The democratic mayor of New York is indicted. We are not focused on the right or the left. We are focused only on right and wrong. Tonight, what we know about the charges and what it says about the equal application of the law. I noticed the indictment is very old but it goes back a long time. I have the same thing. Bad jimmy raskin on jack smiths filing on the Comp Trump to trial, plus doubling down on his vile attack on immigrants. He is a very principled man. As Hurricane Helene approaches landfall, what we know about the damage that is already being done. All in starts right now. Good evening from New York. Im chris hayes. We are following Breaking News in florida, or a category four hurricane is just about to hit the florida panhandle. Hurricane helene is now categorized as an extremely dangerous storm, with Wind Peaking at 130 miles per hour. Yesterday, helene pummeled cancan as a strong category two hurricane. Flooded streets, down trees and disrupted travel as it made its way up the golf towards florida. Today, the storm will rapidly intensify, it is now expected to make landfall just a few hours with that category four strength. Tallahassee is in the direct path of the storm. Forecasters are warning there could be an unsurvivable Storm Surge, possibly up to 20 feet, higher than the typical one Story Home as the Monster Storm comes ashore. Bill karens is tracking helenes past tonight and joins me now with the latest. Bill . Does not look like this will make it a category five but a category four storm will do incredible damage to the florida coast. We are now three to roughly 4 hours away from landfall, between about 11 00 p. M. And midNight Tonight, itll go somewhere around tallahassee. The storm is going away from the tampa area. We have a four foot or five foot Storm Surge up and down the West Coast of florida. We have a lot of Water Damage from that Storm Surge. Thankfully it happened towards low tide. That definitely helped, it could have been a lot worse. Now as the next High Tide approaches, these areas from Cedar Key northward, this is where we could get the historic 20 foot Storm Surge. This is a closer view of the i of the storm here, really intensified in the last 12 hours, the southern half is not falling apart a bit, i think itll intensify any further but the core is now moving on shore. If there is any little sliver of good news is that this category four hurricane is going to make landfall in one of the lowest valuation centers on the entire gulf coast. Population density is very low in this area, there are no beaches, it is marshy. A couple of Fishing Villages are up in here. Hopefully everyone is gone from there because those are the areas that will have that devastation. But, the storm is moving so fast, it is just a very strong much further inland than other storms. That is what is different about this one. So then this is where we get the damage now at 56 miles from the coast, and we can say it is moving at about 25 miles per hour. Roughly two hours from now theres Distractive Wind makes it to the coast. Hour after that in mexico the population centers, and we have yet to see, is tallahassee going through the eye or on the edge of it . It makes a world of difference with the huge Oak Trees in tallahassee. If you go through the eye you may not have power for two or three weeks. If you go on the edge of the eye maybe its a couple of days. Big difference. Of course, our friends in perry, florida have gone through numerous hurricanes in the past, this one is going right for you. There is perry on the right side of the storm. Throughout the Night Tonight we could have Hurricane Wind all the way through macon, georgia. Atlanta to the east of you now, forecast is a bit better for my friends in atlanta. Lower Wind Gusts means less Power Outages for you but the fall is still a huge issue. And of course the Storm Surge we have seen along the coast, Water Levels are at two or three feet higher than what you would expect them to be in the tampa bay area. We will still see these going up maybe another foot or two, getting into what we call moderate flood stage. It goes minor, moderate, major, then the storm. Its bad that it could have been worse if the storm had been closer to the area. As far as the wind goes, we have seen a 70 Mileperhour Wind in miami, 300 miles away from the center of the storm, that is one of the last couple of days, we thought, dont focus on the come, this is a huge storm, says was and what is different about this storm, chris, right now, tallahassee is moving so fast, but the eye is so strong. It will move in more like a large tornado. It is not going to be a slow buildup. All of a sudden, the wind will ramp up, we will get an extreme Wind Warning issued for this area when that eye comes on shore and when that is issued, as far inland as Tallahassee Or Perry up on i10, that is when you go to your safe rooms, graduate kids, go to an Interior Closet or bathroom, blankets to protect yourself, because it will feel and sound like a tornado is going through lasting roughly about two hours. All right. Thank you for all of that. I should note there are 21 counties in florida right now under mandatory evacuation notices. That is 21 and 67 counties. We have jesse kirsch, Nbc News correspondent live on the ground in perry, florida, which you just saw on the map. What i conditions there like now . Reporter chris, we have had Rain On and off, without being too dramatic, yet the wind is starting to gust a bit more, i clock some Wind Gusts around 17 miles per hour, isolated gusts, nothing consistent at that level, though, i cant tell you that the window starting to pick up more right now. We just heard from bill that this is one of the more isolated areas on the gulf coast, in terms of population, but i can tell you, there are still people by the thousands from the estimate of the sheriff, that have not heeded the request for evacuation in this community and in particular, the sheriff tells me he estimates around 200 people have refused to evacuate from the coastline. Those are lowlying areas where we could be seeing Storm Surge, up to 20 feet, these have been described as unsurvivable conditions. We are talking about dozens of people refusing to get out of Harms Way in those scenarios. The sheriff you told me he is so concerned about the impacts from the wind, as well, in this community, that they didnt even have a shelter open in this county, they are trying to transport people to shelters in other counties. Here is the blunt request from officials, asking people to take their name, date of birth, other information about themselves, and write it in permanent marker on their bodies, so they can be identified after the storm. Chris . Jesse kirsch reporting live in perry, florida, Thank You for that. Stay safe down there. Here in New York we are covering another breaking story today. The federal indictment of mayor Eric Adams on charges of Bribery And Wire fraud. Mayor adams engaged in a longrunning conspiracy in which he solicited and knowingly accepted illegal Campaign Contributions from foreign donors and corporations. As we allege, Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal. Even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a turkish Government Official and turkish businesses to buy influence within. We also realize that the mayor sought and accepted well over 100,000 in Luxury Travel benefits with some of the same foreign actors who arranged many of the illegal Campaign Contributions. These benefits included free international Business Class flights and opulent Hotel Rooms in foreign cities. The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual public Disclosure Forms so that the public could see who was giving him what, but as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark. He told the public that he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them. Mayor adams is scheduled to be arranged tomorrow. He says he has no intention of stepping down and will fight the charges. Lisa rubin is a former litigator, christian Greenberg Service of the same federal prosecutor in that district. Had both join me now. Well, it started to feel like we were headed this way, when basically everyone in the entire demonstration have their offices searched . Including the new York Committee Police Commissioner had to resign. Head of the department of education, but still, a pretty shocking document. Just give us, lisa, the top Line Theory of the case behind with the mayor did wrong here criminally. The Governments Theory of the cases that the mayor accepted two forms of benefits from the Turkish Government. Illegal Campaign Contributions funneled for Star Donors and then secondly a series of Travel Benefits, either free or upgraded tickets and Hotel Rooms, over a series of years ranging from roughly 2015 to 2023, 2024, and he did this all, the feds allege, for his own benefit, and in response, the Turkish Government got approval of the building that was not standard with respect to fire code. They were having a bunch of problems getting it through the fire code. They were hung up on this. Yes, they wanted the turkish consulate to open this new building in time for president Erdogans Visit in the fall of 2021 and Eric Adams made that happen for them and then they got a bunch of small things, like, they wanted Eric Adams to stop supporting a turkish Community Center where it was affiliated with the local movement in shades of Michael Flynn in 2016 at around the same time that Michael Flynn was alleged to have authored this oped. Similarly Eric Adams is being pressured by the Turkish Government, stop supporting this Community Center in brooklyn. They also got him to commit that he wouldnt make a statement about Armenian Genocide in 2022. Eric adams, according to the feds, is in the pocket of the Turkish Government in exchange for free Travel And Campaign customizations. So you have the quid pro quo, right, you get straw donors raising, ultimately 10 Million for your mayoral campaign . No, i want to be very clear about what that 10 Million in benefits is. They say, because Eric Adams lied on forms he submitted to the Campaignfinance Board in new York City, he then qualified for 10 Million in matching funds that are available through the new York City campaignfinance word. Right, but the benefit was 10 Million, meaning that a number of straw donors because of the Magic Ratio they didnt give him the 10 Million, he had 10 Million more coming through this public Financing Mechanism than he would have otherwise. Correct. So he is getting that and 100,000, they say, inflates. The Turkish Government is getting someone they can use for a favor when they are looking at policy, and data to support the Policy Center associated. What jumped out to you in this indictment . One thing that jumped out to me were the various ways in which he either destroyed evidence, concealed evidence, or fabricated evidence. There are various buckets here, and one is more ridiculous than the next. There is one message exchanged, where there is an individual identified as adam staffer, saying please delete all messages you send me. He replies, always do. You know i got it. I always do. Clearly he didnt, because it shows up in the indictment. Right. Then you have the phone, this is one of my favorites as well. So, when the fbi comes to him and says, we have a Search Warrant for your phones he does not have his personal Cell Phone on his person, so the next day he provides his personal Cell Phone to the fbi and says, i changed the password yesterday, when i learned of this investigation, to make it more complicated, up to a six digit number, and i forgot it. The reason i changed it or so that none of my staff would tamper with evidence. I did it for you guys, but now ive forgotten it so i cannot unlock my phone. Its the worst excuse since Donald Trump said he cannot debate Kamala Harris because it is too late. We are in doggett my homework territory. And hes a former nypd officer. These are ridiculous statements. And then i think what was the most damning for me, in addition to not filling out any of these Travel Benefits on your Disclosure Forms like you should, the fake paper trail, saying that you paid for Travel Benefits that then the records clearly show are complementary, that is pretty good evidence that you know what youre doing is wrong. That stood out to me, to. You are aware that this is not there is even in another moment, lisa, that really stuck out to me. We should say this is an indictment, it is the prosecutors unrebutted case, here. They are choosing the evidence, we may learn all things that complicate this picture, he maintains his innocence and i want to stress that. There is a moment at which, in the indictment, a staffer is talking to this turkish handler trying to arrange the straw Donors Scheme and how it would work and the staffer said something along the lines of, i dont think the mayor would go for that. I think it would be too big of a stink. He is talking about this and he says but i will talk to the mayor, next day he says, how much are we talking . Its like all right well i guess a consultation happened. Absolutely. Not only are the allegations themselves stunning here, chris, but this is yet another example of how the Southern District build the case. I think it nicely complements the sean Combs Indictment from last week. There are some real parallels here in terms of the plethora of electronic evidence, the number of witnesses they appear to have, and, the fact that they are alleging a conspiracy of over a decade long, in which some of these participants described here are clearly co conspirators, and yet, they only charge one person. Eric adams this week, Sean Combs last week. It might reflect the changing of operation, you know, because generally speaking, you go for the little fish, you flip them and head up the chain. This time they are going straight to the top. Enormous headlines, from an office which is used to making headlines, but this is about as big of a get. I dont know if we have any File Photo of Sean Combs and the mayor as he got the keys to the city. Thank you very much, appreciate it putting Todays Indictment into its proper context, what it says about the Biden Department of justice and the equal application of the law, next. next. Scout is protected by Simparica Trio and hes in it to win it Simparica Trio is the first chew with triple protection. Whoa fleas and ticks Intestinal Worms whoa Heartworm Disease no problem with Simparica Trio this Drug Class has been associated with neurologic adverse reactions including seizures. Use with caution in dogs with a history of these disorders. For winning protection go with Simparica Trio. On the face of it this is not a good great day for new York City, Eric Adams is the first mayor of the city to be criminally indicted. The charges are also, i find in a strange way, rear reassuring. They show me a functioning federal government that still holds the Rule Of Law as a bedrock sacrosanct thing. Particularly in the department of justice. Take a step back and look at the doj that Joe Biden inherited from his predecessor, Donald Trump, after trumps endless, constant attempts to subvert federal Law Enforcement and converted into a political tool of the president. Particularly when you look at the Southern District of New York, arguably the most influential federal Prosecutors Office in the country, the one that just indicted Eric Adams. When trump became the president , it was run by the Southern District u. S. Attorney under barack obama. We later learned that trump was regular Sleep Calling for our, trying to cultivate a personal relationship that made him so uncomfortable he reported the context contacted to his bosses at the doj. Less than a day later, he was fired. Trumps personal lawyer, mark has a wits, would later bragged that he convinced trump to Fire Barrera telling the president , this guy is going to get you. It was a pattern from trump over and over again as president whether it was firing James Comay after trump asked comay to drop the criminal instigation into Michael Flynn, or having his Attorney General, Bill Barr Fire yet another u. S. Attorney from the Southern District, a man he had appointed in 2020 after berman had prosecuted trumps former lawyer, michael cohen, and opened several other investigations of people and banks in trumps orbit. The cardinal rule is that partisan political concerns are not supposed to enter into any decisionmaking, and that rule was repeatedly violated. Now, we managed to push back every attempt to interfere in our cases, and we were successful every time. But, it was difficult. 2 1 2 years of unrelenting pressure. 2 1 2 years. Trump was constantly pushing for executions of his perceived enemies, including Hillary Clinton and john kerry, he said this publicly, its not a scoop. s Attorney General, bill barr, also distorted and mischaracterized the Mueller Report on the Campaigns Russia Context and he appointed John Durham to investigate those fbi investigators who looked into trump and russia, an investigation which yielded two embarrassing acquittals for dirham. We have blocked so much of this out, but trump was constantly spending his time as president trying to manipulate the doj to do his bidding, to destroy any independence, right . And of course, that pressure culminated in his attempted coup after the 2020 election, when trump was trying to name jeffrey clark, a midlevel Doj Lawyer as a temporary Attorney General so that clark could use the departments good name and stationary to send out a letter saying, the election was rigged, and get State Legislatures to just overturn the election. Now, compare that to the Biden Doj under Attorney General mary garland. The department of justice has bent over backwards to be independent of the white house, and partisan political concerns. They appointed a Special Counsel , a republican and a trump appointee, to investigate the sitting President Handling of classified documents, they prosecuted a string of high profile democratic officials and Family Members on a variety of charges. Today, i am announcing my office has obtained a three Count Indictment charging senator robert menendez. Nbc has learned the department of justice is expected to announce an indictment against longterm democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of texas. We are announcing campaign finance, bribery, and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams, the mayor of new York City. An extraordinary step by the to Justice Department earlier today, federal prosecutors have indicted president Joe Bidens sole surviving son, Hunter Biden, on three criminal counts. The Biden Doj has rescued a sitting democratic senator, a sitting democratic congressman, new York City mayor Eric Adams, 40 days out from an election in which there is a bunch of Swing Districts around new York City, democrats are trying to win, and Joe Bidens last surviving son, awaiting sentencing on charges that even trey gaudi, the former republican prosecutor , things are ludicrous. Ill bet you there were not 10 cases prosecuted nationwide, of addicts or unlawful drug users who possess firearms rely on application. I bet there werent a dozen which makes you wonder, of all the cases you could be pursuing in delaware, why are you pursuing this one . It is entirely possible that Joe Biden will leave the presidency and never see his son outside of a prison again. This is the administration that republicans say have legally weapon is the department of justice when the opposite is actually true, it is a point of the current u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damien Williams made today when he announced the Adams Indictment. The Southern District of New York remains committed to rooting out corruption without Fear Or Favor and without regard to partisan politics. We are not focused on the right or the left, we are focused only on right and wrong. I want to be clear here. This doesnt mean the department of justice always gets it right or prosecutors always get it right. They might not be guilty, right . We will see in trials. But, at the level of the institutional functioning of the department of justice, this is how the doj is supposed to work. Even though there is essentially zero political benefit in it for the democrats, and here is the thing, if Donald Trump wins, i think this is all going to change. These institutions could be put in the hands of trumps creepiest authoritarian sycophants, like this republican lawyer who is rumored to be in the running for the top Doj Post and he said this last year. We are going to fire a lot of people in the executive branch, The Deep State, secondly we are going to indict Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and James Biden and every others gumball, sleaze ball biden. We will deport a lot of people. 10 Million people and growing. Anchor babies, their parents or grandparents, kids in cages, its going to be glorious. We will detain a lot of people, do log and get mad. Davis as he is now trolling the lives with his shtick. But again, trump wants it to be policy very clearly. He has said it all throughout his presidency. He said it afterwards and he said as much on the Campaign Trail this month. We will completely overhaul, Laws Corrupt Department Of Justice and turn the in Justice Department back into the best Law Enforcement agency on the planet. Guess who reposted that clip on Social Media . Mike davis does. The single word comment, amen. Donald trump is promising to destroy the federal justice system, and the Justice Department, so that he can wield it like a weapon, to fit his political needs. And hes got help, thanks to the John Roberts authored supreme court immunity decision, which goes out of his way to basically tell trump, have at it. He would have Carte Blanche to do it as a part of his official duties. Call the Justice Department and say no, dont and that guy, indict that guy. Even Joe Biden is doing that . So i, for one, am grateful, weird as it is, for Todays Indictment and the signal that it sends. The Rule Of Law still holds up, for now. 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Though, we may get to see a redacted version as early as next week, depending on the decision by The Federal District get judge. Even though we have not seen the filing, what we do know is that it is very long, up to 180 pages. Could likely includes new facts not previously formally alleged by the government, and we also know the Trump Team did not want the Special Counsel to make this filing before november 5th, arguing the document will undoubtedly enter the dialogue around the election, but the judge shut that down saying the Defendants Concern with the political consequences of these seedings does not bear on the pretrial schedule. Jamie raskin, member of the general six Committee And Manager of the second impeachment of Donald Trump. Its good to have you. I imagine you have a position on this but you are a member of congress, different from being a federal judge who is ruling in that context but as a member of congress, do you think the public should be able to see what this filing is . I like the way that Judge Chutkan has been treating this all along, which is that she will neither hurry up these proceedings so the public gets to learn everything before the election, nor is she going to slow them down, she is not going to allow the potential political consequences of any particular judgment to affect her rendering of the legal analysis. And so, the question of whether or not this should go public relates to which parts of it should be redacted. For example, there might be certain parts of Grand Jury testimony that, for different reasons should be redacted, there may have been searches that produce material that shouldnt be, but its at that Micrograms Level of analysis that the court needs to operate, not accorded to some abstract philosophical debate about whether or not the people deserve to know. That is not how you make decisions in a criminal trial. I just talked a bit about this department of justice under Merrick Garland and under the biden administration, and its a record of not just independence, but of going out of its way to be independent, so much so that i think in some cases, there is a colorable argument of the Hunter Biden charges never should have been brought, but thats another matter. The reason i bring it up is because It Contrasts so sharply with the trump Justice Department, and much of that, we knew at the time. But, one item that got lost and has not really gotten the attention but you have been focused on it and house democrats have been focused on tapirs that the Trump Administration shut down a dependent of Justice Investigation into the kind of behavior that is being charged in the Adams Indictment today, which is taking money from a foreign interest for some purpose. Democrat leaders on the house Oversight Committee, thats you, released a letter asking for former President Trump if he ever illegally received government from egypt and whether money from cairo played a role on 10 Million infusion into his 2016 run for president. What do we know that what happened there in the Trump Department of justice in terms of investigating that . To be clear, the reason that it is house democrats asking about that is because the house republicans on the Oversight Committee are not interested. So, we have asked about it, but it is very clear that the department of justice was in possession of information that egyptian intelligence agents under the director of the president , collected 10 Million, i think it was most of the american currency in the Banking System Of Egypt, it weighed hundreds of pounds, and they put it all together in One Hundred dollar bills, and then Donald Trump changed his mind, originally he was saying no, he was not going to cough up the 10 Million for his campaign, that the campaign was asking for, despite the fact that he originally promised he would pay for everything but he didnt want to pay and then suddenly he had a meeting with the president Of Egypt, he changed his mind, and then that money was brought over in january, at least apparently repaying him for the money that he invested in his own campaign. That money, by the way, ended up paying for an antisemitic Tv Ad that he ran featuring Blay Length Fine and Janet Yellen signed these globalist do not have your interest in mind. You just made a stronger case than i thought we knew. I just want to take this slowly. We know that u. S. Intelligence saw that this money is being taken out Of Egyptian banks and had to have basically come from the government for all this cash to,. Said, there is that 10 Million. We know the Donald Trump after saying he would find his own campaign and resisting putting out more money down the stretch, ponied up 10 Million. That seems circumstantial to me but maybe worth investigating. We know this money made its way to the u. S. . We physically know that . I understand of the money waited made its way to the united states. I dont now if there is testimony about who exactly got it, but that money left egypt. And we also know that he did meet with, the president Of Egypt on the stretching that campaign. Indeed. And you know, this set the pattern, of course, for their relationship with saudi arabia, which is completely capitulation nest, and the embracing of everything the homicidal Crown Prince wants to do and then Jared Kushner walks away with 2 Billion and 150 Million every year in Management Fees that they are getting. I mean, the whole thing was a corrupt moneymaking operation from the beginning. And, people need to understand that there is an economic motivation underlying all of it. The mad desire to set aside the Rule Of Law, and lie and cheat and steal and incite violence is all to keep the grace going. So, that the corruption is insulated. I cant imagine any of that getting better in a second term, but that is just my speculation. Thank you very much. U very muc. You bet. Still ahead, the unrepentant racism of Clay Higgins, as democrats plan to force a censure vote. First, the latest on the extremely dangerous category four hurricane about make landfall in floridas panhandle, next. Panhandle, next. For most, hpv clears on its own. But for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. Youre welcome now, as the dad cab, its my cue to help protect them. Embrace this phase. Help protect them in the next. Ask their Doctor Today about hpv vaccination. Tonight, we are watching Hurricane Helene as it approaches landfall at or near tallahassee as a category four hurricane. Forecasters warn it will likely be the most intense storm to hit that big Band Region of florida since records began back in 1851. Helene has already knocked out power to nearly half 1 Million homes and businesses. States of emergency have been declared in 61 of floridas 67 counties. Kathleen park is in tallahassee for estimate, how do things look right now . Reporter right now we are starting to feel the outer bands of Hurricane Helene, but, we anticipate things are starting to ramp up over the next few hours. Here, in tallahassee, the big concern will be the wind damage. Roughly 55 of the city is under Tree Canopy and when you factor in 100 Mileperhour Wind moving through the area, and staying in this area, officials are really concerned about the possibility of toppled trees, downed Power Lines and of course, that leads to extended Power Outages. Earlier today, chris, i had a chance to speak with some residents who decided to seek refuge at Emergency Shelters here in tallahassee. Several had opened up in advance of the storm and a lot of folks actually took advantage of it. They were filling up pretty quickly and a lot of folks here have weathered a lot of the storms, but when you hear category three or category four, it made him really nervous and didnt want to take any chances but the main rule in these shelters, i was told, is during the height of the storm, they Cant Leave for safety reasons. And here, in tallahassee, chris, officials have really been preparing for days. When it comes to mother nature, you just dont know what its going to do right now, we are feeling this lull from the storm, but we are told that they are getting mutual aid from across the country. Of course, tomorrow will be the day where they are going out and assessing the damage, but they are anticipating the storm could be catastrophic. Chris . Kathy park in tallahassee, Thank You, Stay Safe down there. Still ahead, a grotesque comment about haitian immigrants as a part of a long pattern from the man who represents louisianas third congressional district. That is next. That is next. For most, hpv clears on its own. But for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. Youre welcome now, as the dad cab, its my cue to help protect them. Embrace this phase. Help protect them in the next. Ask their Doctor Today about hpv vaccination. Introducing a revolution in Pain Relief. Embrace this phase. Heabsorbine junior pro,e next. The strongest numbing Pain Relief available. Its the only solution with two Max Strength anesthetics for fast penetrating Relief Absorbine junior pro. Nothing numbs pain more. Louisianas third congressional district, geographically the largest portion of the southern half of the state, including the city of lafayette. The folks who live there have sent this man, republican Clay Higgins to be their representative in the united states congress, four terms in a row. Before he was a congressman, he was releasing the Louisiana Police Deputy got himself in a bit of trouble in the following video. A Street Gang responsible for hundreds of violent crimes. Weave it arrested 10 of these thugs and have warrants on seven more. Everyone of these animals is definitely armed and dangerous. You will be hunted, you will be tracked and if you raise your weapon to a man like me, we will returned fire with superior fire. Darren colden, you think men like these are afraid of them uneducated 120 Pound Buck like you have never won a fight in your life and holds a gun sideways . Higgins was forced to resign in disgrace after publishing that video, so he ran for congress and one with 56 of the vote but he has not changed a bit. Yesterday, higgins posted this racist rant about haitian migrants in ohio, quote, lol, these haitians are wild, eating pets and voodoo, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, but they all feel sophisticated now, filing charges against our president and vp, these thugs better get their Mind Right and out of our country before january 20th. After widespread outrage and condemnation, including some objections from republicans, higgins ended up deleting the tweet and republican Speaker Of The House Mike Johnson tried to turn the whole thing into a sort of coombe by a moment about the healing powers of redemption. Higgins is a dear friend of mine at a colleague from louisiana, and is a frank and outspoken person for just talked to him about it, he said he prayed about it, regretted it and pulled the post down. Its what you want the gentleman to do, im sure he regrets the language he used but we believe in redemption around here. He prayed about it. He regretted it and pulled the post down. So guess what. After congress officially left town for six weeks higgins turned around and said ill do it again if i want to. Quote, its all true, i could put up another pond controversial statement tomorrow. We have freedom of speech, ill say what i want. Its not a big deal to me its like something stuck on the bottom of my boot. Just scrape it off and move on with my life. Author of the undertow, gradebook. Last year he wrote a fantastic and unnerving profile of Clay Higgins entitled, the congressmen telling trump supporters to buckle up. Lets start with the post which is genuinely shocking and vile and evil even by the standards of modern political rightwing rhetoric. I am sure that you werent surprised. What was your reaction when he saw this develop yesterday . I think Clay Higgins is the latest member of the gop to carry the ball forward on an escalation of violent political rhetoric using immigrants, using haitian americans, who are here illegally, working hard in springfield, ohio, and you know, he is not a bright man, but he has a long history of playing the media game, and this is one more notch for him in escalating the rhetoric and moving it closer to violence. Closer to the Civil War that he has, in fact, fantasized about in the past. Talk a bit more about that. Not only is is a person who i think is clearly racist and certainly expresses racist views , he really is obsessed with this sort of idea of incipient Violence And Violence sort of haunting everything, the politics of violence. You talk about this in the peace. Yeah. I think theres two dates you could look at in representative higginss life, that goes back to trumps first indictment and a number of Freedom Caucus members, i think it was representative Andy Biggs who talked about, its time for war. But, Clay Higgins went further. He said, know your bridges, buckle up. 150 k, know your villages bridges. It was this bizarre language that a lot of people thought was funny, they made fun of, they thought, here is another republican who is incoherent. What he was referring to, there, though, was 1 to 50,000, which is a ratio of the military maps, hold your bridges, this is a fascist fantasy, not so much marching on cities, but taking strongholds. Know the bridges and the means of approach to your stronghold and sees it. He also cited a few other things that he said in the peace. This one really leapt out at me, he said, higgins didnt win much attention. He was a 3 or, part of a Militia Movement who believes the u. S. Government is tyrannical and must be confronted in the spirit of revolution. Higgins was indicted and involved in some of the stuff on generous expect in 2020, a sitting member of congress on facebook, to armed black Lives Matter protesters, higgins promised to shoot them on sight, i dropped any tendency where you stand. And he added, 1450 fps switches again, derided as, what is this guy speaking about . 1450 feet per second. The three presenters are part of a long history back to 1992, when he was voting for david duke. He has been connected to richard spencer, to the oath keepers. The three presenters, he was talking about a Gas Industry Meeting and he was telling them, you are the 3 , imagining them as a militia against people who are trying to fight climate change. You know, also this is someone who i think is fairly consistent, 2007 when he was a police officer, striking a handcuffed suspect. He quit rather than being demoted, so there were some actual actions in his past which suggest a kind of intimacy with violence. He goes back to 2018, when he trains military policeman. He is an incompetent cop. I mean, two forces at least that hes been forced to resign from and hes been incompetent even by the standards of his own kind of idea about the blue line, but where that really comes to bear is when you look at what he has been doing. He gets derided as a congressman he doesnt achieve much, not trying to do legislation or showing the picture there as him with ashley babbitt. He is the leading member of congress in terms of pushing the Conspiracy Theory the January 6th was what they call the fbi, that the fbi are the enemy, he speaks about The Deep State constantly going on podcast and saying that he and other members of the Freedom Caucus have gathered all this secret information that they will reveal at a certain point, coming soon. Rocksteady calm, hold on. He is always promising and apocalypse around the corner. Jeff charlotte, who wrote that great profile for the atlantic, and a fantastic book about similar themes. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Thanks. That is all in on this thursday night. Good evening, alex. Extraordinary reporting for the extraordinary times in which we live. A lot of Breaking News tonight, Thank You, friend. Ank you, fri. Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. So far more than