Pam Bondi goes OFF THE RAILS with dangerous move

I'm joined now by the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Thanks so much for joining me. Great to be with you. So can you give a little background on a story that's breaking through the news right now on the fact that a pardoned January 6th insurrectionist has issued a threat on your life, and also specifically what the White House, what the DOJ has opted to do as a result of this? Well, we've certainly heard nothing from the White House, nothing from the Department of Justice at the end of the day, nothing from my Republican colleagues. These are people who all supported Donald Trump's blanket pardon of hundreds of violent individuals who brutally stormed the Capitol on January 6th, assaulted violently law enforcement officers, seriously injured at least 140. Donald Trump pardons them on his first day in office and then releases them back into communities all across the country. And in fact, Brian, what we've seen is that many of these pardoned violent criminals who Donald Trump released back into neighborhoods throughout America have recommitted offenses. And I'm just thankful for state and local law enforcement officials, of course, and the Capitol Police for their swift actions in identifying the threat and preventing this individual from carrying out his intentions. But we're more concerned about the violent threats that these pardoned individuals present to everyday Americans all across the country. And the fact that the Department of Justice, or should I say the Department of Injustice, continues to turn a blind eye to what Donald Trump has done and the risk to public safety that he created. Well, you know, this isn't an isolated incident. There have been threats against other Democratic members of Congress. Eric Swalwell, I spoke to as well. There's been threats against him, and he's not sure what, if anything, is being done at the DOJ's, on the DOJ's part to look into any of this. And yet we have seen the ways in which the Department of Justice has kind of spared no expense and fallen over itself to make sure that any threats that happen against Republican political commentators or Republican elected officials are dealt with swiftly, as they should be. But but still the disparity remains. And so is there some concern that by virtue of that disparity existing, that it's basically the DOJ's roundabout way of saying that, hey, crime is legal as long as it's perpetuated against Democrats? Well, I mean, I think the big problem that was sent when Donald Trump pardoned these individuals is that go ahead, violently assault police officers at the Capitol as long as it's being done in service of a narrative that Republicans are peddling, which in that case was the one big lie as part of their effort to try and overturn the results of the 2020 election, then you're free to do whatever the hell you want to do. Right. That's the message that is sent when you issue a blanket pardon, as opposed to doing what is traditionally done in that context, which is you evaluate individual pardon applications presented by attorneys that can be vetted as to a determination as to whether pardoning an individual or commuting that person's sentence would present a risk to public safety. And clearly that was not done in this instance. The Department of Justice looked askance at the whole situation and just decided, you know what, Donald Trump's going to do whatever the hell he wants to do. And we're going to let him do whatever the hell he wants to do, even if that creates concerns for the safety of the American people. Well, that's this is really a small part of a larger whole. And so can I have your reaction to the fact that, you know, very much like what we're talking about right now at the hands of the DOJ and these individual pardons, that he seems to be very hellbent on sending the military into cities where no threat exists for the express purpose of inciting some type of violence to then retroactively justify these troop deployments? You know, even judges who Trump himself appointed, Judge Emmergut up in Portland, said that the pretext he used to be able to send the troops into Portland was untethered to the facts. We had a judge push back on this in Chicago, and that decision was upheld at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. And so can you just react to the broader use of, you know, the federal troops, of any tools at his disposal to be able not to quell violence, but expressly to incite it? Well, Donald Trump is definitely from the very beginning of his term has been unleashing extraordinary extremism on the American people. We've seen an unprecedented assault on the economy, on health care, on nutritional assistance, on veterans, on farmers, on law abiding immigrant families all throughout America, on the rule of law, on the American way of life itself, and of course, on democracy. And the reality is, in almost most of these incidents, what we're seeing from this guy is that he he tries to justify his behavior by claiming some emergency. No emergency exists. The Trump tariffs are justified by the notion that there's an emergency. And he then imposes these tariffs across the world in ways that are raising the high cost of living by levels of thousands of thousands of dollars per year. We're also seeing, of course, that when he deploys troops into American cities, towns and counties, he uses the so-called notion of an emergency, a public safety emergency to justify the deployment of troops where none exists. And, you know, we have to call it out whenever and wherever it occurs. We've got to push back aggressively as we will continue to do in the Congress and in the courts and also continue to encourage the American people to show up and stand up and speak up in ways that were powerful and peaceful and patriotic in connection with the recent No Kings marches across America. I want to switch gears a little bit here. You know, we are right now watching Donald Trump tear down the entirety of the East Wing of the White House. There was just news a few days ago that the federal government has subsidized 173 million dollars in Gulfstream jets that Kristi Noem would be using. We've seen the pride that Trump has when he shows off his gold encrusted oval office. We know that he's doubled his net worth since he's been there. He's very focused on surrounding himself with with opulence. And so how is that kind of manifesting itself in light of the fact that his voters and the American people who were who were sold an entire bill of goods out there, who were told that they were going to have their costs lower, that health care was going to be protected, that earned benefits were going to be defended, are now watching as as, you know, agriculture is is is failing, who are now watching as the cost of everything continue to rise, who are now watching as health care premiums are set to double, triple or quadruple, who are now watching as Medicare, Medicaid for 17 million Americans threatens to go away. So how is that? How have you seen the American people react to the fact that we have very much a gilded age happening in the White House? And you contrast that with the fact that regular people, the base, the working class of this country are not only not being taken care of, but their situation continues to deteriorate. Yeah, you know, Donald Trump has shut the government down along with Republicans. Government has been shut down for 22 days. And here's what we've seen from them. Donald Trump has spent more time golfing than he has in speaking with Democrats on Capitol Hill to try to get to a bipartisan spending agreement or address the health care crisis that Republicans have created that are devastating the American people. Same time, Republicans in the House have now been on vacation for four consecutive weeks. Then Donald Trump is trying to steal two hundred and thirty million dollars from taxpayers by extorting his own Department of Justice. They found 40 billion dollars to bail out his right wing dictator friend in Argentina at the same time that many people throughout farm country are suffering and they can't find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And as if that wasn't enough, he's tearing down the White House to be able to open up a ballroom where he can be celebrated like a king. Yeah. And the people who supported Donald Trump, I'm confident a significant number of them did not vote for that. Right. They voted for Donald Trump because they believed, as you said, that he was going to lower the high cost of living on day one. But in fact, we know costs haven't gone down. They're going up. Inflation is going up. Electricity bills are through the roof. Housing costs are out of control. Child care costs out of control. And of course, health care premiums, along with groceries, but health care premiums are about to double, triple or quadruple. People are going to pay, in some instances, a thousand or two thousand dollars more per month in order to get health care. And they can't afford that. They will be unable to go see a doctor when they need one. Short of short of a deal on extending the ACA subsidies so that health care premiums don't double, triple, quadruple, are the Democrats going to capitulate and reopen the government? And as as an addition to that question, what do you say to Republicans who say, just open the government, just pass a clean CR and then trust us, we'll negotiate with you guys right after you basically just sacrifice all of your leverage? There is no circumstance where we can trust Republicans to do the right thing as it relates to the health care of the American people. This is a group of folks, these Republicans, who have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 times since 2010, over the last 15 years, more than 70 times. They are relentlessly obsessed with ripping away health care from millions of Americans, as they just did in their one big, ugly bill when they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. And so our view is that and we've said this from the beginning, we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill, which is the one that is before us right now, that continues to gut the health care of the American people, period, full stop. That's been our position for weeks and we're not going to bend, we're not going to break. What we need to do. Is to sit down, have a bipartisan discussion about enacting a spending bill that is designed to make life better for everyday Americans, as opposed to the policies that we've seen from Republicans, such as massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors while hurting the American people. And we're not going to be party to that, which is why Democrats have taken such a strong position in making clear that any resolution at this moment. Needs to decisively address the Republican health care crisis as part of our continuing effort as Democrats to make life better for the American people. Is there any acknowledgment from these Republicans that that Democrats are basically saving Republicans from themselves here? I mean, it's it's it's Republican voters, especially as of late in the last five years, who've who've signed on to these ACA, who've enrolled in ACA coverage. And so and so, you know, these price increases don't just impact Democrats. In large part, they impact Republican states as well. It's their own constituents. And so why are Republicans so hell bent on barreling forward with a scheme where they would land in an election year watching health care premiums double, triple or quadruple for their own constituents? It's because they're so arrogant and they just don't care about the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the people they pretend in many instances to represent because they're constantly doing their own voters in. We're seeing because of the implications of the one big ugly bill that hospitals, nursing homes and community based health centers are closing all across the country, disproportionately in rural America. And at the same period of time, Brian, as you've indicated, a significant number of the states that are impacted are states that Donald Trump won in twenty twenty four. In fact, the five states that will be hurt the most if the Affordable Care Act tax credits are not extended are West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska. Tennessee and Mississippi, five red states. Yeah. And so this is not a partisan issue for us as Democrats. This is an American issue. We're working hard to address a crisis that's impacting everybody. Working class America, rural America, urban America, small town America. The heartland of America and of course, black and brown communities all throughout America who are being hurt by the Republican health care crisis in ways that will be devastating for tens of millions of people. So you'd mentioned that in large part, the reason that Republicans aren't responsive to what will be a major catastrophe in their own states is their arrogance. And I think bolstered that what bolsters that is this idea that they are just right now redrawing the map so that even if they're passing an unpopular agenda and that might risk their their lawmakers or senators in swing districts or swing states, that they can just scientifically engineer a map where they're guaranteed victory. And so we've seen as, for example, Texas has redrawn their map to give five seats to Republicans. We've seen California answer and give a put forward a new map that that puts five Democratic seats in safe territory. And so that was met with kind of a slew of other red states responding. And we've seen we've seen Missouri redraw their maps. We've seen North Carolina redraw their maps. Right now, it's uncertain whether Indiana is going to redraw their maps, although the governor of Indiana, Governor Braun, has come forward and expressed confidence that they can get that done. We also know that the same thing is likely, if not certain, to happen in Ohio and Florida and Kansas. And yet we haven't seen any response from any other Democrats across the country. So can you give some insight into what's happening on the Democratic front? Because we've heard a lot of the a lot of these Democratic governors or Democratic state legislatures say the right thing. But now is the time for action. Like they understand the implications for democracy, but but it doesn't seem to go further than that. So can you give some insight into what what we should expect here, just, you know, in light of what the Republicans are barreling ahead with right now? So I'm thankful for what Texas Democrats at the legislative level and the congressional delegation did, but Texas Democrats in breaking quorum and raising the alarm bells relative to this issue. And then, of course, California has responded in such an immediate and powerful way. Thankful for the California congressional delegation, Governor Newsom, the California state legislators. I was just out in California on Saturday and Sunday campaigning for Prop 50. We're going to win Prop 50. Yes, on Prop 50. Stop Trump from stealing the election. We've got to run through the finish line. And then you are absolutely correct that we need to see responses in other Democratic led states. And of course, the governor of Illinois has been very strong in public about the need for a response. And so has the governor of Maryland. I'll let those two individuals continue to speak for themselves. But decisive action is going to be needed sooner rather than later in Democratic states. And we also are exploring opportunities throughout the country as part of our consistent commitment to the American people that we are not going to let Donald Trump and House Republicans mathematically steal the midterm elections away from the ability of the American people to be the ones to decide who should be holding the gavels in the House of Representatives after November of 2026. Do you have confidence that, you know, notwithstanding what happens in Illinois and Maryland and to your point, you know, there is still time and I think those conversations are ongoing right now, but that other governors in other states where Democrats can actually wield some weapons, that those governors are going to come forward and recognize the need to actually fight fire with fire here? Because, look, you know, the fact that we've only had Pritzker and Westmore and to a degree Kathy Hochul, even though there's nothing she can do now, it's a process for 2028. But really, you know, aside from those few governors and, of course, Newsom, who's actually doing the thing, there hasn't been any public buy-in from any other elected officials. We haven't heard from governors or state legislators in Oregon or Washington. Jared Polis, when I interviewed him, didn't seem especially interested. And of course, you know, we're not going to get an answer right now from Mikey Sherrill or Abigail Spanberger because they're focused on actually making sure they can get into office. But do you have confidence that aside from just Pritzker and Westmore, that there will be buy-in and that the other governors and other state legislatures will recognize the urgency needed in this moment? It's going to be incredibly important for governors all across the country to recognize the need to make sure that the congressional map throughout America is as fair as possible and to take the steps necessary to ensure that occurs, as is now being done in California. And that will, of course, involve you mentioned some of the states, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, that are out West to explore what the opportunities are just to make sure that the map nationally is as fair as possible, because we just want to be able to give the voters the ability to decide at the end of the day. And in New York, of course, as you've indicated, Governor Kathy Hochul, as well as state legislative leaders, have been strong and affirming in the need to respond. There are some restraints in the Constitution, of course, but legislation has been introduced to give Democrats the ability in New York to respond, though that likely will occur in decisive form in the aftermath of the 26 midterm elections. But we've got to explore creatively every opportunity that is available to us. Now, it's also important to understand we won litigation in Utah, which is forcing the Republican legislature to redraw a district in and around Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County that had been gerrymandered, but was previously held by a Democrat. That will be a seat that we can compete in and win in Missouri. We have the ability to take the gerrymandered map to the voters of Missouri who can decide up or down whether the map should be enacted or overturned. And we're collecting signatures right now in the state of Missouri to be able to take that initiative to ballot and then go win that ballot initiative and invalidate their efforts to rip a seat away from the voters of Kansas City currently held by Representative Emanuel Cleaver. We have the same ability in Ohio if they try to take one or two seats away from us to take the gerrymandered map in Ohio to the voters to be invalidated as well, and we'll pursue that. In North Carolina, where that state legislature just acted this week, we believe they clearly violated the law, violated the Voting Rights Act, and violated the North Carolina Constitution. And so you can expect that litigation will be brought in both state court and in federal court, and we'll battle that all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary. And in Texas, we believe that the Republicans have violated federal law in Texas. That map was already racially gerrymandered, and they've made it worse. There was a 10-day trial that occurred at the beginning of this month. We await a decision from that three-judge panel, and we believe there's a significant chance that we could prevail in that civil rights litigation before that three-judge panel in Texas and have the Texas gerrymandered map invalidated. And so we're going to fight and push back against these extremists everywhere across the country. You know, where there are opportunities, like in California, we'll push hard. And where there are opportunities to defensively and aggressively contest the gerrymandered map, we're going to do that as well. Well, I appreciate you fighting on this issue, and thanks for taking the time today. Thanks much, man.