CRIMINAL JUSTICE CONCERNS. >> LET'S BRING IN NEIL. THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME JOINING US. IN THE MIDST OF ALL OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS TODAY, SO I WANT TO START BY GETTING YOUR BROAD REACTION TO WHAT WE ARE LEARNING AND HOW THIS IS PLAYING OUT IN REAL TIME. WHAT ARE YOUR BIG TAKEAWAYS AT THIS MOMENT WITH THE NEWS WE LEARNED, A GRAND JURY HAS RETURNED AN INDICTMENT FOR AN UNNAMED INDIVIDUAL IN THE JANUARY 6th ELECTION PROBE? >> YEAH, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S DONALD TRUMP. OBVIOUSLY, WE DON'T KNOW FOR CERTAIN. BUT SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY IS HAPPENING IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C., FEDERAL COURTHOUSE. I SUSPECT IT IS. IF THAT'S SO, THIS IS THE BIGGEST LEGAL CASE IN OUR LIFETIMES, PERHAPS ALMOST EVER. IT'S UP THERE WITH CASES LIKE DRED SCOTT OR BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION, MONUMENTAL, LIFE CHANGES CASES THAT GO TO THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY. YOU KNOW, HERE, IF THERE IS AN INDICTMENT AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT, HE IS BEING INDICTED FOR HIS ROLE IN TRYING TO UPEND A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION. SURE, DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN INDICTED MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE AND THOSE ARE VERY SERIOUS CHARGES GOING ON IN FLORIDA AND NEW YORK, BUT THIS IS REALLY DIFFERENT. I MEAN, TRUMP'S ACTIONS HERE LITERALLY IMPERILLED AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. IT LIKES HE MAY FINALLY HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THAT. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE ARE CELEBRATING THIS NEWS AND IN A WAY IT'S A CELEBRATION OF THE RULE OF LAW, BUT IN ANOTHER WAY, IT IS A PROFOUNDLY SAD DAY THAT WE HAD A FORMER PRESIDENT ACTING AS PRESIDENT DOING THIS STUFF. REMEMBER, HE WAS IMPEACHED FOR THIS. AND THE DEFENSE, AND THE ONE THAT ULTIMATELY CONVINCED THE SENATE NOT TO CONVICT HIM, WAS, WELL, THERE ARE OTHER MECHANISMS TO GO AFTER DONALD TRUMP, INCLUDING CRIMINAL MECHANISMS. SO NOW WE'RE SEEING THE CULMINATION OF THAT PROCESS. THIS WAS DONALD TRUMP'S ONLY -- OWN DEFENSE, THAT THERE ARE OTHER PROCESSES, AND IF THOSE PROCESSES ARE BEING INVOKED TODAY, AS IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS, THAT IS RIGHT AND GOOD AND TRUMP WILL HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO TRY AND SAY HE INNOCENT AND MOUNT A LEGAL DEFENSE. HE WILL BE ENTITLED TO THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE AND THE HIGHEST STANDARD KNOWN IN THE LAW THAT THE PROSECUTION, JACK SMITH, MUST PROVE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. AND JACK SMITH HAS TO CONVINCE EVERY ONE OF THOSE 12 JURORS IF THERE IS AN INDICTMENT AND THERE IS A TRIAL, EVERY ONE OF THOSE 12 HAS TO BE CONVINCED THAT DONALD TRUMP DID IT BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. IF ANY ONE OF THEM SAYS NO, TRUMP GOES FREE. SO THERE IS A LOT OF LEGAL PROCESS TO PLAY, THAT PLAY OUT. BUT IF THE INDICTMENT IS HAPPENING, I THINK IT'S THE RIGHT THING FOR THE RULE OF LAW. >> ANDREW. NEIL, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR? ASSUMING THAT WE HEAR ABOUT AN INDICTMENT, YOU KNOW, MOMENTARILY, WHAT KIND OF THINGS WILL YOU BE KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR? >> TWO THINGS. ONE, WHO THE JUDGE IS. SOMETHING, ANDREW, THAT YOU REMARKED ON A LITTLE BIT AGO. THAT GOES TO MOST OF ALL THE TIMING QUESTION, BECAUSE A JUDGE COULD SLOW THIS THING DOWN MASSIVELY. AND NUMBER TWO, WHAT ARE THE CHARGES THAT ARE BEING BROUGHT. WE KNOW HIGHLY RESPECTED FEDERAL JUDGE DAVID CARTER IN CALIFORNIA LOOKING AT WHAT THE JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE UNCOVERED ISOLATED THREE CRIMES, CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES, OBSTRUCTION OF AN OFFICIAL PROCEEDING, AND THE CHARGE OF VIOLENCE. AND SO THE -- AND THE QUESTION IS, WILL THERE BE A CHARGE OF VIOLENCE HERE? THAT IS ONE THING I WILL BE LOOKING FOR, IS THERE A KIND OF INCITEMENT OF VIOLENCE THAT WE SAW PLAY OUT ON JANUARY 6th. IS TRUMP GOING TO BE LABELED AS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT, OR IS IT GOING TO BE MORE ON THE KIND OF OFFICIAL COUNTING AND CONSPIRACY AND POSSIBLE OBSTRUCTION OF THE INVESTIGATION AFTERWARDS. >> DOES JACK SMITH WANT A SPEEDY TRIAL? DOES HE WANT THIS TO GET UNDERWAY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE? IF SO, WHY? >> YEAH, I THINK SO. FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST INVESTIGATED THINGS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR REPUBLIC. THERE HAS BEEN A TON OF EVIDENCE AND A TON OF -- YOU KNOW, BOTH IN CONGRESS AND WITH JACK SMITH. SO I THINK HE ABSOLUTELY WANTS TO GO FAST. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON TO GO FAST IS THAT DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO GO SUPER SLOW, RUN OUT THE CLOCK, HOPE THAT HE DELAYS THE TRIAL THROUGH APPEALS AND DELAYS AND COUNSEL DELAYS AND THINGS LIKE THAT UNTIL AFTER THE NOVEMBER '24 ELECTION. EVEN IF TRUMP DOESN'T WIN, HE HOPES SOME OTHER REPUBLICAN CAN WIN AND SOME OTHER REPUBLICAN WHO MAY HAVE COMMITTED DURING THE CAMPAIGN TO PARDON HIM OR TO DROP THE PROSECUTION IF THE PROSECUTION HASN'T FULLY CULMINATED BY THE TIME OF INAUGURATION DAY IN 2025. SO TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. >> YEAH. SO, NEIL, I KNOW THAT YOU ARE WORKED CLOSELY WITH JUDGE LUDIG. YESTERDAY, HE WAS ON AIR SPEAKING ABOUT HOW HE THOUGHT THAT A FEDERAL JUDGE COULD AND INDEED I THINK HE SAID SHOULD BRING THIS CASE, IF IT'S CHARGED, TO TRIAL BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION. AND GIVEN YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND DOING SO MUCH APPELLATE WORK, DO YOU AGREE? DO YOU THINK THERE ARE RISKS THERE? WHAT'S YOUR OPINION? AND DO YOU AGREE THAT THAT'S THE CORRECT ASSESSMENT, YOU COULD DO HAD CONSISTENT WITH DUE PROCESS TO ANY DEFENDANT? >> LIKE ALWAYS, I AGREE WITH THE JUDGE. AT LEAST THE NEW JUDGE. AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS I DO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, CRIMINAL TRIALS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, DEFENDANTS HAVE CERTAIN RIGHTS AND SO ON, BUT THERE IS ALSO A PUBLIC INTEREST IN A SPEEDY TRIAL. THIS IS NOT LIKE THE MAR-A-LAGO PROSECUTION IN WHICH THERE ARE INTRICATE DEEP QUESTIONS ABOUT DOCUMENTATION. GETTING COUNSEL CLEARED. THIS DOES NOT HAVE THOSE KINDS OF PROCEDURAL PIECES TO THEM. AND HERE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN A YEAR BEFORE THE ELECTION. THAT IS AMPLE TIME FOR DONALD TRUMP TO, YOU KNOW, DO WHATEVER HE NEEDS TO WITH HIS DEFENSE AND PUT IT ON IN A COURT. IF THIS WERE ANYONE ELSE, ANDREW, YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I, NO CHANCE THAT THIS TRIAL WOULD TAKE PLACE AFTER NOVEMBER. AND, INDEED, OUR CRIMINAL RULES ARE WRITTEN TO AVOID HAVING DEFENDANTS SLOW DOWN CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS. IT'S ONLY THE GOVERNMENT THAT CAN GENERALLY APPEALS AND STOP TRIALS IN THE MIDDLE OR BEFORE A TRIAL BEGINS. DEFENDANTS HAVE LIMITED RIGHTS, AND THAT'S BECAUSE DEFENDANTS ALWAYS PLAY THESE GAMES, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT RUNNING FOR THE PRESIDENCY. THEY ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO DELAY, DELAY, DELAY IN OUR CRIMINAL RULES ARE WRITTEN TO GIVE DEFENDANTS
