To cap off a tumultuous day wherein AG Barr stonewalled many incisive questions from Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hillary Clinton paid a visit to Rachel Maddow. Here are a few snippets.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during an event at Barnard College, January 7, 2019 in New York City.
Washington (CNN)Reacting to Attorney General William Barr's testimony on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton said the notion that the President can fire any prosecutor investigating him if he feels the accusations are false is "the road to tyranny."
Clinton made the comments during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday evening. During the show, Maddow pointed to something Barr had said in his public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"The point I was trying to make earlier is that, in the situation of the President, who has constitutional authority to supervise proceedings, if in fact a proceeding was not well founded, if it was a groundless proceeding, if it was based on false allegations, the President does not have to sit there, constitutionally, and allow it to run its course," Barr said during his testimony. "The President could terminate that proceeding, and it would not be a corrupt intent, because he was being falsely accused."
Maddow said Barr was making the argument that "the President can't be investigated if the President doesn't want to be investigated."
"And that, that is the road to tyranny," Clinton said. "That is what authoritarians believe and those who service them argue."
In one of his final appearances on the Senate floor, Senator John McCain urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get back to regular order. Hillary Clinton echoed that imperative on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. Appearing on the anniversary of the release of her book, What Happened, and upon the release of the paperback edition with a new afterword (also published in The Atlantic), Hillary addressed, among other topics, the Kavanaugh confirmation logjam, the Special Counsel probe, the Manafort deal, and the ongoing Russian influence not only in our elections but in our very interactions.
Rachel began the interview quoting from the piece that ran in The Atlantic, and asked Hillary why she is afraid of losing our country. Hillary responded saying that putting aside ideological concerns we have to defend our democracy. Degrading the rule of law, de-legitimizing elections, attacking truth and reason, undermining our unity ... is a crisis. She said the authoritarian tendencies, left unchecked could result in the erosion of our institutions to an extent that we have never imagined here. We are not there yet, she contends, but that is because there is an election. "We need a new Congress, and we need a new Republican party."
With a new Congress, Hillary thinks we need an agenda broader than one of impeachment. She listed policy changes already made, and said those need to be addressed. If people do not go out and vote, she thinks we will see more dismantling of institutions.
She believes that she was clearly a part of the puzzle where Russian interference was concerned in 2016, but she thinks they are playing a longer game of undermining democracy here and globally. She said, "Foreign money, foreign interference in our elections, I don't care if it's from the right, the left, the center, up, down; I don't care where it's from. It's wrong. It's illegal,and the American people deserve to know. If it happened so we can try to prevent it." ¹
Rachel replayed a clip from a year ago where Hillary said we have to depend on those around Trump to be our first line of defense against him doing something that might have serious repercussions. The Times op-ed of September 5 and Bob Woodward's Fear appear to show that remark to have been predictive.
Her prediction now is that after the election Trump will wholesale fire people. She said he is close to being uncontrollable. She is hoping people will see that we need checks and balances and will vote accordingly. While she has not heard any specifics of invocation of the 25th Amendment, she thinks there are private discussions in the White House, and that people are worried.
It was a broad, extensive interview and thought-provoking. Hillary has warned us in the past. Once again she is sounding the alarms. Yes, we must get out the vote. But we must do more. We need to hold the government accountable. First, we must hold the line. Then, we must repair the damage. That demands advocacy. It is going to take more than a village. It is going to take the whole country.
¹Please bear this comment in mind and take it very seriously to heart if you are one of those who defends a "Hillary supporter" whom you suspect or know not to be American but who insists upon not only impersonating an American but also insists upon telling Americans how to think and how to vote. Proxies, trolls, sock puppets, and bots take every side. There is a purpose to this alleged support. Do not be duped.
I don't know why I am always blown away by how much information Hillary Clinton can pack into a few minutes, but I am. Hillary was on for 55 minutes. She had spoken uninterrupted and said so much at the beginning that I thought she had used up half the show. Then I looked at the clock. She had been speaking for only 14 minutes.
Rachel noted, at the end, that Hillary made some very strong comments regarding Facebook, Fake Americans, and the influence they held over our election. This is, as Rachel notes, a national security issue. I keep saying, it does not really matter which side a Fake American pretends to be on. A Fake American "Hillary supporter" is just as capable of impugning Hillary and/or other Democrats and Americans in general with untrue or alarmist statements as a Fake American on the right.
During the 2015-2016 election cycle, I applied a bit less scrutiny than normal in accepting Facebook friends. My intention was an expansion of an audience for Hillary's words, plans, and voter base and to drum up donations. I succeeded in doubling the number of Facebook friends tied to Hillary from the post-2008 number.
In the aftermath, I discovered that I had indeed accepted friend requests from some questionable entities who were less than forthcoming vis-à-vis their nationality/citizenship and location. My bad! I intend to be more assiduous in vetting friends in the future and to do my small part in depriving duplicitous and noxious trolls a platform on my news feeds for their fictional news. If there is a single divergence between these folks and the woman they claim to love and hold as a role model, it is on the role of honesty and transparency in trust.
During the campaign, there were detractors who questioned Hillary's honesty. She is among the most painfully honest people in the public eye. So it is ironic that these impostors resist transparency. That can only raise questions about their trustworthiness.
That said, I think we all can appreciate the honest foreign nationals who admire Hillary and provide truthful coverage of her initiatives.
This community here contributed impressively in many ways to Hillary's campaign: phone banking, pounding the pavement and knocking on doors, registering voters, providing primary day information, and making donations.
Hillary has made it clear that she will not appear on another ballot, but she is not leaving the arena. We will all be here to boost her efforts going forward.
Here is the full interview in case you missed it. Probably tomorrow Rachel will have the complete one-on-one posted at her website. It will play again at midnight EDT.
ICYMI Hillary sat down with the ladies of The Viewthis morning.
This is Day 2 of her book tour. Note to the people who are already tired of seeing Hillary promote her book on TV, here's a neat invention you might like.
For everybody else, catch Hillary tonight with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Check local listings for AC360. Tomorrow night she will be with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.
If I had a dollar for every time over almost eight years that I have
heard Hillary Clinton explain, in so many countries as well as here at
home, that we have regular, peaceful transitions of power in this
country, I would give every dollar to Hillary for America.
Some
of you might remember, that he and I competed against each other as
hard as we could back in 2008. But when it was over, I was proud to
endorse him and campaign for him.
And I’ll never forget when he called me the Sunday
after the election, asking me to come to Chicago. It turned out he
wanted me to be Secretary of State, and I don’t think anybody saw that
coming – especially me.
And as I travelled on behalf of our
country, a lot of people around the world asked how President Obama and I
could work so well together after being such fierce competitors. In some places, the person who loses an election gets exiled or executed, not asked to be Secretary of State.
But President Obama asked me to serve, and I accepted. You know why? We both love our country.
That
is how democracy is supposed to work. We just celebrated 240 years of
independence. In America, we put common interest before self-interest.
We stand together because we know we’re stronger together.
So
it it especially jarring and disconcerting to hear crowds at the
Republican Convention in Cleveland chanting "Lock her up.!" Really?
CLEVELAND
— It’s pretty disturbing to hear a large crowd at a major party
convention repeatedly call for the jailing of the leader of the other
major party.
And I’ve heard that happen again and
again at the Republican convention so far, as the clear favorite chant
of the attendees is: "Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!"
It’s not just the crowd. Three speakers at the podium on the first day of the convention called for Hillary Clinton to be jailed.
And
Chris Christie’s speech on day two, while nominally a critique of
Clinton’s foreign policy judgment, was framed as a "prosecution" of
Clinton in which he repeatedly asked the crowd whether she was "guilty"
or "not guilty."
Naturally, the crowd interrupted Christie four
times with the "lock her up" chant. Indeed, the idea of sentencing
Clinton to prison has been the only thing that’s really excited the
crowd so far on this listless second day.
To me, all this seemed like a new crossing of a line and an ugly degradation of a norm in American politics.
At
any major party’s national convention, partisans aren’t going to use
kid gloves when going after the other party’s nominee. It stands to
reason that when Republicans target Hillary Clinton in Cleveland this
week, they’re going to use every possible line of attack they can think
of. It’s just how the game is played.
But Vox’s Andrew Prokop picked up on
GOP messaging from the first night of the Republican National
Convention that goes much further than anything Americans are accustomed
to.
One of the most striking recurring
suggestions of the Republican convention’s first day was that Hillary
Clinton should be sent to prison.
During retired Lt. Gen.
Michael Flynn’s speech, the delegates began to chant, “Lock her up! Lock
her up! Lock her up!” Soon, Flynn agreed, saying, “Lock her up, that’s
right! It’s unbelievable!”
After noting some other speakers who called for Clinton’s imprisonment, Prokop’s piece added, “To me, all this seemed like a new crossing of a line and an ugly degradation of a norm in American politics.”
He’s not the only who thought so. Independent Journal Review’s Justin Green, a conservative journalist, added,
“Plagiarism is bad, but it’s remarkable that the headline news today
isn’t that speakers at the RNC called for jailing the opposing nominee.”
It’s
no small detail. In the American tradition, partisans will blast rivals
on every front, but voters are not accustomed to hearing calls for the
incarceration of the other party’s presidential candidate.
We
stand as the role model of bloodless transition for all the world. It
is beyond not normal. Steve Schmidt, on MSNBC tonight, called it
"Banana Republican" right after I remarked that I had never seen
anything like this in this country.
No. This is not normal. It is not what we do. It is not how we act. It is not who we are. We are better than this.
I once read that Hillary Clinton excels at Tetris.
Since I also am very good at that game, I have always wanted to
challenged her to a face-off, but she just doesn't have that kind of
time, and, following her, neither do I. It is appropriate,
nevertheless, that this week the Democratic Party has behaved like a
game of Tetris with the tiles tumbling in fast and furiously.
Earlier
in the week (I can't believe this is all in the same week), contacted
by Associated Press, enough uncommitted special delegates decided to
commit to Hillary on the eve of the last Super Tuesday of the primary
season giving her the clinch even before the polls opened. The next day
Hillary dominated in four of the six states.
President Obama wasted no time in jumping on the Hillary bus, endorsing her today
shortly after meeting privately with Senator Sanders. Whether the
timing was planned or coincidental, former presidential candidate Martin
O'Malley also came out with a strong endorsement today.
Hillary Clinton on Thursday at last secured the endorsement she'd long sought — and she also won the backing of Martin O'Malley.
It's
not clear if it was by design or he was just a victim of unfortunate
timing, but not long after President Obama announced his support of
Clinton as the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, O'Malley said that
he, too, was backing his former 2016 rival, in an endorsement that will
unquestionably be overshadowed.
In a series of tweets, O'Malley
said "for the future of the country, I am committing my energies to the
election of Secretary Clinton as the next president."
Massachusetts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a hero to liberal progressives ideologically
aligned with Bernie Sanders' anti-Wall Street rhetoric, will endorse
presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton Thursday night on MSNBC's
the Rachel Maddow Show.
The endorsement will come during an exclusive live interview beginning at 9 p.m.
Warren's
announcement comes the same day President Barack Obama formally backed
Clinton in a video lauding her qualifications for the job.
Vice
President Joe Biden also criticized Donald Trump during a speech at the
American Constitution Society convention on Thursday.
Vice President Joe Biden endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president on Thursday, hours after President Barack Obama publicly declared his support for Clinton.
“In
my view, God willing, it’ll be Secretary Clinton,” Biden said,
referring to the next president, during an address at the American
Constitution Society convention in Washington.
Today, following the endorsement of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and their 290,000 members, Hillary Clinton issued the following statement:
“I am honored to have earned the endorsement of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
“The
Postal Service is consistently ranked as the most trusted government
agency, and the brothers and sisters of NALC are one reason why. Since
our nation’s founding, efficient and effective mail service has
connected families and enabled commerce. Today, more than 160 billion
pieces of mail travel through the postal system each year—many of them
in the hands of a Letter Carrier.
“As President, I will stand with
the Letter Carriers to protect workers’ fundamental rights to organize,
to bargain collectively, to be safe on the job, and to retire with
dignity and security. And I will work with the Letter Carriers to build a
bright future for the postal system and postal workers in the 21st
century. I know that the postal system is still a vital lifeline for
American communities from coast to coast, and recognize the Letter
Carriers’ vital role in building the American middle class.
“Above
all, workers deserve a seat at the table and a champion in the White
House. Because when workers are strong, families are strong—and when
families are strong, America is strong.”
The
Democratic Party is unifying behind Hillary very quickly while the
Republicans remain in disarray over remarks by Donald Trump and the
image he projects as "leader" of the party.
Apparently the remarks are
just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to potential problems posed by
the presumptive nominee of the GOP who likes to cite in unspecific
numbers the "many" people, "hundreds" of people who support his
unfiltered comments and positions.
Donald
Trump casts himself as a protector of workers and jobs, but a USA TODAY
NETWORK investigation found hundreds of people – carpenters,
dishwashers, painters, even his own lawyers – who say he didn’t pay them
for their work.
Back in October, after the first debate,
I said this: " I was proud of my party watching this debate and
proudest of my candidate, Hillary Clinton, who did a superlative job." I
am proud again today.
Look for President Obama tonight on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The segment was recorded yesterday, before the big endorsement today.
So meanwhile, back at the ranch, this interview with Rachel Maddow preceded the AP call. But this is not anticlimactic. Everyone who canshould vote tomorrow! I apologize for this not being better organized. It has been a crazy night!
Hillary
expressed confidence and said everyone was working hard. She has a wide
lead. She would not affirm what kind of speech she would give in
Brooklyn, but hinted it would be a victory speech.
She
noted that she suspended eight years ago Tuesday and endorsed the
Obama/Biden ticket to unify the party. Hillary is perplexed by Bernie's
insistence that she does not have the lead. She thinks he is suggesting
that Super Ds can overturn the will of the people.
Hillary was very firm that special delegates (Super Ds) do not go against the will of the people as represented by hard popular votes and delegates accrued.
Hillary
said the sooner we unify against Donald Trump the better. Hillary does
not understand the srgument the Sanders camp lodges.Rachel asked how
unity happens. Hillary can't answer. Said the campaigns are talking.
Then she unloaded on Trump.
He
is the threat that will unite the party. Trump impervious t the values
of America. Dangerous nonsense. No respect for fellow Americans and
disqualified for the presidency. His attacks are racist. Re: Trump and
the judge and possible racial conflagration: Hillary will work against
that and will call him out on statements that are racist, divisive, and
dangerous.
Those
comments must be repudiated. Hillary called it a terrible precedent to
say a judge by way of heritage cannot rule fairly on a case where
Americans have been defrauded.Trump is dangerous, undermines the rule of
law. Divisive and disqualified from being president.It is a racist
attack. What else can you call these attacks?
Why
240 years to get here? Hillary is aware of the history but does not
want to get ahead of herself. Wants people to vote tomorrow. Is running
to be president for every single American.
I think this is my day and time to say this. If you supported her some
time in the past ans either "cannot" or do not today, you never were in
this camp. Go follow Donald or Bernie into iniquity. Do not come back
here like you are all over Hillary and have her BFF's cell number. We,
the anonymous, have stayed the course. We will carry Hillary in - on
Teddy Roosevelt's chair.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during an event at Barnard College, January 7, 2019 in New York City.
![USA TODAY]({"default":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBqR7Ps.img?h=43&w=43&m=6&q=60&u=t&o=t&l=f&f=png","dpi":1.8}){kind=small}
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