>> you have to game in the game republicans. republican d.a. starting every investigation right now. tonight, new reporting on a magazine very public payback campaign. >> is a terrible, terrible path that they are leaving us to. and it is very possible that it is going to have to happen to them. donald trump is openly signaling russia to help himself get elected again. >> russia, if you're listening. the president of russia will do that for me. and i don't believe he will do it for anyone else. judge aileen cannon wild move to help disrupt the documents trial. another installment of our special series, are you better off than you were four years ago? >> president trump posing for pictures, holding a bible without explanation. >> all in start right now. good evening, from new york. i'm chris hayes. tonight tops store, including speaker of the house of representatives, dozens of senators and congressmen have been revealed to be working hand in glove with convicted criminals in a corrupt retribution scheme to sway the 2024 u.s. presidents will election. conspirators are nearly all republican officials, including the heads of the highest judiciary highest house oversight committees at least two men who have been found guilty and are now awaiting sentencing for previous crimes. it is a wide ranging, well correlated lot, and overpressure campaign to propel national, state, and local government officials to abuse their power. it is happening, out in the open. the conspirators telling reporters what they plan to do. the nuclear option from authoritarian takeover. that they say was tripped by the criminal conviction of the republican party leader, former president donald trump, the 2016 election. ping two women hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep extramarital affairs with him quiet until he won that campaign. as new york times report, within hours of the jury finding mr. trump guilty last week, permanent gop leaders in and out of government have demanded that electoral republicans use every instrument of power is, pratt including prosecutions. all of this is happening on behalf of trump, who was so angered by his conviction on 34 felony counts, he openly encouraged allies to consider political persecution of his adversaries, a worthy goal for the party. >> wouldn't it be terrible to throw the president's wife, and the former secretary of state, think of it, the former secretary of state. but the president, the president's wife, into jail. wouldn't that be a terrible thing? but they want to do it. so, you know, it's a terrible, terrible path that they are leading us to. and it is very possible that it is going to have to happen to them. >> some longtime trump allies are taking those as marching orders, including steve anna, former trump white house official who faces jail time in a hearing tomorrow morning. for his conviction on two federal contempt of truck charges, after he refused to testify to what he knew about the deadly capital insurrection. bannon, who also faces a child this fall in manhattan for fraud and money laundering in connection with the far right fundraising scheme, told new york times reporters it was time for republicans to prosecute democrats all over the country, texting, there are dozens of state attorneys general and district attorneys who need to seize the day and own this moment in history. at the same time, stephen miller, the hard-line former trump aide, the so-called muslim band, went on fox news, it was an all hands call, to authoritarian action and start existential terms. >> is every house committee controlled by republicans, using its subpoena power in every weight needs to, right now, with every republican d.a. starting every investigation they need to right now. is every donor off the sidelines and in the game, the big dollar guys, the wealthy guys? every facet of republican party politics and power has to be used right now to go toe to toe with marxism and beat these communists. >> republicans are doing their part for this plot. led by house speaker mike johnson, will outline his party colleagues yesterday, outlining a three-pronged approach to how they can target the justice department in new york and other jurisdictions for investigator trump, vowing to use house oversight powers while cutting funds in the government probations process and taking on others' unspecified legislative measures. already, johnson's closest allies in congress are running with them. house judiciary chairman, jim jordan, a staunch all right trump ally has demanded testimony, has proposed withholding federal funding from municipalities that charge trump for his crimes. and even republicans without any high responsibility's are using participation in the gop revenge plan as a tool for personal advancement. texas congressman, ronny jackson, former trump white house position, who retired from that post in disgrace, investigations into alleged alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct, told newsmax it was time for republicans to go after democrats including joe biden and his relatives. >> president biden should be ready because on january 20 of next year, when he is a former president joe biden, i am going to encourage all of our colleagues and everybody as a member of congress to aggressively go after the president and his entire family. >> today, house speaker mike johnson installed that man you just saw there, along with fellow election denying republican, a man who had his phone seized by the fbi, on the all-important house intelligence committee. national republicans seem to be acting on jackson's advice. they sent a criminal referral to the department of justice per president biden's brother, james, and hunter, both who are the targets of conspiracy theories for the better part of a decade. joe biden currently facing trial in federal court. in the senate, number of republicans, many who hold out hopes of being trump's vice president candidate. here is ohio senator jd vance. >> that is the only language that i think these people are going to understand is that if they do this, if they turn the american system of justice into banana republic garbage, they are going to suffer consequences. >> another vice presidential contender, senator from florida, marco rubio, top republican said lasted resident biden and apocalyptic terms on social media, saying our current president is a demented man propped up i wicked and deranged people willing to destroy our country or remain in power. it is time to fight fire emoji with fire emoji. vance, along with 10 other republican senators that signed on to a pledge by utah senator, mike lee, to block all democratic legislation, funding, and nominations in retaliation for trump's conviction. by 12 citizens in new york, a jury of his peers, effectively bringing capitol hill to a standstill. >> saying those who turned our justice system and political cudgel must be held accountable. these are just the broad strokes of the republican plan. one that contemplates the party using all three parties of government to keep trump free and exact revenge on anyone, up to and including the supreme court, where one third of the justices were appointed by donald trump. as speaker johnson reminded fox viewers last week, when he said those justices should overturn trump's conviction. >> the justices on the court, i know, many of them personally. i think they are deeply concerned about that as we are. so i think they will set this straight. >> that is interesting. this is all happening in plain sight. pro trump cultural influences to ratchet up the rhetoric way beyond what any peaceful civil society can sustain. >> should democrats be in jail? no question, what donald trump elected, should they start locking them up? 100%. >> not just dell, they should get the death penalty. used to have the punishment for treason in this country. >> that is a good taste to take a step back for a minute. the chances are if you watch this show, if you follow the news, you know that the details of breaking news. you have seen what republican party has become in his endless fealty to him. day in, day out, the headlines that are buried by more headlights. when you take it all together, from just a mile high perspective, everything that has come to a head, the first impossible, the last one when you think about how this will play in the news, happening in some other country, over there. he would say to yourself, whoa, that's not good. what in the world is happening there, what is wrong with that place, with those people? how in the world does this get resolved? jasmine crockett is a democrat in texas, she serves on the house oversight committee and she jointly now. it is good to have you here. what do you think about the growing voices on the republican party, congress and former white house officials who are just explicitly saying we want to corruptly use state power to persecute democrats to use the criminal justice system when we are in power to go out? >> we live in a very scary world and unfortunately, this station is probably one of the few that you can get the truth and find out what it is that their agenda is. we are in the midst of an election cycle, the election cycle that when you knock on doors, people start talking to you about housing prices, they talk to you about food prices. they talk to you about needing to make higher wages. and they are saying that we want to vote for whoever is going to do this. but the reality is is that the republican party is only trying to appease a party of one, they are not looking out for us as a country, they're not looking out for their own constituents. instead, all they care about is making donald trump happy. that is not what democracy looks like. and i need people to wake up this isn't about saying, you know what? i am a republican, so i am going to vote r. you may be a republican but what these people are? they are not even american, as far as i am concerned. because when we took an oath, it was an oath to make sure that we would swear against any enemy, foreign or domestic. i am telling you right now, anybody that would propose the death penalty but have a problem with the fact that this guy is a criminal, we knew he was a criminal. he said it before, he said he could go out, kill somebody, and nothing would happen to him. and frankly, he is off, because one out of the four prosecutions that he is facing actually went forward. but we actually experience a breakdown in this country, because the fact that the other three prosecutions are being held up, where we had grand jurors that came together, saw evidence and saw fit to actually say you have enough for an indictment, and now you want to challenge and threaten these jurors, that makes no sense and that is not the american way. >> i want to ask about trump's sort of leaning into this, i'm a criminal thing. he said he has compared himself to al capone will double times. he had on stage with him in the bronx, two individuals who are currently under indictment for conspiracy that includes attempted murder, if i'm not mistaken. they are facing those charges. and there is this, i have heard him say almost explicitly, black folks and black voters will like this because they like criminals? or because they have had unfavorable experience with criminal justice system. i think that is the more terrible way of saying it. what is your reaction to him? >> it is more racism. because essentially what you're saying is that black people, we know y'all know all about going to jail. to be clear, this guy has 34 felonies. i have never been arrested for a traffic ticket. i do want to be clear that there are black folks that have not actually experienced jail. i have been in jail, obviously, as a former middle defense attorney. i want to be clear, as kendrick lamar says, they are not like us. he is not like us. so for my clients, i have never had one that had this many charges pending against them. but i've never had anybody come close to him and somehow still be walking free pretrial. that is not how we get treated when we end up eating locked up. in addition to the fact that i appreciate those that are on social media, pointing out the hypocrisies that right now, in this country, this guy can get high six figures for a job and potentially be higher where, in most places, we can't even ban the body, so that people who have a record can actually get an interview for an hourly job so no, you're not being treated like us. it is a two tier justice system and unfortunately, you have been treated so much more favorably than you should have ever. the fact that we are debating whether or not he is going to jail doesn't make sense either. >> when you hear your colleagues talk about ronny jackson, he is a colleague of yours in the same. >> thank you for reminding me. >> he is in the state delegation, as you are. a sickly saying, look, explicitly, there are two ways to interpret this. this is what an old coach of mind would call down the block tough. after someone walks away. yeah, there is like a little bit of that. and there's a lot of, jd vance is the most down the block down person i've seen in my public life. there is a lot of that. but there is also, listen to what they are saying, which of those two do you sort of find yourself pulled towards? >> you know, definitely. they inspire other people warriors and they like to do a lot of talk because they will send out an email and they will raise money because they talked tough. but i do think that the vast majority of them honestly don't have it in them to get anything done. they just like to talk tough and rile people up. i do believe, though, that we do have some real crazy people. like legit, like you are all the way out there and you will push forward. >> if given power. >> absolutely. i also think that even if some of those are kind of more talkers, they are followers. and that is also scary. because that is what we have seen, is that maga will take the lead and they are like, we can't get caught slipping. we got to go ahead and go along with the show. they are going reluctantly. we had very few that actually push back. i always bring ken buck at because ken buck is freedom caucus. the freedom caucus guy said you guys are crazy. i am out. not a moderate republican, the freedom caucus guy. but he absolutely believes in our institution. and that is what we are missing right now. >> jasmine crockett of texas, thank you very much, appreciate it. coming up, donald trump straight up asks for russia's help winning the next election. again, trump is dangling in american citizens read him for his own benefit, next. energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul.com. , evan gershkovich has been legal prisoner of the russian government for three years. he was imprisoned on false charges of being a spy. but for all intents and purposes, he is a hostage of vladimir putin's regime. negotiation appear to be ongoing, but so far, the united states had not been able to secure his release. and now, in a move that is truly appalling, even by his degraded status, donald trump appears to be openly colluding with vladimir putin in the hostage taking of evan gershkovich, and the price of his relief is electing donald trump sound like i am exaggerating. just listen to the candidate himself >> evan gershkovich, the reporter for the wall street journal who is being held by russia, will be released almost immediately after the election, but definitely before i assume office he will be home, he will be safe, vladimir putin, president of russia will do that for me. and i don't believe he will do it for anyone else. and we will be paying nothing, biden likes to pay massive numbers. we will be paying nothing. >> okay, so there are two possibilities here. one is that trump is lying and he has no actual means of knowing whether that would happen. that is the case, not only is it an unspeakably cruel thing to p to say, that is also, let's be clear, operating hampering the negotiations because he is sending a signal to russia not to free him until after the election. either under the guise of some better deal from trump or as a tool to help trump get elected, which vladimir putin absolutely wants to do. we know that. remember, trump has issued these kind of open signals to the russian government before. >> russia, if you are listening. i hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. >> almost immediately after he said that in 2016, russian hackers attended the hack both hillary's personal office and her campaign. that is one possibility got trump is just posturing. the other possibility is that trump actually does have some back channel with putin. he is discussing a deal the two have already worked out. he seems to be very specific about the timing. now, that appears to be what he is implying, at any rate. we have no idea if it is true. to be honest, does sound a bit far-fetched. but i would note, there is absolutely precedent for an american presidential candidate to hold secret back channel negotiations with a foreign adversary to influence the outcome of an election. back in 1968, richard nixon was running amidst the backdrop of a catastrophic war in vietnam. just a few days before the election, he looked up the johnson admin station was on the cusp of securing a negotiation to end the war. at the last minute, the nixon campaign opened up a secret back channel in order to get them to pull out of the peace talks. >> on november 2nd, with just three days to go until americans went to the polls, president suddenly announced that the south vietnamese government would not attend the proposed talks after all. a representative of the nixon campaign, at the candidate's personal direction, had secretly contacted the saigon government, urging him to stay away from the talks. promising that once nixon was elected, he would drive a harder bargain with hanoi than humphrey did. >> at work, with the peace talks stalled nixon won the election. he prolonged the war in order to get elected. the delay, and nixon's subsequent illegal expansion of the war cost 20,000 americans lives and millions of laotian and cambodian lives. a similar thing happen again in 1980. that election, jimmy carter was facing a foreign-policy crisis of his own. >> good evening. the american embassy and tehran is in the hands of muslim students and i, spurred on by they stormed the embassy, fought the marine guards for four hours, overpowered them and took dozens of american hostages. >> more than 50 americans were being held hostage in iran. it was a political disaster for carter and it was later discovered his opponent, ronald reagan, set up a secret back channel of his own. reagan alec, former texas, john connolly, traveled to a number of middle eastern countries in the summer of 1980, worrying a encouraged the leaders to pass along a message to iran, as the new york times, don't release the hostages before the election. reagan will win and give you a better deal. again, it worked. reagan won. and in a final twist , the hostages were released just minutes after the new president, ronald reagan, was sworn in. all of this to say, for history, it is perfectly plausible that donald trump does have some kind of back channel to russia. but at the end of the day, whether trump is just making things up and trying to influence russia from afar, that is to keep christo bish hostage. whether he has a keep a deal. if donald trump really does have any power to get him released, isn't making that happen right now. then it is donald trump holding that american hostage. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she 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