i think it s a way to try and get the two senators that we have who are not on board to go for something that won t change the horrible, voracious change in the balance of power that will allow elections to slant things in the directions of republicans in a dramatic way, in an unfair way, in an un-small- d -democratic way. i m opposed to it. i m opposed to allowing that to be the subject of this conversation. it s no substitute for what we have to do. in terms of what you have to do, you ve put a specific timeline on this now. you ve said by the martin luther king holiday, by a week from monday, you want to vote on potentially changing the senate rules or carving out something to pass the voting rights reforms that you support.
reaction to that apparent movement from senator mcconnell just on that one piece of reforms and protection you ve been pushing for. let me say this. i think that what they re trying to do is try to substitute that for the very needed reforms that we have urged, undoing what the state legislatures are doing throughout the country. and so it s sort of like saying, well, i m going to rig the game, but then i ll make sure you count the score accurately. what the hell is the point if you rig the game to count the score accurately? that s point number one. point number two is, it doesn t deal with the house or senate. the electoral college only elects the president. so it has nothing to do with any elections in the house and senate which they re trying to rig and to jaundice. and third, what they re trying to do is accomplish things in a different way. donald trump wanted pence to rig the election. this law might say, well, let s let the state legislatures rig the election. neither is good
the plan, no one who actually organized the plot of which the january 6th attack was a part, none of those folks has felt any kind of heat from law enforcement at all. now, to his credit, in my opinion, the attorney general answered that question today in a sort of helpful expository way, in a way that involved a helpful explanation for us, the public, about how complex prosecutions work. because we re not lawyers, no matter how many, you know, legal procedurals you watch or read, it s good to hear for real about how these things work. it s good to have it explained, how simpler crimes, lower level crimes, the easier stuff to prosecute, on purpose gets prosecuted first because that not only frees up resources to devote to more complex and serious crimes, it can also help you secure convictions against people who committed more serious and perhaps more complex or hard to discern crimes. that s a real dynamic in
including donald trump, and that the majority will reject political violence and trust the judicial system. at the moment that belief for garland and all americans is an enormous political gamble. david rode writing today at the new yorker. joining us now is david rode, executive editor at newyorker.com. thanks for making time to be here tonight. thank you for having me, rachel. tell me about this bold contention that you re making, that the question of whether or not to prosecute trump is the defining issue of garland s tenure. why do you see it that way? i think, and you ve done a remarkable job of laying this out, i think it s the most important issue of merrick garland s career, of his life. the challenge throughout the trump years has been a failure of imagination to look at the broad pattern of what he does, to look at our current laws and
his speech today continues to believe that the majority of americans still support the principle that all people should be treated fairly under the law including donald trump, and that the majority will reject political violence and trust the judicial system. at the moment that belief for garland and all americans is an enormous political gamble. david rohde writing today at the new yorker. joining us now is david rohde, executive editor at newyorker.com. thanks for making time to be here tonight. thank you for having me, rachel. tell me about this bold contention that you re making, that the question of whether or not to prosecute trump is the defining issue of garland s tenure. why do you see it that way? i think, and you ve done a remarkable job of laying this out, i think it s the most important issue of merrick