Hes the former Nixon White House counsel. John, you and i have spoken about this and donald trump so many times, but, you know, as i was discussing with one of our producers before this program got started, in the past, you know, we would talk about Donald Trumps tweets and his social media posts and wonder what the impact might be. But it sounds as though the Special Counsel in this case, jack smith, is really seizing on this very inflammatory, threateningsounding post from donald trump on truth social and alerting it to the judge. The government arguing that the restrictions that theyre seeking are necessary to prevent trump from publicly disclosing sensitive discovery information. Can you walk us through what this means . Yeah. It looks like the post from trump came out while they were working on a motion to agree upon a protective order in general to Exchange Discovery material. And this obviously caught their attention. This is not the sort of norm that theyre used to dealing with. But we also all know, after watching trump for many, many years now in court proceedings, particularly those where hes a target, that he likes to play the bad boy. He likes to threaten. He likes to control witnesses. He likes to tell prosecutors call them nasty names. And jack smith is going to call that to the judges attention and see if they can get some restrictions. They cant zip him up, but they are going to make sure that all those documents that he gets are in the hands of his lawyers and his lawyers are responsible and not going to let him have them other than to prepare his defense. And trump has been accustomed to saying and blasting out on social media whatever he wants. For example, it will be wild on january 6th. We all remember that one. Is this a message from the Special Counsel that that is not going to be tolerated or that he is going to ride trump pretty hard on these social media posts from here on forward . I mean after all, john, trump is doing this one day after he was arraigned in Washington In Federal Court on arguably the most serious charges hes ever faced. This is a serious case. Its probably the most serious case that the federal judicial system has handled in centuries, if you will. So hes playing fast and loose. Its not smart. It could actually be to his benefit for the Special Counsel to ride on him, and i think thats what this indicates, that hes going to have a low tolerance for games, and this is a signal. Well see how the judge reacts to it and, you know, she may or may not do anything at this point. I think that most important is to get the Discovery Material in the hands of trumps Defense Counsel so they dont have any way to stall the trial. It appears that there had been an exchange of drafts and they couldnt agree upon anything, so theyre going right to the court to get that resolved. And is the Department Of Justice right in seeking this protective order that trump could have a Chilling Effect by posting these sorts of things . Well, what you want to do is have a fair trial, both for the defendant and for the American Public. And the way to distort the fair trial is to put out inflammatory statements, to create chaos and a circus, and i dont think this judge or this prosecutor are going to tolerate that. But well not know until the judge reacts to these filings. And, john, you know, one of the things i wanted to ask you about tonight is whether or not trump could ultimately be successful in dragging these proceedings out. I mean, for example, by putting this post up on social media today, it did trigger this response from the Department Of Justice, which is going to have to occupy some of this judges time. I was talking to a Trump Adviser earlier today who was telling me the plan at this point is to get all of these trails delayed until after the general election, and then if he wins, he can make all of this go away. We can talk about that another time, however he tries to do that, by selfpardoning or putting other people in the Justice Department and so on. Could that strategy be successful, do you think . You know, i dont think so. I think people know too much about trump at this stage. Had this been at the outset of his sort of political public career, he might have pulled some of this off. He had a very nasty civil case for trump university, which was a big scam and fraud, that he just paid off with a 25 million fine to get rid of it. But he was beating that judge up pretty badly until they settled that case quickly once he was elected. So i just dont think, jim, he can do that because the federal judiciary and all the courts are too aware of his modus operandi. While i have you, i have to ask you about trumps former aide, stephen miller. We all know him all too well. He said this about nixon and watergate. Lets listen to this. Well, the first and most important thing is to reestablish what is known as the Unitary Executive. So this goes back to the watergate era, and now we obviously know, looking back on it now, of course, that that was a deep state coup against richard nixon. But this goes back to the watergate era. Yeah, john. Your reaction to that. Well, conservatives want a Unitary Executive when theyre in power. They dont want it when the democrats are in power. So its a very unique concept, and theres been a lot of academic discussion of this. And nixon, no question, was trying to expand president ial powers. Had he had a second term, he was planning a total reorganization. So conservatives sort of picked up where nixon dropped off because there was about a decade there where the congress became something of a coequal with the president presidency, and republicans dont like that. John dean, thank you very much. Well continue this conversation, i have a feeling, here in the coming days. Really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Thanks, jim. In the meantime, donald trump, as we now know, has more indictments than impeachments, and if hes indicted in georgia, hell have as many indictments as years spent in the white house. Tonight as republicans accuse the Biden Administration of weaponizing the Justice Department without evidence, you just saw how trump is essentially vowing to do exactly that if hes elected again. But perhaps youve noticed how trumps allies have defended the expresident s attempts at overthrowing American Democracy by claiming he was just exercising his right to free speech. These trump world figures suddenly sound like champions of the First Amendment. This is a violation of his right of free speech. This is an attack on free speech and political advocacy, and theres nothing thats more protected under the First Amendment than political speech. Youre entitled to question whether this was honest or not. Thats the uniqueness of the First Amendment. You even have a right to lie under the First Amendment. It says that you were spreading falsehoods, that you were undermining the integrity of the election. Thats all part of the First Amendment. What we have is an administration that has criminalized the free receive. You dont get to violate peoples First Amendment rights, smith. Hold on. That fullthroated defense of the First Amendment flies in the face of Donald Trumps record of undermining these rights. Its worth noting trump has long been at war with the First Amendment. Take for instance freedom of the press. Its frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. As you know, i have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth. I call the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. Or freedom of religion. Donald j. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. Youll recall trumps travel ban once called for a, quote, total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States until the country can figure out what is going on. The courts struck down that ban, in part because it was, quote, unconstitutionally tainted with animus toward islam. The Supreme Court eventually allowed it, citing the expansive power of president ial authority. Then there is trumps track record on freedom of assembly. The administration teargassed and pummeled protesters after the death of george floyd. Trump and his allies have been quick to attack freedom of speech. Over the years, trump himself has targeted plenty of his opponents from individual citizens to whole companies when he did not agree with their expression of free speech. And he has scoffed at the idea of First Amendment protections. Maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some way. Somebody will say, oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech. These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people. So mark this moment in your calendar. Trump and his defenders are all about free speech now, perhaps because his version of the First Amendment is a get out of jail free card. I want to bring in congressman brendan boyle, a democrat from pennsylvania, who says trumps trial should be televised. Congressman, i suppose this newfound love for the First Amendment, free speech, free press, means we can get cameras in the courtroom for the trump trial thats coming up in this case. Youre one of roughly three dozen House Democrats who signed a letter calling on trumps trials to be televised to the public, arguing, quote, if the public is to fully accept the outce,t will be vitally important for it to witness as directly as possible how these trials are conducted. Lets talk about this. Why is it so important for you . This will be perhaps and i know this sounds like hyperbole, but i genuinely believe this will perhaps be the most important criminal trial in American History. So in my view, we need to let the sun shine in. We need to do our very best to defeat any sort of Conspiracy Theories that are going to be spread about what is going on in the court proceedings. And we do know who is the chief among those who will be creating a lot of those legends and myths about what allegedly happens in that courtroom. The best way to do that is to ensure that were all able to see exactly what happens in court day after day. I genuinely believe this is in the National Interest. But how likely is that to happen . I mean one of the things that weve often heard about federal judges is, you know, they just dont want cameras in the courtroom, at the state level, at the county and city level. Sure, you can get cameras in all kinds of courtrooms, but at the federal level, its unheard of. Practically, is it even possible to make this happen . My understanding is that the door has actually been open a little bit to it in certain circumstances. But, you know, my point to whatever judges individual preferences may be, the National Interest has to come first. If we have the single most important criminal trial in American History and its behind closed doors, can you imagine the Feeding Ground on social media and elsewhere of things that are just flatout made up about the trial . This is deadly serious. We need to make sure we have those cameras in there. Those myths, as i say, and legends that may be created on some places the far right, they may happen anyway. But at least if we have cameras in there, it can offer us some protection against them. Let me ask you about the Breaking News tonight. The Department Of Justice, the Special Counsel jack smith seeking a protective order after this trump threat that he made on truth social. If you come after us, were coming after you, essentially what hes saying on truth social. The Special Counsel is holding this up as a reason as to why they need to be very careful about some of this Discovery Material thats going to be shared. Whats your response to all of this . Sadly, im not surprised. Donald trump is a 78yearold man who has gotten away with everything in life, never having been told no. The one time he was told no, it was by 81 million americans in 2020, and what did he attempt to do . End American Democracy. I do believe unless a court is firm with donald trump, he will just continue to make these threats. I would urge the Court Respectfully to do whatever they can to ensure that donald trump doesnt issue any further threats. Otherwise, he is just going to make an entire mockery of the criminal Justice System even more than he has. And are you worried that if hes acquitted in this case, that hell become politically stronger, that he could get a boost in the way he did in 2016 . I remember that all too well. 11 days before the 2016 election, the comey letter comes out, and we could feel it out on the campaign trail. It shifted the momentum of the case. Are you concerned that Something Like that could happen again and actually give trump a boost . It is a legitimate concern, but i have to say that it is so outweighed by the overwhelming amount of evidence against him. I also believe there is something that a federal judge named david carter wrote in the spring of 2022. He argued that unless donald trump and he argued this actually in a different civil proceeding in which he found that donald trump had committed crimes. He argued and i agree with his opinion that stated, unless donald trump is held criminally responsible for january 6th, then it only makes another january 6th more likely. All right. Congressman brendan boyle, thanks for staying up very late with us tonight. We appreciate it on the Breaking News a a a these other matters. We appreciate it. Thanks so much. Thank you. All right. Coming up next, more Breaking News. A judge in austin, texas, issuing an order tonight temporarily barring the state from enforcing its ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy in some cases. Well talk about that in just a moment. Plus, is Vladimir Putin counting on trump to win, and what would that mean for ukraine . Ill talk to the star witness in trumps first impeachment, Lieutenant ColonelAlexander Vindman. Hes coming up as well. Also, ron desantis rhetoric escalates. Well talk about that as well. Were going to have all these deep state people. You know, were going to start Slitting Throats on day one. He says its just a figure of speech. Our guest coming up says its dangerous. Well be right back. Looks like my todo list grew. Paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance, hm. I have a few minutes. I can do that now. Oh, that fast . Remember that Colonial Penn ad . I called and i got information. They sent the simple form i need to apply. All i do is fill it out and send it back. Well, that sounds too easy man give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. They dont ask about your health . man no health questions. Physical exam . Dont need one. Its Colonial Penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. If youre between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if youre not in the best health. Options start at 9. 95 a month, 35 cents a day. Once insured, your rate will never increase. A Lifetime Rate Lock guarantees it. Keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. As long as you pay your premiums, its yours to keep. Call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. Theres no obligation, and youll receive a free Beneficiary Planner just for calling. And some more Breaking News to tell you about tonight. A texas judge issuing an order tonight temporarily barring the state from enforcing its ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy in cases where the mothers life or health could be endangered by an emergent medical condition. Lawyers argued there was already an adequate exception in the statute for lifethreatening situations. The order comes after the judge heard several days of testimony last month from women who say the texas law forced them to continue with highrisk pregnancies. Joining me now to talk about this is cnn chief legal analyst laura coates. Im glad you were able to stick around. Whats your reaction to what is taking place with this judge saying this texas ban was too restrictive . This is very significant. Remember back in 2021, jim, there was a trigger law that was in anticipation of the overturning of roe v. Wade, which eventually happened w