BRREAKING NEWS: DON LEMON ARRESTED

Summary

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The Jim Acosta Show — Episode Summary

Episode Title: BRREAKING NEWS: DON LEMON ARRESTED
Air Date: January 30, 2026
Host: Jim Acosta
Guests: Norm Eisen, Katie Fang, Aaron Parnas, Mike Fanone, Olivia, Tommy Christopher

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Episode Overview

This urgent, live edition responds to the breaking news that journalist Don Lemon has been arrested by federal authorities in Los Angeles. Don, a long-time CNN journalist and now independent media figure, was detained allegedly due to his coverage of a protest inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, relating to an immigration crackdown. The episode features rapid reactions from prominent legal and journalistic voices, analyzing the implications for the First Amendment, press freedom, and the current political climate under the Trump administration.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

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1. Breaking News: Don Lemon's Arrest

• 00:07–01:11
  • Jim Acosta announces Don Lemon’s arrest, reading a statement from Don Lemon’s attorney, Abby Lowell, affirming Lemon's First Amendment rights.
  • Acosta: “Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles... The First Amendment exists to protect journalists like Don.”

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2. Legal and Constitutional Analysis

• 01:11–04:13 (Norm Eisen, Katie Fang, Acosta)
  • Eisen and Fang reinforce the legal precedent for journalistic freedom, referencing cases Abbey Lowell has won.
  • Eisen: "It’s a blatant First Amendment violation, and they know it... The three of us are independent journalists who will not be easily bullied." (02:01)
  • Fang calls the arrest "an assault on democracy," warning: “They’re using Don as a trial balloon to see whether they can silence us.” (03:35)
  • Acosta stresses outrage over "The First Amendment is under attack. Full stop." (02:33)

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3. Background of Incident

• 04:13–07:12
  • Acosta: "Federal agents say that Don Lemon violated federal law during a protest at a church in St. Paul... Don was there to witness it and to cover it. He’s a journalist. That’s what he does."
  • Eisen and Fang explain the Trump administration’s pattern of legal intimidation against the press, referencing prior defeats in court and the intention to "bully and threaten and intimidate."

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4. Broader Crackdown on Protest and Press

• 07:12–09:49
  • Acosta and guests discuss Trump’s return and efforts to limit free speech in Minneapolis.
  • Eisen: “The American people, the courts of law, journalistic profession respond and they push back. And I think by wrongly charging Lemon, United States government has made him into a, even more of a spokesman for our issues.” (08:08)
  • Katie Fang: “Where there’s people, there’s power… What Don has been doing… is he has been unfettered. He’s become a man on the street guy… letting people see what is happening.” (09:49)

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5. Effect on Journalists and Personal Reflections

• 11:34–13:18
  • Acosta recalls threats to his own press credentials under Trump, equating Lemon’s arrest to earlier press intimidation.
  • Aaron Parnas highlights a federal judge's scathing rebuke of the prosecution’s lack of evidence, calling the move a terrifying precedent against reporters.
  • Parnas: “There is literally no basis in law here to go after Don Lemon… It is really terrifying to see what they’re doing.” (13:18)

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6. Criminalizing Journalism & Political Messaging

• 14:06–17:24
  • Acosta and Parnas dissect the details: Lemon was present to document a protest against an ICE-affiliated pastor.
  • Parnas: “A journalist is allowed to go and report on things. Good, bad, ugly, doesn’t matter…” (14:43)
  • Acosta: “This is where democracy dies… If they’re allowed to get away with this, that’s authoritarianism. It’s what Viktor Orban does and Putin does.” (16:18)

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7. Disparity in Justice & Double Standards

• 17:41–21:50
  • Discussion of the grand jury and politicized indictments.
  • Mike Fanone: “It’s insane… I was just on his show yesterday evening… They have a vendetta, and they were going to go beyond what would be normal protocol.” (18:07)
  • Acosta and Parnas remark on the lack of investigation of violence against protesters, contrasting it with Lemon’s prosecution.

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8. Chilling Effects on the Media

• 21:50–24:45
  • Fanone, Acosta: Arrest timing was meant for maximum discomfort and intimidation.
  • Fanone: “Not standard protocol… they would contact their attorney and say, listen, your client’s been indicted… The fact that they would arrest him in the evening just so he would have to spend a night in jail shows the extra lengths they’re willing to go.” (22:01)
  • Concerns expressed about what this signals for future Supreme Court decisions regarding journalists’ rights.

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9. Race, Retaliation, and MAGA Tactics

• 25:03–34:45
  • Fanone: “They want to charge a black person with the FACE Act… the irony is, the FACE Act was legislation that was developed to combat the Ku Klux Klan.” (25:03)
  • Acosta: “Trump is racist and he’s always attacked Don in racially loaded ways, calls him stupid and things like that, and it’s disgraceful.” (33:05)
  • Repeated emphasis that this is a "test case"—a warning shot to other journalists and independent media.

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10. Solidarity and Call to Action

• 34:45–42:58
  • Acosta: “Everybody needs to get pissed off… This country is not going to stay like this… People like Don Lemon should be allowed to do their jobs in this country without fear of the government putting them in jail.” (28:50)
  • Olivia: “I felt so much anger… because I had lived a lot of the comments that have been made about people like Don Lemon firsthand during the first Trump administration… It’s retaliation and retribution.” (37:23)
  • Tommy Christopher: “This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment, an egregious attack on the press… This is going to be a rallying point. This is going to be an inflection point.” (53:48)

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11. Reflections on Media, Power, and Next Steps

• 53:40–End
  • Christopher calls out silence from “legacy media” and expresses hope this incident will force unity and resistance in the press community.
  • Acosta: “The American people are about to get hopping mad over all of this… they love the fact that [Don Lemon] doesn’t take this shit.”
  • Tommy Christopher: “Make no mistake about it, this can happen to anyone. This administration can be weaponized and has been weaponized a bit against average American citizens. This is a distraction from the execution of Renee Good and Alex Preddy and all of the other, you know, horrific acts that have been committed in Donald Trump’s name and in the name of the MAGA movement.” (45:04)

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Notable Quotes (with timestamps & attribution)

• "This is an outrage. The First Amendment is under attack. Full stop."
  — Jim Acosta (02:33)

• "It’s a blatant First Amendment violation, and they know it... The three of us are independent journalists who will not be easily bullied."
  — Norm Eisen (02:01)

• "They’re using Don as a trial balloon to see whether they can silence us and where they can scare us into submission."
  — Katie Fang (03:35)

• "If journalists are not able to cover First Amendment protected activity themselves, exercising their First Amendment rights, the Constitution is meaningless."
  — Norm Eisen (04:58)

• "This is what dictators do."
  — Olivia (49:53)

• "This is another assault on American democracy. The First Amendment must stand."
  — Jim Acosta (07:12)

• "A journalist is allowed to go and report on things. Good, bad, ugly, doesn’t matter."
  — Aaron Parnas (14:43)

• "They have a vendetta... I spent 20 years as a DC cop... if you are [denied a warrant], that’s the end of it. They’re going beyond what would be normal protocol."
  — Mike Fanone (18:19)

• "Trump is racist and he’s always attacked Don in racially loaded ways, calls him stupid and things like that, and it’s disgraceful."
  — Jim Acosta (33:05)

• "Make no mistake about it, this can happen to anyone."
  — Mike Fanone (45:04)

• "Their deflection is to attack a journalist because they don’t like being called out and they don’t like being held accountable."
  — Olivia (47:59)

• "Our voices should be free in this country. That is what the Constitution is supposed to guarantee."
  — Jim Acosta (End, 60:03)

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Memorable Moments

• Overlapping Outrage and Urgency: The host and guests repeatedly express “pissed off” emotion, equating today’s events with a test of American democracy.
• Personalization of Threats: Several guests describe the fear and stress of being in the crosshairs, with Fanone saying “When is that knock on the door going to come for us?” (23:41)
• Reflection on Don Lemon’s Impact: Acosta notes how Don’s reporting "lets people see what is happening," making him a symbol of hands-on, unfettered journalism.
• Warning to Media Community: Tommy Christopher and Olivia emphasize this as a pivotal event that will test the resolve and unity of the press: “This is a moment in which journalists need to stand together.” (50:56)
• Repeated Direct Condemnation of the Trump Administration: Guests outline the administration’s pattern of retaliation, double standards, and weaponization of federal authority.

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Concluding Summary

This episode is a bracing, real-time reaction to the arrest of Don Lemon, framed as a direct assault on press freedom and the First Amendment amid a climate of government intimidation and escalating violence against protest and dissent. The mood is one of shock, anger, and rallying solidarity, calling for journalistic unity and broad public protest against a "test case" that could set a dangerous precedent for democracy in the United States.

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Listen to the full episode for further real-time analysis and additional developments throughout the day.

Transcript

[Jim Acosta]

As.

[Aaron Parnas]

All right.

[Jim Acosta]

Welcome to this joint edition of the Jim Acosta show. Katie Fang show the Contrarian. We have breaking news. Don Lemon, our friend and colleague, he has been taken into federal custody. An attorney for Don Lemon, Abby Lowell, very respected attorney. He has put out a statement saying Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists like Don. And I'll read the rest of the statement. Whose role is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There's no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work. I'm joined now by Norm Eisen and Katie Fang. Guys, Norm, you have some information on this? You actually texted this information and said, hey, Jim, heads up. And then I saw the statement from Abby Lowell. This is all breaking right now. And very stunning and very scary, I have to say.

[Norm Eisen]

Yeah, Jim, as soon as Katie and I saw the powerful Abby Lowell statement, our first text was to you. Because, of course, Don is a friend of all three of ours. Was our CNN colleague for many years. I had a regular Thursday night gig. And the idea that a journalist in America for simply covering a story, isn't that what the First Amendment is there for?

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Norm Eisen]

Can be hauled into custody now. The brilliant Abbey Lowell will get this case thrown out just like he got the Tish James case thrown out. Just like Jim's come. Jim Comey's case was thrown out. Katie and I at Democracy Defenders Fund were a part of building the legal theories. We first established them, working with Abby, full disclosure to get Alina Haba disqualified. Then that same theory was used to throw out the phony crony Lindsey Halligan. Illegal indictments. And make no mistake, this is a blatant First Amendment violation, and they know it, Katie. But they're doing it to bully and threaten and intimidate. But the three of us are independent journalists who will not be easily bullied.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, Katie, we're going to stand by our colleague, Don. This. This is an outrage. The First Amendment is under attack. Full stop.

[Katie Fang]

Well, listen, it's. It's an assault on democracy. Right? Because it's so obvious that the reason why this happens is Don goes and exposes the truth. Convicted felon Donald Trump in this administration doesn't want the truth to be out there. Because when the people see what is happening, then of course, they get more and more angry about the state of our country. I will tell you. I just got back from Minneapolis, and I was standing outside of Whipple Federal, and they had just done, for the very first time, use of a drone. And they were obviously driving by when these agents were fully masked. They were using their cell phones and recording our faces. What do you think they're doing with that? So are they now going to say that? Because I was standing with protesters and I was shouting myself, protesting in my protected speech about how I feel about this, and then reporting about it that now that line is blurred in some way, the protesters shouldn't be arrested for exercising their free speech and their right to assembly, and I certainly should not be exposed. What they're doing is they're using Don as a trial balloon to see whether they can silence us and where they can scare us into submission. And I completely am on Norm's position on this. Abbey Lowell is going to kick their asses. But in the meantime, poor Don gets hauled out of his hotel room, has to sit in jail. Jail has to be bonded out. And this is what they do. They use criminal cases because they know that they are very hard on people to have to deal with.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And I.

[Norm Eisen]

Can you imagine, Jim, in the middle of the night, the guy is sitting in his. Sleeping in his hotel room, and they roused him to do this. It's the maximum intimidation campaign. I cut you off.

[Aaron Parnas]

Go ahead.

[Jim Acosta]

No, no, I was just going to say the New York Times is reporting this, and it's saying that. That federal agents say that Don Lemon violated federal law during a protest at a Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, in a case rejected last week by a magistrate. Judge Lemon has said he was simply reporting as a journalist when he entered the city's church on January 18th to observe a demonstration against the immigration crackdown in the area. Norm, that's exactly what Don. Don did. The protesters went into a service at the church, but Don was there to witness it and to cover it. He's a journalist. That's what he does. And that's what Don said, and that's why this whole thing is baloney.

[Norm Eisen]

That's right, Jim. And if journalists are not able to cover First Amendment protected activity themselves, exercising their First Amendment rights, the Constitution is meaningless. But it's not meaningless. We've seen the Trump administration defeated more than 200 times in the courts of law, and this is another one. It's almost like they don't really care in some of this stuff that they do. They're simply using the justice system as a tool of image of intimidation, abuse and bullying. The courts are not going to stand for that. And of course, Don has one of the fiercest fighters of them all. He's a very good friend of Katie and mine. We often litigate with him, the great Abbey Lowell. So fasten your seatbelts. This is going to be a first class pushback on the United States government.

[Katie Fang]

They're not going to win. They don't ever do this to win because they've lost more than they been winning. Right. They're just doing it so that when, and what's crazy is when you're, and you know this, Jim, too, when you're out on the field, it's very fluid. And anything can happen at any time, especially when you have an invasion of a city like Minneapolis. Right. And, and you don't know what's going to happen. What are you supposed to do as a journalist say, oh, that looks a little dicey now. I think I'm going to step away, I'm not going to report it. And when everything calms down, I'm going to interject myself back in to do the reporting. That's not what we do, especially when we're out in the field. And so I think it's such an insult also to the intelligence, the people to think that they're going to think that this is an acceptable way of using the judicial system. It's the dumbest thing that they could do. And again, going after the journalists, going after our fourth estate is what a typical autocratic move. You want to silence your, your, the, the, the free speech of your press. And then what are you going to do? You're only going to have Newsmax out there. You're going to have people that are out there. Yeah, that's what they want.

[Jim Acosta]

You know, the First Amendment applies not only to the press, it applies to free speech. And protesters also have the right to free speech. And what the Trump administration has been trying to do in Minneapolis is crack down on that. They've been trying to make it harder and harder for people to exercise their right to free speech. And Don was simply tagging along and covering something that was vitally important to cover. You want to talk about violating civil liberties? That is what Donald Trump has been doing ever since he got back to the Oval Office. And he's doing it, I mean, on a grand scale, on a grand dystopian 1984 scale in, in the city of Minneapolis, norm. And it's completely out of control. I mean, I, I start my show Every day saying that it's another day that ends in Y. And Donald Trump's assault on American democracy. That's exactly what this is. This is another assault on American democracy. The First Amendment must stand.

[Norm Eisen]

Well, the other thing that is happening, and we've seen it in Minneapolis, is the democracy backlash. When you overreach this way, the American people, the courts of law, journalistic profession respond and they push back. And I think by wrongly charging Lemon, United States government has made him into a, even more of a spokesman for our issues. So I think that they are going to bitterly rue the day that they, that they did this. It seems that they're scratching the itch of the mad king. But then they have to pay the price when they go to court. I don't think it's going to work well.

[Jim Acosta]

And I'll just tell you, I. You know who's watching our Twitter feeds and our social media feeds right now? The Trump people and Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller. She saw my tweet about Don's arrest and she retweeted me and said Don was indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, notably blue state. So they're quite proud of themselves right now, Katie. And, you know, this is, this is what we're, this is what we're seeing across the country. They are violating people's civil rights. They are attacking free speech, they're attacking democracy. And they're relishing it. They're relishing it. And this should horrify everybody.

[Katie Fang]

Let me tell you something. So Norm and I talk a lot about this at the Contrarian, at Democracy Defenders Fund, at Legal Fight Club. You and I talk about this. Jim. I talk about this on my channel. Right, here we go. There's a court of law and there's a court of public opinion. The court of law process is going to roll out the way that it is. And luckily for Don, he does have somebody like Abby in his corner. And again, the Trump administration has been losing more than ever, gets a win. And if it gets a win, it's usually temporary. Number two, the court of public opinion these days is incredibly powerful. We know that the people, when there are people, there is power. That is what was on us. That was posted over in George Floyd Square when I was in Minneapolis. Where there's people, there is power. And what Don has been been doing since he has left legacy media, and we know this so well, is he has been unfettered. And part of what he's done is he has become a man on the street guy, right One of the things he does is he gets out on the street and he talks to the people and he lets them have a voice. And all Don was doing in Minneapolis was he was with the people. He was letting people see through a live stream and through his show, he was letting people see what is happening. And the hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of having a pastor in a church who's also an ICE director, divisional director, and talking about, oh, we love God, we love Jesus, and you turn around and you take little five year old Liam and you haul him to a detention facility in Texas and you're sitting there and you're killing people on the streets. That's not love. That's certainly not what God wants. And so what is wrong with Don just doing reporting as a journalist to show the hypocrisy? It's because it exposes this administration for their lies. And you know that when they get scared, to Norm's point, they run and they run scared and what do they do? They go and they get this bullshit arrest.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right. And, and Norm, as you know, I mean, I had to deal with some of this during the first Trump administration. They took away my press pass. There were times when we were worried I was going to get arrested or my colleagues at CNN were going to get arrested. And it was because Trump doesn't like free speech. Trump doesn't like freedom of the press. He is notoriously thin skinned and cannot handle being reported on in a critical fashion. And this is his way of dealing with it. Aaron Parnas is with us too. Aaron, my goodness. Don's our brother in arms in all this. He's our colleague, he's our friend. I just. It's disgusting to me what's happening right now.

[Aaron Parnas]

It's terrifying. It's truly terrifying.

[Norm Eisen]

You were on the tip of the spear and litigating over your White House accident. One and the same thing is going to happen here with Don.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right, that's right.

[Norm Eisen]

Guys, I'm going to go, I'm going to go get on my plane. Thank you for. Thank you for answering the call when the alarm sounded. It's so good to be here on the barricades fighting for democracy and for the First Amendment with brilliant independent journalists like the two of you.

[Jim Acosta]

Thank you, Norm. Keep us posted, keep us updated.

[Katie Fang]

I have to drop too.

[Jim Acosta]

Oh, okay. Bye, Katie.

[Katie Fang]

You guys, I gotta drop, but Aaron, it's good to see you, my friend. You take care of yourself, Jim. I'll see you later. Bye.

[Jim Acosta]

Guys, sounds good. Okay, Bye, Katie. All right, Katie's. Katie's got to do a panel discussion, and I'm doing one after her. We're at an event in Florida right now, so we're all running around crazy. Sorry about that. Aaron's a little chaotic, and Norm is getting on a plane. He just did his thing, and he's getting on a plane. But, Aaron, you were saying.

[Aaron Parnas]

No, what I was saying is I think a lot of people today should go and read the federal judge's letter to the 8th Circuit after Don was. After they first tried to arrest Don. And a magistrate judge said, no, we're not going to sign that criminal complaint because there's not enough evidence. The Trump administration appealed, filed a writ of mandamus to this district court judge, and the district court judge says, I've never seen anything like this in my time as a judge. No judge had ever seen, like, anything like this in their time as a judge. And so I want people to go read that, because there is literally no basis in law here to go after Don Lemon. It is. It is really terrifying to see what they're doing. And I believe they also arrested another journalist that was on the ground there with Lemon to Georgia for as well this morning. So it's very scary. It's very scary.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And I mean, Aaron, we should break this down for folks. I mean, Don and these protesters, they. They went into this church. The. The protesters went into the church to protest a pastor there who I guess worked for ice, and they were making the point, you know, how can you be a pastor at a church and also work for ice? And. And the way they're conducting themselves these days with these operations. And Don is there covering it. I mean, I don't know. You know, he's just a journalist. You know, he's a. He's a independent media personality and host, and he's just covering it and. And doing a great job of it. And they're trying to criminalize reporting and.

[Aaron Parnas]

Journalism is what I mean. It runs parallel to, like, there are examples throughout history where you have a journalist embedded, for example, in a cartel or in the Taliban. Right. Are you now going to charge them with terrorism or conspiracy to distribute narcotics? No. I mean, a journalist is allowed to go and report on things. Good, bad, ugly, doesn't matter. And I think they're going to. I wouldn't be surprised if they fail to indict him under the Face act, which is what they got the protesters under, which is the interruption of the church service. I think they're going to try to go after him for some type of deprivation of civil rights of those inside the church, which makes absolutely no sense. And I'm pretty confident that this case is going to get thrown out pretty quickly.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, it's bullshit, but it's a way to harass people. It's a way to make people think, oh, maybe I shouldn't do this, or maybe I need to be careful covering Trump. I mean, that's what happened with me when they took my press pass away. It was a way to. I mean, ultimately, everybody said, you're going to lose. This is not going to work out. And we were encouraged to sue and we sued and we won pretty quickly, and they backed down. But it's a way to harass, and it's a way to send a message to your colleagues. It's like, hey, we're going to mess with you, too. If you do what Don did, or if you do what Jim did, or if you do do what somebody else did, we're going to make life difficult. And we're seeing it happen right now with the Associated Press. The way they kick them out of the. The Oval Office and Air Force One, that. That is, that is intended to punish the Associated Press. Obviously, that's what happened the beginning of the administration, but it was also intended to tell everybody else, get in line. You better call it the Gulf of America.

[Aaron Parnas]

Right?

[Jim Acosta]

And that's. This is where democracy dies. This is where democracy crumbles. If they're allowed to get away with this, that's authoritarianism. It's what Viktor Orban does and Putin does.

[Aaron Parnas]

Well, this is what he wants right now. He wants people not to go to Minnesota anymore. He wants people not to film ICE arrests anymore. He wants people to stop. Because from the beginning, he's never been upset about what's happening on the streets. He's upset that we're seeing what's happening on the streets. And so he wants people to stop seeing it. And so that's why he's arresting Don Lemon. He wants to make an example out of Lemon. And I think his first appearance, Don, will be appearing in court at some time today in la. And then I think he was indicted, presumably in Minnesota.

[Jim Acosta]

Listen, this is what Katie Miller says that. Katie, Katie, I. I tweeted this out, and then Katie Miller, Stephen Miller's wife, really, who's very active online, retweeted me. Yeah, she retweeted me, and she said that Don was indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, a blue state, she says. And, you know They're. They're delighting in this. They're relishing it. They're enjoying it.

[Aaron Parnas]

People forget. It's very easy to get an indictment. All right? Like, you need 12 out of 23 grand jurors to find that there was probable cause, that, that's. That a crime happened. There's. It's a very low bar, and I wouldn't be surprised if you had a number of grand jurors saying, no, no, we didn't want to indict. And that's right. So we'll see.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, and I mean, Aaron, that's a very good point, because remember the James Comey situation where they. They couldn't get a federal prosecutor to indict James Comey. They go and get Lindsey Halligan, who is a hack, and I guess she's not even the district attorney anymore. Right. But they got some of the members of the grand jury, but not all of them. And Fanon is here, too. Mike, your reaction to this. I know you're close with Don, too. This is a absolute outrage.

[Mike Fanone]

It's insane. I mean, I was just on his show yesterday evening.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, but we knew this was. I. I had a feeling this is going to happen.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, I mean, I knew they were going to try. I just, you know, clearly, they. They have a vendetta, and they were going to go beyond, you know, what would be normal protocol, which is to, you know, to attempt to get a warrant signed once they're declined or denied, normally, that's it. I mean, to give you a little bit of, uh, Insight, I spent 20 years as a DC cop. I applied for hundreds of arrests and search warrants. I was never denied. And if you are, that's the end of it. You know, unless they come up with some type of significant additional information, which I can't imagine what the hell that would be. You know, Don was. Don's a journalist. Everybody's known that he's a journalist for decades, and he covered an event that was, you know, of national prominence. This protest at a church in which they went to, you know, raise an issue about the fact that the pastor there, this supposed man of God, is also a supervisor with. With ICE.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

It's outrageous, but it shows you that the lengths that they're willing to go to pursue their political prosecutions and persecutions of. Of individuals that. That dare to question the regime.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, no, and I mean. And, Don, again, I keep saying that. I'm almost like my jaw is dropping here, because it's just. It's stupid. The stupidity is Staggering here, because Don is literally doing what a journalist does. You go in with a camera, you. Or your phone or what, and you're following demonstrators who have. I mean, they have the right to free speech, and Don has the right of freedom of the press to cover the free speech. This is free speech on top of free speech, Aaron. And it's just. It's nuts. It's. It's something you. You or I would do.

[Aaron Parnas]

Well, I mean, what's even nuts to me is they didn't. They're not even investigating the murder of Preddy or.

[Jim Acosta]

Good.

[Aaron Parnas]

Right. Like, not even an investigation. And they're indicting Don Lemon. I mean, that, to me, is just hypocrisy at its finest. I mean, it. It really just shows that they're not serious about actually holding people accountable. Rather, they just want to placate to the president's wishes, which I'm sure he was personally aggrieved by what Don Lemons was doing. And then Pam Bondi was enraged when the magistrate wouldn't sign off on the criminal complaint. And here you. And here you have it. So they continue.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, they didn't give up the first time. They kept going. And that. That is. I mean, that's, you know, their typical response to everything. Mike and Don's gonna get out of this. But the thing that pisses me off is, I guess they have. They've had Don in jail overnight. I mean, I guess we're trying to get to the bottom of this, but that's so up.

[Aaron Parnas]

They arrested him late last night. So that. This is what they do. When I was practicing law and dealing with the doj, they like to arrest people after hours so that they have to spend the night in jail. So that's what they did with Don. He's gonna have his first appearance where they'll work out some type of bail package. They're probably going to restrict his travel to certain areas. So we'll see.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, but even. Even Donald Trump, when he got his mug shot, didn't have to spend a night in jail.

[Mike Fanone]

They.

[Jim Acosta]

They let his ass out right away. He got his mug shot, and then he and Mike. And then they let his ass out right away.

[Mike Fanone]

You know, let me just say this. Like, this is not standard protocol for. For a case like this. You know, typically in a situation like this, outside of this administration, they would contact their attorney and say, listen, your client's been indicted. You know, have him turn himself in, set a hearing. They would go. They would turn themselves in, be processed, and then be Released. You know, this, the, the fact that they would arrest him in, in the evening time just so for the mere fact that he would have to spend a night in jail just so shows the, you know, extra lengths that they're willing to go to inflict maximum amount of discomfort and, and, and to instill fear. Not in, just into Don. Because I, I can imagine that Don is probably sitting back right now thinking, man, I'm gonna get a bazillion followers out of this.

[Jim Acosta]

Exactly.

[Mike Fanone]

Not wrong. He's not wrong.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, good for him. Honestly. I mean, that happened to me when.

[Mike Fanone]

I lost my press, everybody's attention. I mean, you know, it's going to have the reverse effect.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, that's right.

[Mike Fanone]

But, you know, it's still like, we'll.

[Jim Acosta]

All work for Don one day, but that's okay. Keep going, Mike.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, I, I joke about with him all that all the time, but, you know, it's, it's still, it's terrifying.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

You know, and, and to have to live like all of us do in this space, I, I guarantee you, I think about it.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

But I'm sure you, the both of the two of you do, Aaron and Jen, that eventually. When is that knock on the door gonna come for us?

[Jim Acosta]

Well, and I, I will tell you, I mean, I, I've said this to people, and I'll say it again. Like, the thing that scares me right now is like, if they were to start taking people's press passes away, I don't know what would happen in the courts. You know, the courts are changing, you know, minute by minute during this new Trump regime. And what, what happens when a Don Lemon case gets to the Supreme Court? What happens when a press pass case gets to the Supreme Court? Does the MAGA Supreme Court stand up for the First Amendment? I don't know. And so, I mean, Don, I mean, let's, you know, we don't want to be too, you know, nonchalant about this. I mean, there's, there's a real possibility here that they're using this as a test case to silence and suppress free speech and freedom of the press. That this is like. And they're going to keep, they're going to keep chipping away at this or attempt to chip away at it, it seems to me.

[Mike Fanone]

But I talked to Don about this, you know, previously when, when he first, you know, when it first came out that they had attempted to, to secure an arrest warrant for him for the protest and, and his news coverage at the church in, in Minneapolis and.

[Jim Acosta]

You.

[Mike Fanone]

Know, I had said that they want to charge a black person with the Face act with violating the Face Act. For those of you that are not familiar, the Face act was legislation that was developed to combat the Ku Klux Klan and their, you know, fear and intimidation tactics. And so, you know, this administration, in its, you know, racist irony, wanted to charge people of color with violation of that act.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

So I wouldn't be surprised if. If the charges stem from. From that. I don't know if we have any details or if there's been any release of that information, but that would not surprise me in the least.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I don't have it yet, but, I mean, we should recap and just get people up to speed with what's happening right now. We can put the statement up on screen by Abby Lowell, attorney for Don Lemon. It Lemon was taken into custody. Custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists, whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work. And Abby makes a great point here in the other part of the statement. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention, resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court. I mean, Aaron, that is a really good point here because. And here's a picture of Don in church that day doing his reporting. He's holding a microphone, doing what reporters do. Hakeem Jeffries has put out a tweet condemning this. I will say I just saw this in the last several minutes. And this is from Hakeem Jeffries. Don Lemon is an accomplished journalist whose urgent work is protected by the First Amendment. There is zero basis to arrest him. He should be freed immediately. Trump Justice Department is illegitimate. They will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution. I mean, Aaron, I mean, we need to make the point here. They apparently are going to allow the people who shot and killed Alex Preddy to just sort of walk free here.

[Aaron Parnas]

Well, Trump called him an insurrectionist last night.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, that's right. And, and, And, Renee, good. Same thing, same deal. But they'll arrest Don Lemon. Tell me how up that is.

[Aaron Parnas]

I mean, it's. It's insane. It's insane. I mean, I. They're not even, like. It's not even. They're not even investigating no civil rights investigation into the guys who killed Alex Pretty or Renee Good. I mean, it's.

[Mike Fanone]

Right.

[Aaron Parnas]

It's the double standard that's on clear display. But also, I mean, Trump is calling now Alex Preddy an insurrectionist, and then at the same time, pardoned all the folks on January 6th. Right. Like the. The complete lawlessness of the administration is on full display, and it has been for a year now. I do think that this is a test case. I do think they're trying to see whether or not they can successfully do this with Don Lemon so they can go after other people as well. But it. I mean, it's a scary time. It's a scary time, Jim. And I just. Listen, I appreciate you doing this live. I have to hop off in a minute, but.

[Jim Acosta]

Oh, yeah, no worries, Aaron. I got it. Yeah. And thank you for texting me and. And reaching out, and I'm glad you jumped on right away. I know you want to do your work. And Aaron does an amazing job as an independent journalist and represents, like, the young people coming up. And, you know, the thing that pisses me off is that young people should not take this as being normal. This is not normal.

[Aaron Parnas]

No.

[Jim Acosta]

This is not America. And I. I sometimes I get a little emotional with these things, and people say, oh, you're too emotional. I don't give a. This country is not going to stay like this. I just want everybody to understand it is not going to stay like this, and we are going to make sure it does not stay this way. People like Don Lemon should be allowed to do their jobs in this country without fear of the government putting them in jail. That is not how this country works. But, Aaron, thank you very much.

[Aaron Parnas]

I appreciate you guys.

[Jim Acosta]

Sorry for the speech to delay you taking off, but, Mike, I mean, our. Our buddy Don is in trouble here. I. I don't want to. I don't want to be too, you know, casual about this. This is. This is wrong.

[Mike Fanone]

I mean, it's. It's beyond wrong. I mean, I think that, you know, looking at the tweet from Hakeem Jeffries. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. This is illegitimate Department of Justice, and I think that's what everyone needs to take from this. Legitimate. Pam Bondi is corrupt. Corrosive. She's corrupt. Void. The integrity of the Department of justice. And, and I mean, this is.

[Jim Acosta]

It.

[Mike Fanone]

Is just, it's beyond outrageous.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. Disgusting. Every American, it should piss off every American. And it will piss off, I mean, every good, patriotic American, non, non, crazy MAGA Americans will be pissed off about this. In MAGA world, they will whip this up into a frenzy and say, aha. See, but that's, that's because they are part of a fascist movement in this country. And American Americans are just not fascist. They're just not. They, they don't want that. And they don't want journalists getting arrested for doing their jobs. I mean, we're showing a picture right now.

[Tommy Christopher]

Mike.

[Jim Acosta]

He's. He's holding a microphone. He's holding a micro exhibit A. Your honor.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, I mean, you know, you're right. I think that the vast majority of Americans recognize this for what it is. Obviously, you know, maga. It's, you know, it's constitutional rights for me, not for thee.

[Jim Acosta]

Exactly.

[Mike Fanone]

You oppose the MAGA agenda. If you oppose Donald Trump and his fascist authoritarian regime, then you don't deserve constitutional rights, which obviously is not up to them to determine, but in their mind it is. And so, you know, this administration has picked certain political targets like James Comey, Letitia James, and now Don Lemon, who they see as, you know, low hanging fruit in MAGA world. They can go out and violate these individuals constitutional rights and, and they can bend and break the law to pursue criminal charges against them without raising, you know, too much issue from, from MAGA world because MAGA world hates these people. But you also see, you know, the, the track record that they have now. They're batting zero in their political prosecutions against what they view as, as Donald Trump's, you know, enemies. His enemies list.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Mike Fanone]

But it, it's, you know, not to discount their efforts to do so. And, and also, I mean, listen, it's, it is incredibly stressful to, you know, to go, to experience something like this, and especially when it's coming from, you know, we all recognize how corrupt this government is. We all, you know, almost have come to expect this behavior. But it, you know, not to, to discount how terrifying this is to, to experience it firsthand, you know, to know that your government, the government of the United States of America has been weaponized against you because of, you know, the corruption of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And I'll say right now, I mean, Trump likes to. With Don, because Don is black.

[Aaron Parnas]

Yeah.

[Jim Acosta]

And we just need to say that too. Trump is racist and he's always Attacked Don in racially loaded ways, calls him stupid and things like that, and it's disgraceful. It's disgusting.

[Aaron Parnas]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

I mean, the administration is racist. The entire administration, the MAGA agenda, their political agenda and their cultural agenda are racist. Yeah, I mean, we've seen that play out in, in almost every aspect of, of this administration.

[Aaron Parnas]

So.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, I mean, but it's, I.

[Aaron Parnas]

It.

[Mike Fanone]

Just pisses me the off.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, yeah. And, and people need to stay pissed off right now because this country is not going to change if you're complacent and you just hold back and you say, well, you know, what can I do? Everybody needs to get pissed off. You know, everybody needs to take to the streets, everybody needs to get online, get on social media, talk about how they support Don, how they, they're going to stand up for Don. And you know, this is not some social media thing where, you know, Don's doing this for clicks or any of that bullshit. Don went to Minneapolis to go cover the killing of an American citizen by ICE and was covering a protest. And then the federal government said, oh, and then Trump people said, oh, here's a way to go after Don. We'll with him this way. You know, they, they went in search of a technicality that they think is a, is a, is a viable legal case. And it's not, I mean, they just, they're just kidding themselves. They're going to lose.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, no, I, I, you know, they're going to lose, but they're also, they're relentless in their efforts to, to pursue their political enemies. And they, they are bringing to bear, you know, the entirety of the federal government against individual Americans. I mean, this is literally what the Founding Fathers, you know, feared most and, and were most angered by that caused us to separate from, from the British crown. I mean, this is tyranny. This is, you know, authoritarianism. It is anti Americanism. And Yeah, I, I, I agree. I mean, we're, it just happens to be Blackout Friday, you know, protesting. Nobody should be going to school shopping. And I think we need to add, you know, a special remembrance for, for Don Lemon and, and the vital effort that he's played in informing us about, you know, the injustices committed by this administration. Yeah, his efforts, because he really is, you know, he's all in for all the right reasons. And that's why I love the guy so much.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, no, and I mean, we need to show, I mean, here's, here's an image right here of Don and, and for folks who are just tuning in, it's Top of the hour. Don Lemon's been arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles. I'm with Mike Fanone. We've got, we had Norm Eisen and Katie Fang on and Aaron Parnas and, and you know, the feds are saying it's because Don went into this church a couple weeks ago and was reporting in the middle of a service, but Don was following protesters who were going into the church and he was covering their. Exercising their rights to free speech. And Don was exercising his rights from the press overnight in Los Angeles. Federal agents went to his hotel room. I guess he was there to cover the Emmy Awards. Grammy Awards. Exactly. And he was arrested. He was arrested for, for doing this constitutionally protected work. And it's just absolutely outrageous. There's Olivia. Olivia, you know, this is the stuff that you and I have been talking about that we've been worried about for so long, and here we are.

[Olivia]

Yeah, I was specifically worried about people like, like Don, to be honest, and people like you, Jim, because I know to me this is complete retaliation and retribution against someone who has been holding them to account for years. And I say this because when I read the news this morning, I just, I felt so much anger, to be honest, and just, I was irate and shock. But I guess in many ways, mostly anger because I had lived a lot of the comments that have been made about people like Don Lemon firsthand during the first Trump administration. And I know that he makes him angry. And it's because he has always been hard hitting and has always called out truth and has called them on what they've been doing. And so I am beside myself on what they are doing. Obviously, this is an attack on free press. And furthermore. Hi, Michael. I would say this is an attack on independent media especially, too, because I think they saw this as an opportunity. And that is why I think anyone in the space, whether regardless of what space you're in, should be very concerned about what we're seeing here.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, it is. I mean, and, and you know, this is, this is chilling in a way that you just mentioned, Olivia, because, you know, when they went after me in my press pass, that was going after corporate media, one of the networks, that kind of a thing. Don is an independent journalist. And so this is going after an independent journalist. This is going after independent media. By going after don't and Mike, I mean that. That means there's a whole slew of us that now has to think about whether the federal government's going to come after us.

[Mike Fanone]

Well, I, I mean, again, like, none of this is shocking to me. Yeah, I was a little surprised after the initial warrant was declined, but I think that, you know, even, even my surprise was probably rooted in my experience as a actual professional law enforcement officer, not one who has been corrupted by Donald Trump's DOJ and, you know, is willing to circumvent protocol and procedure and even the law to pursue charges against Donald Trump's political opponents. I, Yeah, I mean, it's. We all have a target on our back. I've said that for a very long time. You know, anybody that, that challenges this administration, that speaks out against Donald Trump, that points out, you know, the illegality and, and immorality, we all have a target.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Olivia, I was, I don't know if you saw what we were saying earlier. I think you told me you were walking your dog and coming back in. But Katie Miller, I guess I put out a tweet about this that Don had been arrested. And then Katie Miller retweeted me and, and said, oh, yes, it was a grand jury. It was a jury in, in Minnesota, a blue state who did this. And so they're enjoying this. They're having a good time with this. They're doing high fives over at the White House and they're going to lose, they're going to lose this case. And, but they've, they've done what they wanted to do, which is harass Don, make his life miserable and for, for a few minutes. But Don's going to win this thing.

[Olivia]

Don will win this thing. And I did see, I actually, it's interesting you said that because when I was walking back, I was looking online because I was like, you know, here goes the right wing propaganda machine in 3, 2, 1. And there it was. And so I also think that this is just red meat for their base. And I think that they're going to use this to also give them a low hanging fruit, when I would say, and to distract. And we know that that is their tactic. Right. So they're going to use this and they're going to use it because they know they are on the losing end of this narrative of what's happening in our cities and what's happening on immigration and on ice. And so what do they do? They're deflecting by going after a free press, which is, again, gets back to our concerns of what it is. And so, you know, I'm sure, you know, I can't wait to see what Megyn Kelly says since she loves to talk about Don Lemon and she Loves talking about you, so I'll be looking out for that.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, well, she's, she's horrible. I mean, she is a propagandist. I mean, Megyn Kelly, I mean, she's, she's somebody who, you know, Trump went after her. She kind of saw the light for a while and then she said, oh, I'm not making enough money. Let me go back to being a Trump. Propaganda. I mean, that's selling your soul. So we don't really care.

[Olivia]

She's an opportunist.

[Jim Acosta]

She's an opportunist. That's being, that's being nice. That's being nice.

[Olivia]

I mean, she's diplomatic, Chips.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I know. She's, she's a fraud. And there are a lot of people in MAGA world who are frauds and all they really care about is, is kissing up to the Dear Leader because either a, they are completely bananas crazy like he is, and they believe this and they just want to be a fascist, authoritarian country where he and his, his royal court rule over us forever and ever, which is insane, it's nuts. Or they're just trying to make a buck and they're just trying to make a buck off of Donald Trump and that's what all of MAGA is doing right now. And they'll, they'll have a good time with this and they'll amplify this and they'll justify it and all the stupid ass wipes on Twitter will retweet this and Elon Musk will have a good time with it. But they're all frauds. They're all phonies. They're all full of shit like Donald Trump. They're full of shit. And they understand full well that a Barack Obama was doing this or Joe Biden was doing this. They'd all have a hissy fit and piss their pants, Mike. They would all have a hissy fit and piss their pants. Piss their pants like the babies that they are. But they love it that they're going after Don because, you know, Don is tough. Don goes after Trump. Don, Don gives him a hard time and, and calls him out for his lies and his, and that's what he hates. And he hates it. He hates it so much that he will do anything to make it stop because he is not dealing with a full deck. He's not all there.

[Mike Fanone]

Yeah, no, I mean, I, I, I've stopped pointing out the hypocrisies of this administration and, and the MAGA movement one, because they don't care. And, and I don't care really to. To change any hearts or minds at this point. It's just all about defeating them. It's about defeating this administration and then holding the administration to account for its lawless and unconstitutional actions to include these political prosecutions. And so, you know, I think that I. I hope there is a tremendous. I. I expect there to be a tremendous turnout in support of Don Lemon. I will certainly be flying to wherever his initial hearing is and. And, you know, standing by him. But, uh, this is. This is an outrage, and it should piss off everyone. And, you know, again, I know Don Lemon is a, you know, quote, unquote celebrity, but make no mistake about it, this can happen to anyone.

[Aaron Parnas]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

This administration can be weaponized and has been weaponized a bit against average American citizens. This is a distraction from the execution of Renee Good and Alex Preddy and all of the other, you know, horrific acts that have been committed in Donald Trump's name and in the name of the MAGA movement.

[Jim Acosta]

It is a distraction from their in. In Minnesota. And they killed Renee Good. They killed Alex Preddy. As Abby Lowell, Don's lawyer, says, they're not. They're not arresting those guys, but they're not even investigating. They're not even investigating them. Well, they say they're doing an internal investigation, which is code for sweeping it under the MAGA rug. And, you know, what were you saying about Don being a celebrity? Donald Trump once said that when you're a celebrity, you can get away with it. Donald Trump once said, if you're a celebrity, you can get away with it. And we know what Donald Trump has gotten away with over the years. He's gotten away with a lot over the years. And Don, you know, contrast all of Donald Trump's crimes against humanity, crimes against the American people, with Don Lemon going into a church and covering a protest. And tell me and Don Lemon spent the night in jail, and Donald Trump has never spent the night in jail. Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

You know, I also want to point out the fact that if you actually go back and watch the coverage, you know, Don didn't just interview people that were there to protest. He also interviewed the pastor, as you.

[Jim Acosta]

Can see we're showing it right here.

[Mike Fanone]

And interviewed people that were in the congregation and asked them, you know, their thoughts and feelings about, you know, the protest, about having a. A pastor at their church who was, you know, not only affiliated with. With ICE, but also a supervisory agent who coordinated ICE's efforts in the state of Minnesota. And so I. You know, of course, that's newsworthy. You Know, given everything that's been happening in the targeting of, of the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis by this administration, you know, the two agent involved killings that took place, as well as the countless other acts of aggression and violence committed against members of the community by ICE and cbp. And so again, Don Lemon is a journalist and he was doing what, you know, journalists do, good journalists, and enjoys the protection of the First Amendment at least until, you know, up until this administration took over.

[Jim Acosta]

And Olivia, you worked inside the Trump administration for the first term. You know how sensitive they are to criticism.

[Tommy Christopher]

They are.

[Olivia]

And I think this is what, this is all part of what's happened here, I think, Jen, is a combination of this, is that they were being scrutinized for the events in Minnesota and their deflection is to attack a journalist because they don't like being called out and they don't like being held accountable. And so instead of, like Mike said, instead of investigating, conducting a real independent investigation on these law enforcement, enforcement officers who conducted these killings, they are instead targeting the press in this situation. And again, I mean, we've talked about this. They're doing it because they are sending a message to everyone else, right? This is what this is, one of their tools is just to create this chilling effect where they are attempting to silence others and, and send that message to others where if you do this, if you go out there, just like they've tried to criminalize dissent, as we've seen in some of their executive orders and their terminology of calling people domestic terrorists, this is all one big part of their strategy here is to isolate people, to create this effect of fear, to scare people like protesters who are exercising their freedom of speech and other journalists and independent media. So I think, and this is something that they've long been after, Jim. I think when it comes to journalists who have asked him the tough questions, that's why Trump consistently uses derogatory language in his Oval Office press briefings where he attacks journalists directly or he demeans women especially. We've seen the terms that he's used because they don't like it when you question them and you call out truth, right?

[Jim Acosta]

Trump saying, quiet, piggy, you know, aren't you stupid? You know, he, he, he talks to journalists and talks about journalists. I mean, he's called them fake news and the enemy of the people. I know that all too well. I mean, this is what Donald Trump's attitude is towards the press in this country.

[Olivia]

And it's, you know, it's what dictators Do.

[Jim Acosta]

It's what dictators do. Yes, it's what dictators do.

[Mike Fanone]

I, you know, I'm, I'm waiting for, and I know there's been a lot of calls about this, and I've seen, you know, talking in, you know, in the, the independent media forums, where is, where are the other journalists, you know, where are the nightly news hosts? Where are the, you know, legacy media reporters, you know, to stand in solidarity with their fellow journalists? Why do they continuously ignore these abusive remarks and the abuse and violation of their, you know, First Amendment protected profession? Yeah, so I, I'll, I'll be waiting to see what the reaction is from, you know, from legacy media. Obviously. I know what it's going to be from, from Don's peers here in, in independent media.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Mike Fanone]

But, you know, this is a moment in which journalists need to, to stand together. This is an attack on, on the First Amendment and it's an attack on, on the profession of journalism.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, it really is, Mike. That's so true. And I, I hope our friends in legacy media do stand in solidarity with Don. They have not covered themselves in glory over the last year. There's been a lot of bending the knee. And my guess is, is that some of them, maybe not all of them, but some of them are going to be afraid to take up for Don in all of this. And it's going to be, it's going to be on us in independent media to stand up for Don, to rally behind Don, to make sure that Don comes through this in flying colors, which I'm sure he will. He doesn't need all of us to do that, but I'm sure he will. But the chilling thing in all of this is that we know they've been going after corporate media. Donald Trump can't stand it when they're saying nasty things about, on cable news or on network news or whatever, when they're critical of him and so on. But I'm a little worried about this, what looks like, you know, an entry into trying to intimidate independent media and independent journalism. And, you know, this cannot stand. It just cannot be allowed to stand or we're in big trouble, because that's where, that's why a lot of us are in independent journalism. We don't want to deal with being censored by corporate press, corporate, you know, management types who are wringing their hands, nervous about the Dear Leader or his minions calling the offices and saying, hey, why are you going after Donald Trump in this way? We don't have to worry about that. And so this. This just can't be allowed to stand, you know. You know, this. Ha. This needs to move through the court system quickly. And John. John needs to get a resounding victory fast to nip this in the bud, it seems to me.

[Olivia]

Yeah, this is definitely a moment that's going to test us. This is a true test of what is to come.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. Well, guys, I appreciate you jumping on. I've got a. I've got. I'm in a hotel in Florida in case, folks, why it looks so janky behind. It's actually a nice place, but I'm here to do a conference. There's Tom. Oh, there's Tommy Christopher with Mediaite. I got a quick comment from you, Tommy. I got a roll. But, Tommy, I mean, just can you analyze this from a media standpoint and a freedom of the press and First Amendment standpoint? You're used to covering this stuff over at Media. You guys cover this. I mean, this is. This is really an attack on the press in this moment right now.

[Tommy Christopher]

Yeah, no, and I wanted to say hi. Hi, Mike. And hi, Olivia.

[Olivia]

Hi, Tommy.

[Mike Fanone]

Hey, Tommy.

[Tommy Christopher]

Not really a good morning, but I was. What Mike said. And, you know, I think that this is going to be key. Yes, this is absolutely an egregious attack on the First Amendment, an egregious attack on the press. And, Jim, you could not be more correct in that our colleagues, our former colleagues and our current colleagues have not covered themselves in glory standing up to the abuses of the press by Trump. You and I have talked about this time and time again.

[Jim Acosta]

Oh, yeah.

[Tommy Christopher]

You know, where was anybody on Air Force One when he called that reporter piggy? So this is like the piggy moment times a thousand.

[Jim Acosta]

And.

[Tommy Christopher]

But I do think my early indications are that this is going to be a rallying point. This is going to be an inflection point. I hate to do this type of comparison, but coming so soon after the killing of Alex Predding, this is like. This is that same sort of event, the kind of galvanizing event, and I think that Trump is going to regret this. First of all, I don't think that they're going to back down the way they did with. With ICE in Minneapolis. I don't think they can afford to. I think they're going to set this up as, you know, the. The lame steam media versus religion, you know, and so they'll be able to climb down off of it, and they're going to wish they did because, you know, as a wise poet once said that Don Lemon is Not the one. So even, I mean, you know, you were saying that they're going to lose this case faster than they lost your press pass case. That could be the case. But Don Lemon is not the kind of guy that's going to let this go.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Tommy Christopher]

And I think we're going to see this at the Supreme Court one way or the other. And I think that, you know, I mean, even with. Look, nobody has confidence in the Trump Supreme Court, but there have been times when things are so out of whack and so fucked up that they just have to. And those things. I think there's going to be a six. Three. You know, but for now, I mean, I'm still catching up on this. Where is Don? Is he still in jail?

[Jim Acosta]

Apparently he is. I, I reached out to Abby Lowell just to see if he could give us an update on how Don is doing, but we were on with Norm Eisen earlier and Katie Fang and, and Norm indicated that he believes that Don is still in custody. So we don't know. We'll find out. I assume there are press people going to wherever he's likely being held in Los Angeles and that there will be photographs and so on when Don is released. And, you know, the thing that I worry about, Tommy, I agree with you. There's, there's reason to be optimistic here. And, and Donald Trump should know that he just did Don the biggest favor that he could possibly do. So he's like, basically elevated Don. He, he, he's. Trump is not smart in this regard. You know, this happened with me in my press pass case. They think that they're hurting you. And really it's sort of like, where do I send the chat? You know what I mean? It's like, you know, Don is, Don is going to reap a lot of media attention out of this, and it's going to help the cause of his program and the greater cause of independent journalism. I think at the end of this. And the MAGA Supreme Court, they can put their fingers in the wind. Right now, Donald Trump is about as popular as Jeffrey Epstein right now. That's what's happening with Donald Trump. His popularity level is coming down to the point of Jeffrey Epstein. And the American people aren't going to stand for this shit. They're just not going to stand for this long term. And the MAGA people in the Supreme Court, they can put their finger in the wind and they can see where this is going. They don't want four or five seats added to the Supreme Court because they're a bunch of crackpots. And so the American people are about to get hopping mad over all of this. Tommy, I agree with you. The Minneapolis thing, that was a. That's been a galvanizing event. And I think when Trump goes after beloved figures of the press and people, MAGA might not like Don, but a lot of American people like Don Lemon, you go through an airport, go somewhere public with Don Lemon, people love them, some Don Lemon, and they love the fact that he doesn't take this shit. And we're not going to take this.

[Tommy Christopher]

Yeah, no. You know, here's the other thing. You know, there were a lot of hardcore conservatives who I think are generally supportive of Trump who revolted over this stuff of. Over the Alex Freddie killing and this notion that he shouldn't have had a gun. And I think that there are. There are people not maybe hardcore maga, but I think you're. People like Joe Rogan, people like.

[Jim Acosta]

Yes.

[Tommy Christopher]

You know, there are a lot of people who are going to look at this and say, this is the bridge too far. You know, I do want to ask all three of you, what do you do? Are you concerned with Don's safety while he's in custody?

[Jim Acosta]

Mike, what do you think?

[Mike Fanone]

I, you know, I think that. I'm sure he's in isolation. I. I couldn't imagine this administration would want to see anything happen to him during the time that he's processed, because, you know, again, he's. He's only being, you know, held prior to processing, has a presumption of innocence. He hasn't been found guilty of anything. I think if he was sentenced and put in prison, they wouldn't give two shits what happened to him. But at this point, I. I really think that they're looking for the, you know, that's what it's all about. They want. They want the arrest photo and the perp walk so they can leak it from the press, so they can try to embarrass Don, which, you know, I. I think, like, you know, you were saying, Tommy's gonna have the absolute reverse effect. I think, you know, this is going to grab international attention. People are incredibly sympathetic to. To the First Amendment to protect it.

[Tommy Christopher]

Yeah. What about you, Jim? What do you think?

[Jim Acosta]

I mean, I will tell you, right, I think Don Lemon is a lot more popular behind bars than Donald Trump would ever be.

[Tommy Christopher]

I can't hear you guys. I don't know if you can hear me.

[Jim Acosta]

And I think that, you know, that. That Don is going to be just fine. He's Going to come out of this in flying colors. Guys, I gotta run, but I really appreciate you jumping on with me. Tommy, I gotta run, too. I don't know if you're still there, but I gotta run. I'm at it. I'm at an event and I gotta get going, but I will. We'll be doing this throughout the day. We'll jump back on live with everybody throughout the day as we follow this. I think we should get some. We need to get some updates on what's happening with Don and get back to everybody. But we'll do it throughout the day and so stay tuned for more updates. I'll put out it on my socials when we're going to be back live again. But thanks, Tommy. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Olivia. Really appreciate it. Good to see all of you and thanks to everybody else for watching. Again, the breaking news. Independent journalist Don Lemonade has been arrested. He's been arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles. He apparently is still in federal custody, although we're waiting to find out when Don will make his initial appearance, when he'll be bonded out and released. It's only 6:30 in the morning out in LA, so I assume Don has not gotten out yet. I've reached out to Abby Lowell, his attorney. I haven't heard back yet, but Abby has put out a statement saying that the First Amendment exists to protect journalists, whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to do this work. Abby is absolutely right. And this, this sentence, I think, is key. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters in Minneapolis, the Justice Department under Donald Trump is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest. And that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. Instead of, I mean, and I'll just underline this in my own words, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, your Justice Department should be investigating the people who killed Renee Good and Alex Preddy in Minnesota. Those are the people who should be under investigation, not Don Lemon. And you know, this is a. This is a big moment for all of us in this country. People who care about the First Amendment, people who care about freedom of the press, people who care about freedom of speech, our voices should be free in this country. That is what the Constitution is supposed to guarantee. And unfortunately, right now, it is all under attack. Right now, the First Amendment is under attack in America, and we're not going to let it stand. And we're going to continue to bring these updates to you throughout the day. So stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, still reporting. I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks for watching SA.