Year they are history making, unprecedented, consequential from Criminal Investigations into the former president of the United States to midterm elections that preserved our democracy, from the makeup o the Supreme Court and th decisions that threatened ou rights to the very rapid ris of hate speech on public discourse, we have plenty to dig into you are watching simone and yo know i have a lot to say when i reflect on the wil ride that was 2022, i keep coming back to these words historic and unprecedented democrats bumped historica trends by expanding thei Senate Majority and preventing a red wave in the house of representatives. And voters, they changed the representation in more way than one electing the first gen z membe of congress with Maxwell Frost In Florida The First woman elected to congress from vermont, wit becca blunt, the First Out Lesbian governors, lamar heal in massachusetts, and tina kotek in oregon. The first black governor o maryland with wes moore. The list just goes on. With such dramatic shifts came another historical changing of the guard, when speaker, nancy pelosi, the first woman speake of the house, pass the torch t congressman, Hakeem Jeffries who will be the first blac leader of any major politica party in congress. And its not just in the house that we are seeing these changes. Justice Ketanji Brown jackso now sits on the nations highest court, The First Black Woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court. Her appointment as a crown jewel of the judiciary i changing right before our very eyes the President Bidens 97 confirmed nominees, 60 were women and 67 were people of color. This is the most diverse cro of nominees the nation has eve seen and with democrats expanding the Senate Majority, those numbers are expected to grow even more next year. These confirmations, they ar just one part of President Bidens victories in 2022. The president Signed Legislation Protecting Federal Recognition of same se marriages, preparing for the industries of the future investing in historic amount in combatting the climat crisis, and limiting access to weapons in the first significant Gun Safety Bill in nearly 30 years. While we celebrate successes and historic firsts, we ar also navigating very uncharted territory. The first ever crimina referrals from congress of a former president , donald trump for his role in the january 6t attack on the capitol, the unprecedented fbi search of hi maralago estate. Donald trump faces multipl ongoing Criminal Investigations and yet, he remains the face o a party that has relied on delusional and extremism rhetoric to stoke fear and pursue power i have said it on this sho time and time again, these culture or, they are not a distraction. Oh no, they are in fact th playbook this hateful rhetoric, sometimes used by electe leaders and they spread on social media it has not just normalized, bu it has amplified, it has intensified attacks on peopl of color, on Lgbtq People Jewish people, and others. And lets also not forget th Supreme Court reversed 50 year of precedent by overturning ro v. Wade, instantly throngs womens bodily autonomy to the mercy of State Governments the High Court Also decide police cannot be sued if the dont read people their mirand rights during arrests. So, police can be held accountable for failing to war people that they have the righ to remain silent or request an attorney and if Justice Clarence thomas has his way, more rights wil be on the Chopping Block Ver soon then there is the response t the humanitarian crises beyond our borders and to those seeking safety here. A number of lawmakers oppose more u. S. Aid to ukraine, to help them fight putin aggression, while some republican governors use migrants at our Southern Borde as political pawns, busing the to blue cities with a little t no notice. So, what does this past year mean for the next . Joining me now to discuss is eugene scott, hes a nationa political reporter for the washington post. Daniel moody is also here, shes the host of the woke a podcaster, and Tara Setmayer i back, shes a Senior Adviser for the lincoln project. Welcome, welcome to you all. Unprecedented and historic yall. I want to start with january Six Committee because Th Conclusion of their work was indeed, historic weve got the first ever criminal referrals for forme president and it include charges of Obstruction Conspiracy To Defraud and make false statements, an insurrection so, i will give this monty tara talk to me about how impactful you think that the january Six Committee really was, and what is the larger effort to hold donald trump accountable i think this is one of th most historic Inflection Point in our country, concerning the corruption, the unethica behavior, and that We Se Illegal Behavior from th president of the United States that weve seen in a generatio and a half this is something that the American People clearly paid attention to and the fact that we had hearings in the January Si Committee did such a impeccable job of presenting the overwhelming evidence of this conspiracy to incite an insurrection, to defraud the American People, and at th heart of it was donald trump part of what made this also so remarkable is that you had s many of trumps own people, we heard it in their own words, i the way in which this committe presented their evidence wit the Video Depositions of trumps own senior people from the attorney general, bill barr, on down to his own daughter, admitting that they knew tha the election had not bee stolen in 2020, trump knew it, and they warned him ahead of time, we heard now from beau hicks and others, they want hi to please tell his people to b peaceful on january six and he ignore that. So, the culmination of all o those things, the variou aspects of what january 6t uncovered, i think, is prett extraordinary. It will go down in the History Books and i applaud the januar 6th bipartisan effort to hol President Trump accountable. Its now in the hands of the Department Of Justice. Danielle, i mean, tara think laid it out. What about you what are your thoughts here on the efficacy of the committee, really, and also what it means for the efforts to hold th president accountable. I mean, i agree with tara i think what we saw from the bipartisan january six House Committee is, in fact, a thorough investigation and using trumps own people i their own words to lay out exactly the fact that, guess what this was not just an act o happenstance, of people gettin caught up in the moment. That this was a plan, strategi attack on our Capitol Building and our ordinary Moxie Directe by the president of the United States the job on the January 6th Committee was to bring this to the public record, was to brin it to the forefront and sa that this was not an accident, this was not, like, a lone wol incident and people got caught up in emotion. The corrected and weaponized and we knew that donald trum knew that those crowds o people had weapons what did he say . If they are not here to harm me so, i think that right now, th ball is in Merrick Garland and jack smiths hands to decide whether or not this is something america is going t shrug off and turn us into a banana republic, or somethin that they are going to Tak Action On and ensure Tha Democracy will still hold. People are waiting with a Baited Breaths to see what happens. Eugene, i think a large part o the effectiveness, as we are discussing, of the January 6th Committee was the fact that no only did the committee take it seriously, but the Media Apparatus took it seriously, the reporters took it quit seriously, not just th reporters who are on capitol hill that day, the entirety of the Media Apparatus. What say you to that assertion well, i think it was th medias role and responsibility to hold this hearing and the government officials, im sorry, the political leaders involved with it accountable. Responsible for what actuall happened on january 6th, and t reveal, make it very clear t those who would want to know the Inner Workings of that ver disastrous day who was involved and to what degree there was real concern fro voters about whether or no there was interference from th highest in the land. In this incident that left, yo know, more than 100 officers dead sorry, injured and i think its very possible that it had an influence on th 2022 midterms, in terms of how people went to the polls and responded to who was running and who is running in suppor of the president , Who Wa Running hoping to provid something different. 2022 saw a lot of things, right . Not only january Six Committee but we also saw democrats defy history by expanding their Senate Majority and minimizing their losses in the house of representatives. They also defeated electio denying candidates acros several battleground states. Daniel, what did we learn abou the issues that matter most to voters and a very interested i your thoughts on what lesson you think both parties shoul take away from the midterms. I think what we learned simone, is that the American People care about democracy, i that the American People showe up to vote, to stand up for th rights, and for the voice. And i think what both partie need to realize is that we hav an educated citizenry that i not going to roll over and allow their democracy to b taken away they are present, they ar accounted for, and people ar going to make their voices heard. Legislative victories, w talked about those we talk about those al throughout the year, President Biden, i will put them on up o the screen and go through Couple Signing Landmark Legislation talking about their strength o marriage act, the first gu safety legislation in thre decades, the inflation reduction act. Tara, what do you think wa bidens biggest legislativ victory in 2022 . Well, you know, there are s many, simone, that is hard t just pick one. I think that people really didnt appreciate how many legislative wins President Biden was able to accomplish whether it was the Infrastructure Bill, the bipartisan, the illustriou Infrastructure Bill that w waited for years before th Trump Administration to pass biden accomplished that. I think the Inflation Reductio Act was incredibly important a a time people needed t understand in this country tha the president and Hi Administration was payin attention to the economy and what was going on. Those gave the democrats legislative things to run on but to danielles point, democracy was on the ballot. What happened with dobbs, that woke people up, january 6t will people up to realize they had a Binary Choice and they chose democracy. That was the most important an biden embrace that as well much to the chagrin of som other people, who wanted t focus more on policy i mean, he gave that speech right before the midterm elections and it was widel criticized by some democrats and some republicans turns out, had his finger up. Exactly, had his finger on the pulse, but republicans, like tara, they knew what were up. I want to move beyond ou borders because i dont thin we can talk about this yea without talking about ukrain and president volodymy zelenskyy. Really, his rise to global prominence eugene, what has the war i ukraine and presiden zelenskyys Leadership Reall meant for democracy around the world . Not just in europe you may remember followin the presidency of donald trump americas Reputation Reall began to decline globally. There was real concern that th u. S. Was not engaged wit Foreign Policy issues to the degree that it previously ha been and one of the reasons why i ran is because he wanted T Restore The Reputation of th u. S. On the internationa stage. And so, the approach that hes been taking with ukraine has really improved the reputation of the white house wit countries that previously were beginning to think less abou this country eugene, danielle, and tara, thank you so much for kickin us off yall, stick around because we have more to talk about late this hour. Thanks so much, okay, coming u yall, 2022 has really been year of unprecedente investigations of a former president , including the historic decision by Members O Congress to recommend that donald trump would b criminally charged donald trump is my least favorite subject, we are going to get into all of that next weve never had a president of the United States stir up a violent attempt to block the transfer of power. He is unfit for any office. We have gone with the facts and the lot lead us and in thi capably, they lead us here when you really need to sleep. You reach for the really good stuff. Zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. Its nonhabit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. I remember the gift, it was one of those gifts that it just landed perfectly. I figured this is a Great Holiday present since i wont be with him for christmas. It was the best gift that i ever received, because it opened up my life. Unwrap your family story, with ancestrydna. Get it. Because it opened up my life. Slip it, cuff it. Check it. High Blood Pressure silently affects millions of americans. Staying on top of your Blood Pressure is as simple as these four easy steps. Selfmonitoring is power. Visit manageyourbp. Org to learn more. At fidelity, your dedicated advisor will work with you on a comprehensive wealth plan across your full financial picture. A plan with taxsmart Investing Strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. This is the Planning Effect. The oxford dictionary define never done or seen before. I think we can all agree that former president Takin Hundreds of documents from the white house stashing them in his maralag resort, it falls into that category and then add to that the fbi executing a Search Warrant a his home to recover th documents, and the only reason we know about it is because th former president , himself, announced it to the world. The public unraveling of donal trump, it may win the year most unprecedented legal event but we are seeing something new, something that has not bee done or seen in the past few years, and thats possible legal accountability for donal trump, for the documents january 6th, and even election lies for more on the legal issues that have dominated 2022, we have glenn kershaw, a former federal prosecutor, and msnb legal analyst. And Kimberly Atkins store, a columnist for the boston globe and coast of the sisters in la podcast. And greetings to you both. Okay, i want to start firs reminding everyone of the four biggest Criminal Investigation into donald trump, as we close out the year we mentioned the maralag case, right . Theres also the justice departments january 6th investigation, that is looking into whether donald trump no only incited insurrection, but also possibly committe election fraud, or fraudulentl raised fronts in the run up to january six. Then you have that Georgia Election investigation int whether trump wrote a la trying to overturn his 202 Election Loss in that state. Remember, that you remember that was called also cant forget about ne yorks vegetation into t