INVESTIGATION. WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE ULTIMATELY PART OF THE CHARGCHA WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. >> I WANT TO BRING IN NBC NEWS CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT ALI VITALI. SHE'S JOINING ALL OF US, WHO ARE JUST DIGESTING THIS NEWS HERE. YOU'RE TRACKING REACTION THERE ON CAPITOL HILL. ALI, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM LAWMAKERS? >> Reporter: SHOCKINGLY, NOT THE FIRST TIME WE'RE SEEING REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS REACT TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT BEING IN LEGAL JEOPARDY. THIS IS NOW SOMETHING WE'VE SEEN BEFORE. REPUBLICANS, LARGELY IN THE HOUSE, RUSHING TO HIS DEFENSE, IN PART THAT'S BECAUSE WE'VE ONLY SEEN HOUSE LAWMAKERS TODAY. THE SENATE SCHEDULE IS WHAT IT IS, AND WE'LL SEE THEM LATER TODAY, AS WELL. LISTEN FIRST TO SPEAKER KEVIN McCARTHY AND HIS REACTION TO THIS THIS MORNING. >> WELL, I GUESS UNDER A BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, BIDEN AMERICA, YOU'D EXPECT THIS. RECENTLY, PRESIDENT TRUMP WENT UP IN THE POLLS AND WAS SURPASSING PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR RE-ELECTION. WHAT DO THEY DO NOW? WEAPONIZE GOVERNMENT, GO AFTER THEIR NUMBER ONE OPPONENT. TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS TIRED OF THIS. THEY WANT EQUAL JUSTICE. THE IDEA THEY UTILIZE THIS TO GO AFTER THOSE WHO POLITICALLY DISAGREE WITH THEM IS WRONG. >> Reporter: ONCE AGAIN, THE SPEAKER THERE DEFENDING THE FORMER PRESIDENT WITHOUT ENGAGING IN THE SUBSTANCE OF WHAT IS AT ISSUE HERE, WHICH IN THIS CASE, IS IN REGARDS TO THE TRANSFER OF POWER AROUND THE 2020 ELECTION. DEMOCRATS ALSO RESPONDING IN PERHAPS AN UNSURPRISING WAY. I'LL PLAY SOME OF THOSE TOP DEMOCRATS WE'VE HEARD FROM SO FAR THIS MORNING. >> I THINK PRESIDENT TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP, HAS DONE REPEATEDLY THINGS THAT CALL UPON LAW ENFORCEMENT AT EVERY LEVEL TO LOOK AT WHAT HE'S DONE. SO MUCH OF IT IS CERTAINLY QUESTIONABLE AT BEST AND ILLEGAL AT WORST. >> THIS APPEARS TO BE THE CULMINATION OF IT. I EXPECT DONALD TRUMP TO BE INDICTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. >> Reporter: OF COURSE, THAT'S THE DEMOCRATIC REACTION FROM CONGRESSMAN HOYER AND CONGRESSMAN GOLDMAN. WHAT IS FASCINATING ABOUT WATCHING THE REACTION HERE ON THE HILL IS IN TYPICAL CASES LIKE THIS, AND CHUCK ROSENBERG KNOWS THIS SO WELL, AND SO MANY OF YOUR GUESTS WHO HAVE BEEN PROSECUTORS IN PAST LIVES BEFORE JOINING US HERE, THEY KNOW HOW TYPICALLY SHROUDED IN SECRECY THESE SPECIAL COUNSEL KIND OF INVESTIGATIONS ARE. MOST OF THE THINGS DOJ DOES ARE TYPICALLY DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IN THE SHADOW OF SECRECY, UNLESS THEY'RE READY TO MAKE THEM PUBLIC. THE BENEFIT, IF YOU WILL, OF WHAT WE'RE WATCHING WITH THIS JACK SMITH INVESTIGATION, IS THAT WE WATCHED THE JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE ACTUALLY GO THROUGH SO MANY OF THE DIFFERENT DETAILS OF THIS, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FAKE ELECTOR SCHEMES, THE WAY THE FORMER PRESIDENT AND HIS ALLIES PRESSURED PEOPLE AT THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVEL, BOTH DOJ, HIS VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE. ALL THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN WERE DETAILED BY THE JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE OVER THE COURSE OF ROUGHLY A DOZEN HEARINGS. THE PUBLIC NOW HAS SOME INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE SPECIAL COUNSEL MAY HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR. THE INVESTIGATIONS AND QUESTIONS HE MAY HAVE BEEN ASKING. THEN, OF COURSE, THERE IS THE OPEN QUESTION OF WHAT MORE HE MAY HAVE LEARNED GOING THROUGH THIS. OF COURSE, THE QUESTION TRUMP BROUGHT UP TRUMP ME. THE IDEA THAT IN GOING FORWARD WITH TRUMP AND SENDING HIM A TARGET LETTER LIKE THIS, THERE HAS TO BE CONVERSATION AROUND WHAT TRUMP KNEW IN REGARDS TO HAVING LOST THE ELECTION. THAT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT THE JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE DID A LOT OF WORK TO ESTABLISH. THE IDEA OF HIS MINDSET. THE IDEA THERE WERE PEOPLE AROUND HIM TELLING HIM HE LOST THE ELECTION, THAT HE WAS HEARING THEM, HE INTERNALIZED THAT, AND HE THEN WENT FORWARD AND APPLIED THESE PRESSURE LEVERS ANYWAY. THAT'S GOING TO BE REALLY IMPORTANT. AGAIN, FOR THE SAKE OF TRANSPARENCY, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE THE BENEFIT OF KNOWING. IT GIVES US SOME RARE INSIGHT HERE AFTER HAVING SEEN A YEAR AND A HALF'S WORTH OF INVESTIGATION HERE ON CAPITOL HILL, THAT CASTS SOME RARE LIGHT ON THE FACT THAT NOW THIS SPECIAL COUNSEL INVESTIGATION IS OBVIOUSLY COMING TO A CLOSE, AND WE
