questions about the Iranian regime Sunday night.
- [01:27]
Donald Trump
It truly is regime change, and regime change is an imperative. But I think we have it automatically. I did something today. We just got these in from the architects. A lot of people are talking about how beautiful the ballroom. For 150 years, they wanted to build a ballroom at the White House.
- [01:53]
Michael
That's right. Donald Trump is apparently so bored by the war he started, he just couldn't resist the urge to show off the latest pictures of his shiny new ballroom. So 50,000 troops are awaiting his orders in the Middle east, but the commander in chief is fussing over the decorative columns on his latest construction project. That's where his head is at. So it must have been oh, so devastating for Trump to learn today that his $400 million pet project hit a bit of a snag today. A federal judge ordered construction on Trump's ballroom to be halted within 14 days, saying it can only resume once Congress authorizes Trump's planned Renovation. And Judge Richard Leon, who was appointed to the bench by George W. Bush, pulled no punches in his ruling. He wrote, the President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of first families. He is not, however, the owner. The White House does not belong to any one man, not even a president. Less than until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop. Now. Remember, Trump already demolished the old East Wing of the White House. So who knows how long that pile of rubble and that hole in the ground will have to just simply sit there because the president refused to follow the law. Earlier today, Trump responded to the judge's ruling in a lengthy post on social media. He lashed out at everyone from the National Trust to Governor Gavin Newsom to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and who knows who else had anything to do with the ballroom. But Trump only has one person to blame for all of this. Donald Trump himself. Like usual, the president caused a lot of chaos and destruction. He refused to get approval from Congress. He ignored the potential consequences of his actions. And now the project he thought would be a quick success looks like a giant mess with no end in sight. Sound familiar? Should, because that's exactly how Trump's war in Iran has been playing out before our very eyes for about a month. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which means they now control about 20% of the world's oil. That's, of course, caused surge in gas prices. Y' all kind of know that, right? Gas prices have now climbed to more than $4 a gallon just this week. Now, at the start of this war, Trump claimed that paying more at the pump was worth it. He assured us it was only a short term spike. And he even said that once the war was over, the price of gas would actually be lower than before.
- [04:56]
Donald Trump
We're putting an end to all of this threat once and for all, and the result will be lower oil prices, oil and gas prices for American families. Well, I think your gas prices, as soon as that's over, are going to come tumbling down along with everything else. The oil prices will drop like a rock. And the economy is so powerful, so strong, you're going to see a very big decrease in the price of gasoline, gas, anything having to do with energy as soon as this is ended. But oil prices are already coming back down, and it's going to come down. But we're not leaving until that job is finished.
- [05:34]
Michael
It's going to come down. We're not leaving until that job is finished. Well, apparently we are, because Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told his top aides he's willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. That's according to multiple administration officials. So what would that mean? Well, it would mean leaving Iran in charge of the Strait, which may keep gas prices higher for the foreseeable future. Not only that, but Trump is now disavowing responsibility for getting us into this mess in the first place. He says it's up to our allies to reopen the Strait without any help from the United States. He told America's closest ally, the United Kingdom, to, quote, build up some delayed courage, go straight to the. Go to the Strait and just take it. Okay. Then later in the day, Secretary of Defense Hankseth echoed that same sentiment.
- [06:34]
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
It's not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.
- [06:43]
Michael
And after that, Trump decided it wasn't enough to lay this all at the feet of our closest ally. He decided to rope in our oldest ally as well.
- [06:56]
Donald Trump
If France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the Strait and almost Strait, they'll go right up there and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually. But we have nothing to do with that. What happens in the Strait, we're not going to have anything to do with it. We can take a machine gun from the shore, shoot a little, few bullets on a ship, or maybe an over the shoulder missile, small missiles. That's not for us. That'll be for France.
- [07:31]
Michael
That will be for France. So now it's up to our allies to fend for themselves and open the Strait of Hormuz. Even though it was Trump's war, Trump did this that prompted its closure. Meanwhile, several other allies are snubbing Trump and his war of choice. Yesterday, Spain closed its airspace to all US Planes involved in the war. And today, Italy denied landing rights to US Warplanes at any air base in Sicily. All of which has provoked even more outrage from Donald Trump. So Trump is alienating our allies, demanding that they clean up his mess. And at the same time, our adversaries are getting the VIP treatment. Today, a Russian oil tanker arrived in Cuba despite a Trump imposed embargo on all fuel shipments to that country. In other words, folks, Trump is giving Russia special permission to violate his own blockade, even though Russia is actively helping Iran target US Forces in the Middle East. Help me make it make sense. And that's hardly the only way Trump is contradicting himself in this war. The president has repeatedly implied that this whole operation is about to wrap up, but at the same time, he's sending those thousand more troops into the region each day. Trump says his goal is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and stop them from building a nuclear weapon. But today, Reuters cites multiple sources who say that the State Department's top official in charge of arms control has been given a new organizing an international summit about Antifa. You know, because Antifa has so many ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. You see, folks, this war is a perfect reflection of the man who started it. Trump is contradicting himself from statement to statement. He's lurching from one objective to another. He's passing the buck instead of taking responsibility. Donald Trump is treating the entire world like one of his construction projects. And he's learning it's a lot easier to tear something down than it is to put it back together. Joining me now, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul. Ambassador McFaul, your head just kind of spins on all of this when you're trying to figure out exactly what we're going to do. And I won't even get into what the allies are thinking, but I will, because we've treated them in such a poor way. Is it any surprise to you that they're so wary of helping the US and so reticent? And in fact, in the case of Spain and Italy, just outright saying no because of what Trump is doing and the way he's approached them.
- [10:45]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
I look at this as a really tragic moment in American history. NATO is a fantastic alliance. It served American interests and values well for many, many decades. We've had our bumps in the road over the decades. This is not the first, but when President Trump came in, he disrespected our allies. He threatened to invade one of them. I want people to be reminded of that fact. He literally threatened to invade one of them, and he called the other one. He said, oh, they're just the 51st state, right? That's Canada. And then he put tariffs on our allies in a completely irrational way. It made no economic sense, made no national security sense, and he just disrespected our allies. So with that comes pushback, and it shouldn't have to come. This is a cell phone goal. We created this problem. But it is a tragic moment because in the long term, America, in dealing with China and Russia, And Iran and North Korea, we need our allies. And right now, because of this war of choice, this is the greatest threat to the NATO alliance that we've had in the Trump era. And I'm deeply troubled by it. I'm scared by it. I hope we survive, but we are in some troubled waters right now.
- [11:57]
Michael
Yeah. General Hartling, I really appreciate the words of the ambassador there, particularly in the context of putting it all in perspective and understanding how much we need our allies. So how unusual is it for our allies like Spain, like Italy, to deny the US the military use of their bases for an operation like this?
- [12:20]
LifeLock Representative
It's off the chart. Unusual. Michael, having once been the commander of U.S. army Europe, I understand those bases, Sigonella, Naples, some of the ones in Italy, Spain, even French are now saying, and some British bases have been under a little bit of consternation in terms of allowing landing rights and things like that. That's something that the military and the Foreign Service of the State Department work on on a daily basis. We build trust in drops, drop by drop. Over the last four decades of my career, that's been one of the most important thing to do, is to build trust with our allies. What we've done with the trust that we've built in drops over 80 years since the NATO alliance was formed, we've thrown that away in buckets. To insult our allies, to do things without bringing them into the room and sitting around the table with us and conducting conversations about what we might do in military and diplomatic operations, which we've been doing for the entire administration, the current administration, is just vile. And to have the Secretary of Defense throw the insult of the big, bad Royal Navy, I mean, coming from a guy who served as a platoon leader in the US army and then in the reserves, that's really a pretty bold and disgusting insult to one of our greatest allies. The same thing with the president insulting the French as he's done with so many of our other allies. As Ambassador Fall just said, these are things you can't walk back. This is going to take a long time after this administration is over to try and regain some of our balance and some of our standing in the world. The problem is, too, is it's not just the Trump administration. Now I think many of our allies are looking at all American citizens and saying, what is wrong with you people? How can you allow this to continue? That's the concern I have because, again, for the four decades of my military career, I proudly represented the United States. And during some of my recent travels, you can Kind of see that the damage that this administration has done, not just in terms of the thoughts on what the administration is doing, but what the typical American is thinking about what his or her government is actually executing.
- [14:48]
Michael
You know, Ambassador, I got a little chuckle out of the general's point there about the American people. What are you thinking here? I have to think our allies must be the same way, scratching their hair, going, what are you thinking here? I mean, particularly when they see President Trump backing away and then leaning back into the war, backing away from leaning back into the war. Now, the Strait of Hormuz and the objective that it once was is no longer the objective that the President wants to focus on, clearly moving the goalposts by shifting the emphasis and focus of the war, but shifting it hour by hour, day by day. So, as we've just learned, the president is going to address the nation tomorrow about the war. What the hell does he tell people? What do you think we're going to hear?
- [15:46]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
Well, one, I don't know. He's a very unpredictable leader, as you know. Number two, I do think it's important to underscore that the American people and our NATO allies are pretty aligned on a lot of major foreign policy issues. You look at public opinion, the majority of Americans support the NATO alliance. The majority of The American public, 82%, I think, don't think Putin's a good guy. The majority of the American people didn't sign up for this war and don't support it. Right. It's the President of the United States that's out of step with his community and our allies right now. So maybe he can clean that up tomorrow and explain what was the purpose of this war. To your point, Michael, he's been all over the place. It's like he's throwing arguments. Kind of reminds me of my students sometime reading their essays. They don't really know the answer, so they just throw a bunch of stuff into that blue book and hope they'll get some points. That's what it feels like. You know, one day it's about regime change, then it's a nuclear weapons program, then it's stopping terrorism, then it's opening the Strait of Hormuz, then it's not. And even Secretary Rubio the other day very narrowly defined what the objectives were. That was really surprising to me when he said, it's just about their missiles and their navy and their air force. Didn't mention the nuclear program, didn't mention regime change, didn't mention terrorists, and he most certainly didn't Say we're gonna open the Strait of Hormuz that we closed, as you rightfully pointed out in the beginning. So I wonder if they're trying to narrow the objectives tomorrow night so that he can there declare victory.
- [17:22]
Michael
Yeah, General, you know what that blue book thing is all about? You know, the more words, the closer you get to an A. You know, that's how that works. What were you about to.
- [17:31]
LifeLock Representative
Yeah. You know, Michael, it's interesting that I was thinking along the same lines as Ambassador McFaul in terms of what might occur tomorrow night. But we could wake up tomorrow morning to another true social posting saying he's all in for the next four months in terms of another invasion requirement. I mean, it could, because it has changed so many times. It could change again tomorrow. I anticipate tomorrow, as Ambassador McFaul said, that he may say, it's over, we've won. We've done what we needed to do, even though he hasn't defined what we were trying to do yet, except for the passing fancy of different members of his administration trying to cover up for a strategic objective. And by the way, Secretary Rubio is good at defining tactical battles. That conversation he gave the other day was not at all close to being strategic objectives. So we still have some problems in that area from not only a military but a national strategy perspective.
- [18:34]
Michael
So you raised a couple of things for me here, General, but there's one aspect of what you said I want to lean into, because Secretary Pete Hecseth has his way with words and moments, and I want to share with you as he stuck to his sort of warmongering kind of, you know, bro, you know, we're so tough. He had this sort of delicate moment. I want to share with you. Take a listen.
- [19:01]
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
I met a junior airman as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac, who, when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs. We will happily oblige her.
- [19:27]
Michael
That is the dumbest thing that didn't happen, General.
- [19:31]
LifeLock Representative
No, that's. That's kind of like the guys coming up to the President crying and thanking him for all the things he's done and stirring him to death. That did not happen. And the setup, even from the secretary, I mean, you know, Michael, I've seen a bunch of secretaries during my time in service, and none of them had the kind of swagger that we're seeing right now. And that's not what the military expects. They Expect an individual as a secretary of defense that translate strategic objectives into operational dynamics. When the secretary today, during that conversation attacked a reporter by saying, you don't understand Warfare 101, I mean, that's insulting. I don't think he does either. I mean, I'd love to get into a little debate with him personally about what consists of tactics and battles and operations and campaigns and strategy and see if he can stand up with his stories that seem to be make believe from invisible airmen on a tarmac.
- [20:31]
Michael
Ambassador, before we let you guys go, I want to share with you. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley stated that the obvious today on Fox News saying that in this war, Russia is the biggest winner. I've been thinking that for a while now, literally from the beginning of it. Why do you think that's the case and what is Russia gaining here from your view?
- [20:55]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
One, high oil prices. That's billions and billions of dollars we're giving to Putin. Two, we're now lifting the sanctions on them, giving them more money, so we're even helping them further. Three, there's a big deficit of Interceptors, PAC threes for the Patriots. The Ukrainians need them desperately. We don't have them now. That means more Ukrainians are going to die. But the bigger narrative is that we're looking like Putin. Now, I don't think that. I just published a piece today saying why this is not like Putin's war in Ukraine. I think they're fundamentally different. But try making that argument to somebody from South Africa or Indonesia or Brazil and, and I've tried and I lean into it. But to a lot of people around the world, we've lost our moral high ground in criticizing Putin. And I think that is going to be the longer term strategic tragedy of this war for Putin and Ukraine today.
- [21:52]
Michael
All right, gentlemen, thank you very much. Lieutenant Mark Hertling, Ambassador Michael McFall, thank you both. Coming up, Donald Trump's poll numbers are plummeting. Gas prices are rising. And it sure looks like a blue wave is a coming. So what did Trump do today? He signed an unconstitutional executive order to seize power over our elections. Roy Cooper is the former governor of North Carolina. Now he's trying to flip a red state at least a red Senate seat blue. He joins us next.
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- [23:57]
Michael
While we don't know yet, at least, exactly how high the price tag of Donald Trump's war with Iran ultimately will be, we do know that as of day six, the war was costing nearly $2 billion a day. Today is day 32. I'll let you do the math. And given that enormous investment, it's only right to ask what exactly are American taxpayers getting in return besides, say, the economic pain of skyrocketing gas prices? A gallon of gas in the United States now costs an average an average of $4, the highest price in four years. Go to any gas station in your area right now and I bet you can find people like these folks down in Port St. Lucie, Florida who spoke to Ms. NOUN's Alex Habett earlier today. It is getting pretty expensive. Can't afford to fill the tank up no more. Now I'm running this V8 and I can only put 40 bucks. So how long is 40 bucks going to last me if I'm driving every day? You know, it's, it's going to, it's going to hurt everybody.
- [25:07]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
I struggle every day and now I'm taking care of my mom, who's older, being Denied. Simple, simple things like breathing meds. So gas.
- [25:19]
Michael
What are you gonna do?
- [25:20]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
So I don't eat this week.
- [25:22]
Michael
If you could pick one word to describe the state of today's economy, what would that word be? Oh, I like that question. A tragedy. That's what I would say.
- [25:33]
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling
Where we're at, the state right now is a tragedy.
- [25:38]
Michael
State of our economy right now is a tragedy. The Trump administration is either blissfully unaware of that fact or flat out ignoring it. Because this was what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday with a straight face.
- [25:54]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars supporting terrorists or weapons, had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you'd have a much different country.
- [26:05]
Michael
Maybe someone should let Marco know that as we speak, Republicans are considering taking billions of dollars away from America's health care to fund Trump's war with Iran. The fact is, with each passing day, people are feeling the painful impacts of this war and Trump is hemorrhaging support. Which may explain why earlier today, Trump signed an executive order attempting what amounts to a complete federal takeover of voting by mail in this country. Joining me now is former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. He's now the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Governor, it is a pleasure. I always love it when I get to hang out with the governors of former lg. You know, we got that connection. It's good to see you. How's everything going? As the gas prices soar, things are clearly not going well for the president and Republicans right now. Which definitely helps explain the executive order he put out today restricting voting by mail. Basically wants the US Post Office to verify that mail in ballots are sent only to people identified as being eligible to vote. Really? Now you know it's going to be challenged. We know that in court. And I know you're still digesting what this will mean for the good people of North Carolina as they prepare for the polls this fall. But how are you preparing for what the president is going to try to do in November? And what are you telling your constituents about what this may mean for them?
- [27:39]
Roy Cooper
Well, Michael, we know that states run elections, and North Carolina traditionally has had safe and secure and fair elections. We know that. We've seen from the right particularly intensified actions in the name of voter security that, in effect, keep eligible American citizens from voting. We saw that in North Carolina in 2024, where we had a Supreme Court election. Republicans challenged it, we had a Democrat who won, Republicans challenged it and challenged thousands of votes after the election was over and couldn't prove a single one of them were ineligible. Thank goodness we had a federal district court judge who threw the whole thing out and the Democrat won the race. But I think the people out there need to know that we're going to be ready for any of these attacks on people's right to vote. We'll be ready in court. We're going to be ready at the ballot box. I'm going to have a tough race here in North Carolina. We always do. We haven't elected a Democratic senator in almost two decades. We're going to do it this time. And if you guys want to help us, you can go to roycooper.com read what we're doing and help us out tonight.
- [29:03]
Michael
No, I think that's important for folks to understand exactly what this means and how it lands for them. And then in addition to that, you have folks feeling the impact from the president's war with Iran. It's obviously making things harder for Americans all across the country. North Carolina red state is no different. It's not absolved from this pain. As Donald Trump and Hegseth and Republicans like people to believe people were already hurting from rising costs before the war is only making it worse. What are you hearing from folks in North Carolina about the impact of this war on their pocketbooks?
- [29:51]
Roy Cooper
People are already struggling higher utility prices, rent, grocery prices, child care, health care costs going up, health care being ripped away by this big beautiful bill. Things cost more because of tariffs. And then comes this war with Iran. Not only do we see a dollar a gallon more for gas and we know how hard that hits everyday working people, but we know that that's going to spread across the economy. Was talking with farmers the other day, already hurting from these tariffs with a quick equipment cost and fertilizer cost. Now we see because of the war with Iran, fertilizer is going to continue to rise. That's going to affect North Carolina farmers. And then it's going to come right down to the grocery store and the dinner table. People can't take much more. They already have too much month at the end of the money as it is. Their wages aren't increasing with the cost of living. And I got an opponent, Michael Watley, who's going around parroting Donald Trump, saying that prices are down and that we've stopped inflation. And the thing is, my opponent will do whatever the president tells him to do. He'll say whatever the president tells him to say, even if it's not good for North Carolina. I'm going to be a strong independent senator for our state. I'll stand up for the people. And I believe that at the end of the day this November, people are going to choose me and people like me across the country because we need to restore the checks and balances that the framers of the Constitution intended in Washington.
- [31:34]
Michael
Well, it's early, Governor, but a YouGov poll has you up 14 points against Mr. Whatley. And as we know, it's early and it doesn't mean anything. But the voters clearly are listening to what you're saying and is having a resonance with them. Governor Roy Cooper, thank you very much for taking the time with us this evening. Coming up, FBI Director Kat Patel tries to dig up dirt on Congressman Eric Swalwell. And in the process, he gives up the game on where this Justice Department's priorities really lie. Congressman Swalwell is going to join me in just a moment with his reaction. We'll be right back.
- [32:10]
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- [33:36]
Michael
This week the latest class of US Marines will be finishing basic training. The training is 13 weeks long. Recruits aren't allowed to see their families that entire time. And now, because of Trump's war with Iran, many of them may be deployed thousands of miles from their loved ones right away. Which is what makes this news all the more gut wrenching. The Marine Corps told NBC News that ICE agents, ICE agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation's newest Marines to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented. Let that sit for a moment. And while the Department of Homeland Security insists that those ICE agents won't be there to make arrests, the whole thing certainly sounds like a trap. A trap set to round up the parents and siblings and friends of people who are volunteering to serve our country priorities. Am I right? That news comes as we also just got this eye popping headline from ProPublica. Trump's Justice Department dropped 23,000 criminal investigations and shift to immigration. That's right. To free up the manpower required to focus on immigrants, the Trump administration has been dropping cases against actual alleged criminals by the thousands. 23,000 cases in just the first six months of Trump's new term, according to an analysis. An analysis by ProPublica. Now, while the Justice Department says they dropped those cases in an effort to run the agency in a quote, oh, you've heard it get, you know what, it is more efficient manner, I think it's really worth paying attention to what they are ignoring to focus on immigration. They're not focusing on the thing they're telling this is all about. Last year, Trump pardoned 166 people. Despite all his talk about cracking down on fraud, more than 70 of those people were convicted fraudsters. Trump also issued mass pardons. You remember those pardoning more than 1,500 January 6th rioters. Over and over again, we have seen those pardon recipients commit new crimes, crimes they might not have been able to commit if they were locked up instead of pardoned. And where have we heard that before? Just yesterday, a January 6th rider who had been pardoned by Trump was sentenced to four years in prison for possessing a quote, enormous child pornography collection. Pardon riders have been re arrested for everything from burglary to assault to sex crimes. Trump still stands by his mass pardons. Again, priorities. And while Trump is pardoning rioters and fraudsters and the Justice Department is doing what Justice Department does, dropping cases about alleged terrorism and money, money laundering and drugs. It is laser focused on two things, arresting immigrants as scapegoats and targeting Trump's political enemies. And we have new news today on that second front as well. Over the weekend, the Washington Post was first to report that Trump FBI Director Cash Patel is pushing the agency to release a decade old investigative file that involves Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell. Swalwell has never been accused of any wrongdoing. The investigation in question revolved around a woman suspected of being a Chinese intelligence operative. More than a decade ago, she helped Swalwell with a campaign event, some fundraising. But when federal agents told Swalwell they suspected she might be a spy, he cut off all ties with the woman and helped the FBI, the feds, with their investigation. But now that Swalwell has become a thorn in Trump's side or more of a pain in the. You know what, now that he's running to be governor of California, the FBI has made it a priority to rehash that investigation because they want to put Swalwell's name next to the words Chinese spy in headlines. Three people with knowledge of Cash Patel's efforts told the Post that FBI leaders have gone as far as suggesting that they give the alleged Chinese spy a US Visa in exchange for her speaking to FBI agents about Swalwell. So they want to let a potential spy into the country to try to gin up dirt on a political opponent of the Trump administration. Again, priorities. Well, Congressman Swalwell made it clear he isn't going to let all this happen without a fight. He just sent a cease and desist to Kash Patel himself. And Congressman Swalwell joins me next. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell. He is now a candidate for governor of California. Congressman, it is good to see you. So what is your thanks? What is. Yeah, what's your expectation for this cease and desist letter? And, you know, you're giving the doj, what, three days to agree to not release the file. What do you plan to do if they release it anyway?
- [39:29]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
Well, we want them to know the consequences of what they're doing. And first, Michael, I just want to thank the Washington Post and New York Times for their investigative reporting on this. Also the FBI agents who have come forward, and we understand there are others as well who are actively doing that. We want to thank them because it's their bravery and their loyalty to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump, that allowed this story to be told. And we hope that if anyone else is working on this case right now and illegally being told to smear an opponent of the president that they would come forward. But no, Michael, I'm not naive. I've been holding this guy accountable for the last 10 years. A couple months ago, they tried to refer a mortgage fraud case against me, just as they did with Adam Schiff, Tish James and Lisa Cook. We expect something else next month as we get closer and closer to this race. This is just what they do. But the good news is Donald Trump doesn't get to pick the next governor. Californians do.
- [40:30]
Michael
And that's the bottom line. And to that end, Congressman, what is your expectation here or what do you want people to understand about what Kash Patel and his ilk are doing right now, how he's using the Justice Department and explain for viewers just how unusual this is given everything that's come before and in which people walked away going, he did nothing. There's nothing here.
- [40:57]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
The case is closed on this decade old filed during Barack Obama's presidency. I mean, that's how old this is. And every finding was that when we were approached by the FBI, we helped them, we cooperated, we wanted them to be able to do their job. And now Toin who knows what way they're accused now in this reporting of working with the Chinese government to try and have the individual that they thought was spying, they want to work with the government to try and smear a political opponent. I mean, it's just absurd. It's absolutely absurd. But as my lawyerone of our lawyers told me todayand this really kind of stops you right in your tracks. He said if they do this, it'll be the greatest abuse of power by an FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover. And so those are the stakes that we would allow the FBI to just go after the president's political enemies at a time that we see the president equally trying to get rid of mail in voting, preventing women from being able to vote, we can lose these freedoms like that, Michael. And it's coming if enough of us, particularly those inside the building right now who are being asked to do this dirty work, if they don't step up. And for those who are doing the dirty work, you will be in front of congressional committees in no time. And those that speak out, you will be protected.
- [42:18]
Michael
Well, yeah, you just laid it out there very clearly. And it's important for people to understand and contextualize exactly what you said because that's how they want to play this out. We also, Congressman, got some breaking news tonight I want to ask you about. Tonight, a D.C. circuit court ruled that basically Trump is not immune from ongoing civil litigation brought by former Capitol Police officers and others who were injured on January 6th. This is a very significant development. And I just wonder what your reaction is to that news. And tell us what you know yeah,
- [42:56]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
I'm one of the plaintiffs on that lawsuit. It's been going on, you know, for quite some time. And it's not a victory for me. I'm going to continue to persist in seeking justice here. It's a victory for the January 6th police officers who bravely defended the Capitol on January 6th and want justice for what the president did. And just as we expected after the mortgage fraud nonsense, that more would come against me in retaliation, we also expect, you know, more to come and that this is, in fact, motivating Cash Patel and others that I have brought this suit. It's the only surviving lawsuit against the president in this new presidency. But justice has been delivered. What he did on January 6 was deemed by this judge as not an official act. And Donald Trump is going to have to go to trial, and he's going to have to face a jury for what he's done. That's real justice. It is actually going to trial using, you know, the process in this way, a way that is transparent, where you have judges and you have jurors. That's what these January 6th officers are going to get. Not, you know, this, you know, new style of justice where you just go after your opponents, you know, to smear them without going to the courts, without going to jurors. So we are doing the opposite of what Donald Trump and Kash Patel are seeking to do.
- [44:19]
Michael
So I want to follow up on that point because I think it's important then what happens next. There is, you know, obviously, the Trump people are going to squirm and scream as they normally do, and make all efforts towards appeals. But this judge has really kind of opened the door to what you just said to actual an actual trial, depositions, etc. So what do you see happening next year?
- [44:45]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
And we've actually taken many depositions already, and so we are ready to go to trial, to call witnesses. And he's not allowed to escape trial because he is in office. That's long settled law. And so we're seeking, you know, to be in court as soon as possible. And I want Californians to know that this is the style you have to bring to a bully like Donald Trump, that if you are not on offense, holding him accountable, then the most vulnerable in our state are on defense. And so I do this in the same manner that I would work as governor. And standing up to him on behalf of Californians is that you have to make him react and be responsible for his corruption. Otherwise, the most innocent and vulnerable among us are victims of his cruelty.
- [45:33]
Michael
All right. Congressman Eric Swalwell, candidate for Governor of the state of California. Thank you.
- [45:39]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
My pleasure.
- [45:42]
Michael
Okay, folks, that's going to do it for me tonight.
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