of morality. televangelist pat robertson, famous for blaming gay people for 9/11, and black people for hurricanes, is dead. but his legacy of shattering the lines between church and state lives on in the quixotic presidential candidacy of mike pence. also tonight, i want to tell you about an under the radar supreme court case that could affect where special counsel jack smith brings criminal charges. as we await the possible indictment of donald trump. and surprise, chief justice john roberts and justice brett kavanaugh come to the defense of voting rights in an important victory for voters in alabama. so what happens now for all the other efforts to redraw maps to marginalize voters of color? but we begin tonight with the supreme court. there was a surprising decision today reaffirming the landmark voting rights act, and we re going to get to that a bit later. but i want to start with a lesser known case that is still awaiting a ruling by the highest court in the lan
andrew weissmann and founding coedter in chief of just security, ryan goodman, point out that the smith case may well be complicating the calculus for special counsel jack smith, writing, all else being equal, the prudent prosecutor will be reluctant to choose a venue where if the government gets the venue decision wrong, it cannot proceed to try the defendant in another district for her crimes. and when the defendant is donald trump, you don t want to leave any decision to chance. joining me now is barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney, msnbc legal analyst, and professor at the university of michigan law school. hugo lowell, political investigations reporter for the guardian, and anthony coley, former justice department spokesperson under attorney general merrick garland. i m happy to welcome anthony tonight as a new msnbc justice and legal affairs analyst. welcome, welcome, welcome, anthony, and the hazing means