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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough condemned Fox News for paving the way for a constitutional crisis by hyping claims of an FBI "coup" against President Donald Trump.
The "Morning Joe" host blasted Republicans for letting Trump weaken democratic institutions and the rule of law, and he said they had doomed themselves with younger voters.
"They're turning off people who aren't the most Bannon-ite Republicans, and right after that they get state-run TV and Republicans going out and saying, 'Fire Bob Mueller,' something that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe would launch a constitutional crisis," Scarborough said. "They never learn."
MSNBC analyst Mike Barnicle called out Fox News for describing the Justice Department's special counsel investigation as a "coup," and he and Scarborough agreed the right-wing network's language was irresponsible.
"They're using state-run TV in employing the word 'coup,' which is a truly dangerous word to employ," Barnicle said.
Scarborough asked who was running Fox News, and Barnicle quickly answered, "Donald Trump."
"I think he's serious," said co-host Mika Brzezinski.
Scarborough said Fox News was playing a dangerous game.
"I have stayed away from criticizing Fox News for years, for a lot of different reasons," he said. "You see the irresponsibility, especially this weekend. Fox News -- let me say this -- they are fomenting a constitutional crisis by suggesting to people watching Fox News in Middle America that somebody is attempting a coup, a coup against our government."
Reality does not match the dictionary definition of a coup, Barnicle said.
"Let's take an unsponsored break here brought to you by Webster's dictionary," Barnicle said. "'Violent overthrow or altering of an existing government by a small group.' That's what they're fomenting, that's what they're pushing about a fact-finding, truth-seeking mission led by a guy who absolutely, Bob Mueller, (a guy who) lives his life right down the middle."
Scarborough pointed out that the special counsel probe was lawfully overseen by Trump's deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself after he was potentially implicated in Russian election meddling.
"Let us be very clear, that was set up by Donald Trump's own administration, his own Justice Department, his own attorney general, his own deputy attorney general," Scarborough said. "This is called the rule of law, this wasn't the 'deep state.' This was Donald Trump's state. We're going to get to this in a little bit. What they are doing could lead to violence and what they are doing is about as deeply irresponsible than anything I've ever seen. "
Former FBI agent Clint Watts had a message for President Trump on Sunday evening, that the FBI was made "bigger and better" already, by then-Director Robert Mueller.
"Kasie D.C." host Kasie Hunt asked Watts whether the text messages from agent Peter Strzok are important to the investigation.
Watts replied that Mueller did "exactly what he should have done" and fired Strzok from the investigation as soon as he became aware of the situation.
Watts went on to offer a stern critique of President Donald Trump's comments from the White House lawn on Friday morning in which he said that the FBI is at a historic low point, but that his administration will make it "bigger and better" than it has ever been before.
"What I love about Pres. Trump's comment about making the FBI bigger and better," said Watts, "we actually did that after 9/11 and the person picked to do that was FBI Director Mueller at the time. He made it bigger and better and he did such a good job with it that he was asked by Pres. Obama to extend past the 10-year term."
Watch the video, embedded below:
If right-wing attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller fail to defang the Russia investigation, said Politico reporter Rachael Bade on Sunday, Trump-supporting officials and media figures will go after Attorney Gen. Jeff Sessions.
"I was just talking to someone the other day -- this is Friday," Bade said. "This is someone who is very close with [Congressional Republican] leadership, who was one of those people who said, 'We need to leave Bob Mueller alone. We can't touch this investigation.'"
"This Republican was telling me, 'I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few weeks we see people going after Sessions,' actually, because maybe they feel they can't go after Robert Mueller right now because it will look very political -- like they were trying to get rid of the Russia probe," said Bade.
Sessions has fallen in and out of favor with President Donald Trump. He was an early supporter of Trump's campaign for president and has been an ever-faithful aide. However, Trump is reportedly furious with Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation after admitting to the FBI that he met with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and lied about it during his confirmation.
Watch the video, embedded below:
On Saturday evening, MSNBC showed an edited-together video of footage from President Donald Trump's rally for Roy Moore in Pensacola, FL and Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual Christmas press conference for Russian media outlets.
The two men echoed each other's disdain for investigating Russian collusion with Trump's 2016 campaign, disparaged "fake news" outlets and praised the success of the U.S. stock market.
Watch the video, embedded below:
A writer for the conservative Washington Times got shut down by The Washington Post's Dana Milbank on MSNBC Saturday after she said that there is "an element of truth" to the right-wing attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and his objectivity.
The Examiner's Sarah Westwood cleaved to the right-wing canard that because an investigator hired by Mueller's investigation once sent a text message critical of President Donald Trump, then the investigation must be tainted.
"This could be a meaningless revelation, but because there's an element of truth behind this line of attack, it is an effective one and Republicans are seizing on it," Westwood said.
"I don't even think there's an element of truth here," said Milbank, pointing at the James Comey, Bob Mueller and Rod Rosenstein are all Republicans. "So let's keep that in perspective."
He pointed out that Comey "came out a week before the election and said he was re-opening the email investigation. It is very hard to argue that had he not done that the election would have turned out the way it did because it was by such a close margin, so that's sort of nonsense on its face."
Watch the video, embedded below:
President Donald Trump bookended his weekend with a second impromptu conversation with reporters on the White House lawn on Sunday night.
In it, he said that things with the special counsel Bob Mueller's investigation are "not looking good," but denied he has any intention of firing Mueller, as some Democrats have warned.
"No, I'm not," Trump said when asked if he's contemplating terminating Mueller and thereby quashing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Watch the video, embedded below:
As GOP lawmakers do their best to undermine the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Russian collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign team, a former Bush-era ethics attorney suggested another investigation be opened.
Appearing on MSNBC, Trump critic and Republican Richard Painter assailed GOP lawmakers who are attacking the FBI and undermining the rule of law, calling their attacks "a bunch of B.S. and baloney."
"What's going on here is that members of Congress want to carry President Trump's water, here, in attacking Robert Mueller," Painter said, "but it's not going to work because Robert Mueller is a Republican. He was appointed by a Republican Deputy Attorney General."
Painter said that if a second special counsel is appointed, that person should be looking into the millions of dollars donated to Republicans by Putin-allied Russians living in the U.S..
"These members of Congress are clearly very defensive about Robert Mueller," Painter said. "And none of those claims against Mueller have any basis."
Republicans like Rep. Devin Nunes (CA) who are trying to hamstring the Mueller probe are "fronting for Vladimir Putin," said Painter.
Watch the video below via MSNBC:
MSNBC contributor Malcom Nance reportedly scared the "bejesus" out of viewers on Sunday when he pointed out that President Donald Trump was following the authoritarian playbook by pitting police against federal law enforcement.
"Do I have to be the one that comes out and tells the American public, the last time we had a crisis of this magnitude was the Civil War," he explained. "The Civil War, they at least used the precepts of the Constitution to make a legal separation from the United States."
"Other than putting troops in your house, many of these things are happening," Nance continued. "If he takes away the fundamental ability for us to police ourselves, to police the president of the United States, then he has done the ultimate in obstruction of justice. He is dismantling the Constitution and it cannot stand! We cannot allow it to stand."
He added: "Everybody who is watching this who is in government right now who would think this is good, then you're just doing a [Communist Party propaganda agency] politburo. Okay? We don't need Saddam Hussein's People's Council here. What we nee to do is defend this nation's democracy."
MSNBC viewers immediately reacted to Nance's words with alarm. One viewer noted that Nance had scared the "bejesus" out of her.
Watch the clip below.
CNN media expert Brian Stelter was left with little to say Sunday morning after a former Fox News personality used media mogul Rupert Murdoch's comments about her to break her confidentiality agreement and blow the lid off of the pervasive atmosphere of sexual assault at the conservative news outlet.
Appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources, legal analyst Tamara Holder said since she was pushed out at Fox for reporting sexual assault she has been unable to find another media job and that she is not alone among other women who were forced out at the network.
"Fox News ruined people's lives," an impassioned Holder explained. "He [Murdoch] ruined my life. I don't have a job in TV anymore because the place that he has secured down like Fort Knox allowed abusive predators to work. That is not nonsense, this is people's lives. He said it wasn't just Roger Ailes. Well, we don't need to name names, we know it wasn't just Roger. He said 'nothing more since then' -- that's a lie. We also know that Bill O'Reilly paid $30 million plus to somebody and, of course, they rehired him after that."
"He says there are cases that amounted to flirting," she continued. "Let me be clear. I had a man pull out his penis in his office and shove my head on it. That was not flirting. -- that was criminal. That was not sexual harassment. I'm not the only case, there are women who can't speak out."
"Either Mr. Murdoch is a liar or he's delusional and old and needs to get out," she stated. "If you're an investor, you need to decide, do you want your money with a man who has continued to lie to you for the past 20 years, your money, hundreds of millions of dollars of your money has gone to women over and over and over again. and we've been told that we have to shut up."
"I want to be on TV talking about the things that -- we want to talk about what we were paid to talk about on TV," Holder continued. "For me, it was law. I had a sports show. But I'm stuck here, talking about this, because there are people like Rupert Murdoch who continue to deny that we were abused, that we were -- our careers were destroyed, our lives were destroyed. And this is not political, this is people's lives."
A 21st Century Fox spokesperson told Raw Story: "Rupert never characterized the sexual harassment matters at FOX News as ‘nonsense.’ Rather, he responded negatively to the suggestion that sexual harassment issues were an obstacle to the Company’s bid for the rest of Sky. Under Rupert’s leadership and with his total support, the Company exited Roger Ailes, compensated numerous women who were mistreated; trained virtually all of its employees; exited its biggest star; and hired a new head of HR. By his actions, Rupert has made it abundantly clear that he understands that there were real problems at FOX News. Rupert values all of the hard-working colleagues at FOX News, and will continue to address these matters to ensure FOX News maintains its commitment to having a work environment based on the values of trust and respect."
Watch the video below via CNN:
Journalist Sarah Kendzior on Sunday noted that the word "hysterical" was often used to put down women who speak the truth.
On Sunday's edition of Am Joy on MSNBC, host Joy Reid noted that she was recently criticized by right-wing media for pointing out how the Trump administration was following the playbook of authoritarian governments.
"Step one, claim the investigation of you is fraud being conducted by enemies of the state," Reid told MSNBC host Chris Matthews last week. "Step two, get your state-run media, your affinity media to echo that into your base and whip them up into a frenzy against those investigating you. Step three, get the state party -- the Republican Party -- to echo that from the seat of government."
"And then, of course, you've got to add that last step," Reid explained. "Call for the prosecution of your political enemies. In this case, dredging up Hillary Clinton to again call to locker her up."
On Sunday, Reid asked Kendzior, an expert on authoritarian governments, if she "was being hysterical here in equating what Donald Trump is doing with what the kleptocratic leaders of authoritarian states do."
"No, you're not being hysterical," Kendzior insisted. "Hysterical is just a word people use to describe women who speak a plain truth."
"Trump has been on this path from the moment he declared his candidacy," Kendzior added. "Whether it's the persecution of ethnic minorities, his clear intentions to use the government as a kleptocratic tool in order to enhance his families personal wealth, his targets on free speech, freedom of religion, political opponents. And it's only gotten worse as he's gotten into office, as he's consolidated power and as he's faced very little opposition from the Republicans, who should be serving the public, who should be keeping people like Trump and his cadre of other corrupt and criminal actors in check."
"And so, no," she concluded. "You are absolutely right to react in the way that you have."
Reid pointed out that Republicans in Congress had been "behaving as if they were the defense counsel for Donald Trump, attacking the FBI, accusing them of almost being criminals."
"It was breathtaking to watch Republicans do that." Reid continued. "But the did it with such velocity that you wonder, are they party of Donald Trump's administration or are they a co-equal branch of government."
"Meanwhile you find out that Republicans who are passing the exorbitant tax cut for the wealthy," she remarked. "Something like two-thirds of Congress are themselves millionaires. It's almost if Donald Trump and Republicans are creating their own oligarchy."
Watch the video below from MSNBC.
After spending a great deal of time attempting to malign Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign staff, a former Trump aide got a lesson on the law when he complained about transition emails obtained during the investigation.
Along the way, one CNN pundit shut him down with a pithy shot at the White House.
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union with host Jake Tapper, ex-Trump staffer Michael Caputo sneered at that Mueller has obtained transition emails that were kept on a General Services Administration server after the election which Trump officials mistakenly believed were private.
"These are transition lawyers, they're talking about a commitment the GSA made to them that they would consult with them if they asked for any of the documents," Caputo attempted. "There is an argument they're are private property, even though they're held by GSA. The fact of the matter is these e-mails and documents were released -- surprise, surprise -- by career bureaucrats at the GSA. This is more of an administrative attack on President Trump. I think there is an indication that the Mueller investigation is off the rails."
As Caputo railed at the Mueller investigation for acquiring the emails, calling it a "partisan attack on Trump," former Obama official Jen Psaki stepped in to straighten the Trump defender out.
"What this is about is whether the sitting president of the United States worked with a foreign adversary to rig the election and then covered it up," Psaki explained as Caputo attempted to talk over her, exclaiming, "Zero proof, zero indictments, zero guilty pleas, zero on Russia. There is nothing on Russia, everything is a process."
"Let me just finish and make one more point," Psaki shot back. "I worked on a presidential transition. Your e-mails are government property. This is totally fake, made-up conspiracy-driven thing. This is not real."
"Also a lot of the content of the e-mails is gossip about senate nominees, Mueller doesn't care about that," she said as Caputo finally fell silent. "Let's get back to the focus of whether the sitting president of the United States worked with Russia to rig the election and then covered it up. That's the big question. who cares about all this other stuff?"
Political adviser Karine Jean-Pierre got in the last word with the Trump supporter with a biting assessment.
"You can't forget that when Mueller became FBI director, he was appointed by a Republican. He was appointed to special counsel by a Republican. He is a Republican," she stated. "This is not a partisan thing where Democrats are trying to take down the president. This is Mueller who has one of the best legal minds out there."
"And honestly, if you're looking at the White House versus Mueller, who are you going to believe?" she asked. "The White House can’t put together a sentence without lying.”
You can watch the video below via CNN:
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asserted on Sunday that he had never heard of a bombshell Washington Post report revealing that the Trump administration banned the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from using words like "fetus" and "science-based."
Although the report had been at the top of the headlines for two days, Mnuchin insisted to CNN host Jake Tapper that he was in the dark about the allegations.
"Policy analysts at the Center for Disease Control as well as other divisions at the Department of Health and Human Services were given a list of forbidden words," Tapper explained to the treasury secretary. "Why would the Trump administration tell the CDC not to use a term like 'science-based'?"
"It's the first time I'm hearing of that," Mnucnin claimed. "I'm not aware of the directive at all."
Mnucnin also insisted that he had never been told by the Trump administration to avoid using words that anger conservatives.
"Nobody's told me not to use certain words," he said.
Watch the video below from CNN.
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