WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.200 Throughout the Trump era, I've had to sort of disabuse 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:08.720 myself of various kinds of assumptions about politics, assumptions about 3 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.759 the ways in which politics can or do or should work, 4 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.960 and a lot of the conservative reliance on certain kinds 5 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.679 of institutions. I've found more and more of the course 6 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:27.879 of the last years to be somewhat hollow. Everyone and 7 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:32.880 their mother trumpeted how wonderful the Federalist Society is for 8 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:39.079 helping pick judges, and certainly they're better at picking judges than, say, 9 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.799 you know, anyone on the left is. But at the 10 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:49.560 same time, the Federalist Society has its limitations. It has 11 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:52.880 certain things that it's obviously oriented towards that are more 12 00:00:52.920 --> 00:01:00.759 in the interest of extremely wealthy Republican gazillionaire business donors 13 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.359 then they are, you know, aligned towards the things that 14 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:06.439 I care about. And this is reflective in the fact 15 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:10.680 that a lot of Federalists society sort of tycoons in 16 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.000 the conservative legal space wind up all of a sudden, 17 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:21.159 somehow abandoning ship when it comes to conservative social justice issues. 18 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.040 Yes, they did get Roe v. Wade overturned, but. 19 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:28.760 Look at you know, Justice Gorsich, who might as well 20 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:33.120 have come off of a factory line by the Federalist Society. 21 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.319 It's right out of central casting and all of a sudden, oh, actually, 22 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:41.760 somehow originalism means that laws that were meant to protect 23 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:47.480 against discrimination on the basis of sex actually prevent discrimination 24 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:51.439 on the basis of sexual orientation, even though they don't 25 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:57.359 say sexual orientation or god forbid, gender identity. So I've 26 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.159 the Trump era has caused me to rethink the old Guard, 27 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:04.920 the wisdom and the thoughts of the old Guard in 28 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.960 a number of respects for me to say, well, my 29 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.840 preconceived notion of this is maybe wrong. And it's not 30 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:18.360 so much Trump himself, but the sort of anti establishment 31 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.840 ara that Trump has brought with him atmosphere that Trump 32 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.039 has brought with him into politics, that he's not going 33 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.919 to rely on those the same old guard kind of 34 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:32.240 people that you know, a President Marco Rubio would have 35 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.919 relied on, or a President Ted Cruz would have relied on, 36 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.039 or a President George W. Bush would have relied on, 37 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.759 or a President Mike Pence would have relied on. So 38 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:49.719 I have tried to keep an open mind to Trump 39 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:53.599 World and people in Trump World. I think often people 40 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.199 will and especially with a lot of Trump's cabinet picks, 41 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:05.000 I've kept a pretty open mind. When Pete Hegseth got nominated, 42 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.080 there was immediately sort of a circular firing squad from 43 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.960 some conservatives saying, this guy sting, what is this guy 44 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:14.159 has got a Fox News house bubb blah blah. But 45 00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:17.039 then I sort of was like, well, he's got some 46 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:20.080 interesting qualifications in this regard, in that regard, in this regard, 47 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.159 in that regard, Tulci Gabbard gets nominated Director of National 48 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.960 Intelligence and the sort of neocon foreign policy blob is 49 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.479 furious about it. Everyone keeps running with this slander that 50 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:32.599 she's a Russian agent or something, which I find to 51 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.560 be nonsense. I'm open to the idea of Tulci Gabbard 52 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:46.560 within that role. But then we come to Robert Kennedy 53 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.280 Junior as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Matt 54 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:56.159 Gates as Attorney General, and I want to talk about 55 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.240 both of them, and maybe I'll give a segment to 56 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:03.439 each one at the start of the show. I don't 57 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:08.520 like either one, and I say this as someone who 58 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:16.720 largely agrees with some of the overriding goals Trump has 59 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:24.439 for both of those departments. I understand the deep, deep 60 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:29.600 problems at the Department of Justice and at the Department 61 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:33.240 of Health and Human Services. I think pretty darn well 62 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:38.199 the Department of Justice is clearly riddled with people in 63 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:48.120 the FBI, especially who openly operated against Donald Trump as 64 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.879 a candidate in twenty sixteen while he was president, did 65 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.160 stuff that was clearly designed to politically help out then 66 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:02.720 candidate Joe Biden. I think the FBI has been a 67 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:04.600 disaster and in need. 68 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:06.160 Of reform for decades. 69 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:14.879 It's always been a horrible institution in various respects. I 70 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:20.319 completely agree that DOJ needs an overhaul. It needs someone 71 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:28.839 with razor sharp, aggressive thinking who can reform the institution, 72 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:35.399 who will ruthlessly pursue conservative goals, and not just as 73 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:38.639 far as being an ideological conservative and being a hard driver, 74 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:45.439 but also in terms of actually understanding how to get 75 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:53.720 it done, knowing whom to appoint as to be his underlings, 76 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:57.319 you know, his sub people within the Department of Justice, 77 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:06.240 to attain the favored goals of the aministration. So I 78 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:09.360 think in the first segment, you know I'll get to DOJ. 79 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:15.160 But let me switch to HHS. I agree with some 80 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:21.439 of Robert Kennedy's criticisms about giving people more choice and 81 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:25.800 more latitude when it comes to vaccines. In certain respects, 82 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:30.319 I agree with a lot of his criticisms that pharmaceutical 83 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.240 companies get a free pass in a lot of regards. 84 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:36.199 I think. 85 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.759 The cozy relationship that the FDA has with pharmaceutical companies. 86 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:43.399 The number of people who go from being head of 87 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:44.879 the FDA to all of a sudden they're on the 88 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:48.920 board of directors of Pfizer is a textbook example of 89 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.199 this thing called regulatory capture. So learned about this in 90 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:55.800 law school when I was studying regulatory law. Regulatory capture 91 00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:01.480 is the phenomenon where a government whole regulator over an 92 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:08.240 industry becomes actually very hirable by businesses within that industry 93 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.240 who are able to pay him more than the government 94 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:15.560 can pay him or her. So you work for the 95 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:20.319 Department of Transportation, you're overseeing regulating railroads. Well, you understand 96 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:25.120 all the regulations overseeing governing the operation of railroads throughout 97 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.920 the country. You're working with lawmakers, you're working with regulators 98 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:35.399 in Washington, d c. Well, a railroad company Amtrak will 99 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:40.040 look at you and or Union Pacific or whoever, a 100 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:43.079 for profit corporation that makes money will look at you 101 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.800 and say, hey, you've been working as a regulator of that, 102 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:47.480 why don't you come work for us. We'll pay you 103 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.360 double what the government's paying you. And you knowing that 104 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.920 that's a likely career path for yourself because you're not 105 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:00.560 an idiot. Of course, that's going to shade the way 106 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.920 the aggression with which you are going to regulate the 107 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:09.560 companies you oversee. I think it's much the same within HHS. 108 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.040 People in HHS don't have a big incentive to really 109 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:17.839 crack down on pharmaceutical companies. Why because they get hired 110 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:24.160 by pharmaceutical companies. Okay, look up how many former heads 111 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:27.079 of the FDA went on to serve on the board 112 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:31.279 of directors of a pharmaceutical company. You see this in 113 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.240 the Department of Defense. How many retired generals go on 114 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:37.759 to serve on the boards of directors of you know, 115 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:44.840 military contractors. So regulatory capture is a real thing. It's 116 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.399 a real thing that afflicts HHS and the FDA as 117 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.360 ah subset of HHS. But the thing to understand is 118 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.919 that all this stuff that Kennedy sort of made a 119 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.159 name for himself that's not all the stuff that the 120 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:06.879 Department of Health and Human Services oversees. Let me just 121 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.559 explain what the Department of Health and Human Services is. 122 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:16.000 Health and Human Services is the single largest executive branch, 123 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:23.360 the single largest executive branch department in the federal government 124 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:29.720 by budget, by dollar amount. It has tens of thousands 125 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.279 of employees. I don't know about tens of thousands, but 126 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:37.440 it has thousands of employees. It oversees Medicare and Medicaid, 127 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.320 as well as the FDA, as well as the National 128 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.039 Institutes of Health, as well as all of the federal 129 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:54.240 government's sort of portfolio of funding scientific medical research. It's 130 00:09:54.840 --> 00:10:05.919 an enormous department. I don't think Robert Kennedy is actually 131 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.919 well suited to running something that big. Look if Donald 132 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.679 Trump had made Robert Kennedy like his czar for health 133 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.240 related issues, and it was a non Senate confirmed position, 134 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:21.600 and Kennedy was going to have big time influence over 135 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:24.360 FDA decisions or something, or even just make him the 136 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.519 head of the FDA, I would be slightly less concerned. 137 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.759 I just don't think the guy should be running the 138 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:39.080 single biggest division of the federal government. I was ranting 139 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:43.480 and raving when Javier Basera got nominated to be the 140 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:48.159 Secretary of HHS, someone with no medical background whatsoever other 141 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.480 than having been his loan qualifications were being a congressman 142 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.399 for twelve years, Attorney General of California, and super pro abortion. 143 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:05.720 That was it. Oh, and let's talk about abortion. Robert 144 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.360 Kennedy's sort of flip flopped on what exactly his abortion 145 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:13.799 stance is. My guess is that he favors legal abortion, 146 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:21.720 at least through the first trimester. He has at various 147 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.240 points stated that he favors legal abortion, no holds barred 148 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:28.840 beyond the first trimester, even while he was running for president. 149 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:30.519 That was the position he sort of staked out for 150 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.759 himself at one point. He's all over the map. I 151 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:36.919 have no idea what he thinks about the abortion pill 152 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:38.960 and how it should be regulated or shouldn't be regulated, 153 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:40.679 or what its status should be, what sort of person 154 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.440 should be, what the FDA's position on it should be. 155 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.399 I have no idea what he thinks about, say, Title 156 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:54.120 ten funding for abortion, sixty million dollars a year that 157 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.279 goes to Planned parenthood. I have no idea what he 158 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.960 thinks about the High Amendment. I have no idea what 159 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.399 he thinks about out California not allowing health insurance plans 160 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:10.360 to be sold that don't include coverage for abortion, California 161 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.080 not allowing health insurance plans to be sold that don't 162 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:17.000 include abortion coverage. I have no idea what Rober Kennedy 163 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:21.000 thinks about any of those things. I know nobody wants 164 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.480 to hear Mike Pence's opinions about anything at this point, 165 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.159 and I guess I understand that. But he pointed out 166 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.679 today in a couple of tweets, Robert Kennedy Junior would 167 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:36.519 be the most pro abortion HHS secretary ever appointed by 168 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:47.120 a Republican, and I guess I just can't be silent 169 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:47.679 about that. 170 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:49.720 I mean, look, I. 171 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:51.720 Think there were probably people, if you listen to my 172 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.679 show pretty consistently, there were probably people who were frustrated 173 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.600 that I wasn't more like Bellicos in my Trump support guys. 174 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:04.399 I'll be frank, He's moderating his stance on abortion throughout 175 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:09.399 the campaign. That's a real blow for me, and it's 176 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.200 not something I can just sort of breeze by and overlook. 177 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.200 A major part of who I am as someone involved 178 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:22.120 in politics. Obviously, has to do with the life issue. 179 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:27.480 And you know Trump effectively ran saying he doesn't even 180 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:32.440 support six week abortion bands at the state level. I mean, look, 181 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:35.120 Trump can say all he wants abortions the state issue, 182 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:37.639 abortions the state issue. If he truly wants to make 183 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:39.360 it a state issue, He's going to have to pick 184 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:42.600 several abortion fights. He's going to have to aggressively work 185 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:46.120 to defund abortion at the federal level if he's really 186 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.000 going to be consistent there, if he's going to really 187 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:51.000 merit the votes of pro lifers, he needs to cut 188 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:56.000 off federal abortion funding every which way possible. I don't 189 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:00.440 see how putting Robert Kennedy Junior in charge of the 190 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:04.159 Department of Health and Human Services, which is the single 191 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:08.159 biggest vehicle for funding or not funding abortion. Are the 192 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.559 National Institutes of Health going to keep funding embryo destructive 193 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.840 stem cell research? Are the National Institutes of Health going 194 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:19.919 to keep funding fetal tissue research using the bodies of 195 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:26.039 aborted children? We're funding that right now. Like I know, 196 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:31.720 Kennedy is in general anti establishment, whatever that means when 197 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.679 it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, but I think people 198 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:42.480 are mistaking that for a clear thinking, razor sharp fighter 199 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:49.360 who will be able to eliminate every single instance of waste, unaccountability, 200 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:54.679 cozy relationships between the federal government and pharmaceuticals, and snuff 201 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.720 out the gazillions of dollars that are being spent on 202 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.799 pro abortion things to eliminate them. I don't know that 203 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.320 Kennedy wants to eliminate all those things. I don't know 204 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:09.080 that Kennedy will have the motivation to do any of that. 205 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.000 And if that's the case, what kind of an as 206 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:15.480 a pro life voter? What did I vote for? Did 207 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:22.799 I vote for anything? I mean sure, I voted not 208 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.440 for Kamala Harris, which would have been the worst thing 209 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.960 in the world. Would have tried to enact the federal 210 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:33.320 law to codify ROW, which at one point in his 211 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.840 meanderings on the abortion issue, Kennedy himself said he supported. 212 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.600 So no, I'm not gonna just sort of take it 213 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.120 easy and say, oh, well, you gotta trust Trump. Why 214 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:53.600 Why should I trust Trump's cabinet picks. His cabinet picks 215 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:01.960 have always sucked. His cabinet picks from his own perspective 216 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:07.600 and admission all four years sucked in his first term, 217 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.879 Why should I grant him such grand deference. He thought 218 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.200 Bill Barr sucked. He thought who he appointed three years in? 219 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.879 He thought this were how many Trump appointees did he 220 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.720 wind up firing? When we return, I'll shift my attention 221 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.799 to Matt Gates. I really think reforming the Department of 222 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.480 Justice is important. I share all of Trump's goals for 223 00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.279 reforming DJ. I just don't know that Matt Gates is 224 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:36.279 the right person to do it. Next on the John 225 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:44.320 Girardi Show, let's talk about Matt Gates as Attorney General. Now, 226 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:55.519 let's set aside the ethics investigations. Let's set aside the 227 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:59.720 weird thing of you know, I think two days ago 228 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:03.039 Mack Gates resigns from his seat in the House of Representatives, 229 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.759 and apparently today it was scheduled that the House Ethics 230 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.640 Committee was going to release a report on Matt Gates 231 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.119 the results of its ongoing ethics investigation. I don't see 232 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.160 how the Senate wouldn't get that report, and that's going 233 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:23.160 to have to be revealed to the public what exactly 234 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:33.839 Gates was involved in. Let's set that aside. I completely 235 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:41.559 share and support Trump's vision for how the DOJ should 236 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:47.640 be reformed. You can even talk me into I think 237 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:53.119 we should have almost retributive prosecutions against people who abuse 238 00:17:53.240 --> 00:18:00.119 their power in DOJ during the Biden years, people who 239 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.400 undermined the Trump administration in ways that might have been 240 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:03.799 illegal during the Trump years. 241 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.599 Yeah, I'm all for it. Let's go. 242 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.119 I concur with almost with basically everything Trump wants to 243 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:11.640 do at DJ. 244 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:12.680 I concur. 245 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:19.519 I think the FBI is a disaster. I think the 246 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:24.680 ways in which the DOJ tried to provide cover for 247 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.880 Joe Biden during the twenty twenty election, while a Republican 248 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:30.960 was in charge of it, I think we're horrible. I 249 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:37.640 completely completely think the DOJ needs to be I think 250 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:39.480 there are a lot of career employees there who need 251 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:43.119 to be rooted out. I think there's all kinds of 252 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:48.960 problems at DJ. Totally concur and if Trump had appointed 253 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.519 somebody like I don't know, even like I've used this example, 254 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:57.319 even somebody like Jeff Clark, who is sort of very 255 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.200 prominent in sort of Trump aligned media. He's a constant guest, 256 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.559 very frequent guest on Steve Bannon's show. 257 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:06.079 He was. 258 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:14.119 The focus of criminal prosecution for his involvement with Trump's 259 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:17.640 efforts to not have Congress certify the election results around 260 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:22.240 January sixth. Even if you would pick someone like Jeff Clark, 261 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.839 I think I would have been Okay, I would have 262 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.799 been Jeff Clark at the very least is had been 263 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:35.519 a high level attorney within the Department of Justice. Is 264 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:40.960 a very experienced, good lawyer. And that's what you really 265 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.960 need at DOJ. Is not just someone who wants to 266 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.920 fix things, but someone who knows how, someone who understands 267 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.119 the Department of Justice, understands whom to trust, understands whom 268 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:58.160 to hire, understands how to clean house, knows where the 269 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:05.319 bodies are buried. I just think Matt Gates is a 270 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:11.119 bad pick if that's your goal. Like, he's very aggressive 271 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.480 and agrees with Trump. Okay, that's great. There are a 272 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:18.640 lot of people who are super aggressive and agree with Trump. 273 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:22.640 You know my neighbor who flew a F Joe Biden 274 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:27.039 flag in his front yard for you know, several years, 275 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:29.759 kind of to my annoyance to someone of the small 276 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.160 kids who doesn't want them to be reading the F. 277 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:32.960 Word all the time. 278 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:38.200 You know, he's super aggressive and completely agrees with Trump. 279 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:40.279 But I don't think he's necessarily qualified to be the 280 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:43.400 Attorney General of the United States. Matt Gates is a lawyer. 281 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:48.640 He was on the House Judiciary Committee, so I guess 282 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.680 he has more than zero qualifications. 283 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:54.680 But I just think it's a. 284 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.640 Very weak pick for the kind of surgical work that 285 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.160 needs to be done. That the stuff that I agree 286 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:08.759 all the things Trump wants to do. I guess I 287 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.880 haven't reviewed the entire list, but I'm guessing I ninety 288 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.759 nine percent agree with every single thing Trump wants to 289 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:18.240 do a DJ I want those reforms to happen. I 290 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:25.240 think those things are important. I just don't think Matt 291 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.519 Gates is a good pick for it. And by the way, 292 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.119 unless you think this is some residual like, oh, you're 293 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.960 just sticking up for Kevin McCarthy or so, I have 294 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.920 no relationship with Kevin McCarthy, you know, I certainly understand 295 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:41.400 why Kevin McCarthy doesn't like Matt Gates. I kind of 296 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:44.039 think that getting rid of Kevin McCarthy was a foolish 297 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:46.720 move in retrospect by Republicans because Mike Johnson is not 298 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:52.960 that much different from Kevin McCarthy. Nonetheless, I just think 299 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.359 this is not the right guy to be ag And 300 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:01.240 then let's think about what the skeletons might be in 301 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:05.640 this guy's closet. I mean, you know, there's a lot 302 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.359 of smoke there with him that isn't there even with 303 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:11.319 other heavily Trump aligned people. You can't just wave off 304 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:13.640 everything as oh, they just don't like him because he 305 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.759 tells the truth. Well, maybe they don't like him because 306 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.079 he did some bad stuff. I don't know, but I 307 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:25.279 guess I just wouldn't nominate someone who is clearly strategically 308 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:28.480 resigning from his office in order to dodge the release 309 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:35.279 of a House House ethics investigation. I don't know. I again, 310 00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:38.359 maybe he'll get nominated, maybe he'll get confirmed, and maybe 311 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:40.920 he'll do great things at DOJ that would be swell. 312 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:44.680 I guess, you know. 313 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:47.799 I also, I guess I just find it hard to 314 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.119 trust a guy who's clearly using as much botox as 315 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:52.400 he is. But maybe that's a story for another day. 316 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.000 When we returned the idea of the Senate's advice and 317 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.319 consent and why I think it's helpful right now in 318 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:01.359 this particular moment, that's next on the John Girardi Show. 319 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.480 So shortly after Trump gets elected, he sends out this 320 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.720 tweet as the Republicans were trying to sort out who 321 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:15.200 their Senate majority leader should be, which ultimately wound up 322 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:22.240 with the most boring choice possible, John Thune. Republicans are 323 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.279 trying to figure out who their next Senate majority leader 324 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.559 will be, and Trump sends out this sort of declaration 325 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:32.119 from mar A Lago saying that the next Senate majority 326 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:38.759 leader needs to support recess appointments. That's what the American 327 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:40.480 you know, and blah blah blah, this is what they 328 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:43.920 need to expect now, recess appointments. This all of a 329 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.359 sudden became this big thing. The normal way that presidents 330 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:55.640 nominate officers of the United States, so top to going 331 00:23:55.720 --> 00:24:01.160 down into mid level appointees to the veryious executive branch 332 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:05.400 offices of the federal government, is that the President nominates 333 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.839 them with the advice and consent of the Senate. And 334 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.119 this again reflects sort of the attitude of the founders. 335 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:19.640 This was a kind of check on presidential power that, yes, 336 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:22.279 the president is in charge of the entire executive branch 337 00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:25.759 of the government, and he can direct executive officials to 338 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:30.759 do things as he sees fit. But the framer said, well, 339 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.680 we don't want him to be able just to appoint 340 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:38.319 any total loser possible, who's just a complete hack into 341 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:40.799 all these positions. He needs to get the advice and 342 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:43.640 consent of the Senate. And the idea was the Senate 343 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:48.759 of the United States, which was modeled after the Roman Senate. 344 00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:54.079 The Roman Senate was this you can tell by the name. 345 00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.519 It was the council of elders within the city of Rome, 346 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.000 from the Latin word senex, which literally means an elderly. 347 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:04.279 So the Senate was supposed to be and is sort 348 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:06.759 of in various ways as far as how it's structured. 349 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:17.200 Is the wise, deliberative, less directly democratic body within the 350 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:21.680 structure of our government, within the legislative branch, far more 351 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:24.559 so than the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives, 352 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:29.079 everyone is elected with proportional representation. Everyone's up for reelection 353 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.079 every two years. The whole House of Representatives can just 354 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:35.640 change on a dime if the American people have a 355 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:38.160 change in mood. The Senate can't do that, okay. They 356 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:40.559 have six year terms of office, the longest terms of 357 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:45.279 office of any officeholder in the federal government prior to 358 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.920 the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment in nineteen tens, senators 359 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:52.400 were not even directly elected by the people of their states. 360 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:56.400 They were picked by the state legislatures, so they had 361 00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.640 a bit more stability. They were sort of older hands, 362 00:26:01.319 --> 00:26:04.000 maybe people a bit wiser, who didn't need to appeal 363 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:11.240 to sort of populist sentiment. And the Framers thought, well, 364 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:16.519 if presidential appointed officers need to be confirmed by the Senate, 365 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:19.960 then that sort of ensures that the president's not going 366 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.039 to be appointing a bunch of scoundrels and obviously unfit, 367 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:29.640 unqualified people. And I thought it was weird that as 368 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:32.440 a result that Trump was yelling that we need to 369 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:35.680 do recess appointments. Recess appointments are away for the president 370 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:42.279 to temporarily install someone as an officer while the Senate 371 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:48.400 is out of session, okay, and the president can just 372 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:51.759 appoint this person as a recess appointment. If the Senate's 373 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:53.920 not in session, president wants to make an appointment, he 374 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:01.440 can appoint them via recess. Now, the sort of messaging 375 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.359 from Trump World was Trump needs to be able to 376 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:08.880 make recess appointments in order to get started quick, because 377 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.359 last time it took forever for Trump appointees to get confirmed. 378 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:18.680 And that is true. In twenty seventeen, it took Trump 379 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:25.880 appointees forever to get confirmed. But let's remember the different 380 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:33.440 political circumstances between then and now. In twenty seventeen, Republicans 381 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:38.319 only had fifty one of the one hundred Senate seats. 382 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:39.680 Two of those. 383 00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:44.319 Republicans were Liberal Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. 384 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.480 The Senate rules at that time were also much different. 385 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:56.880 Debate on presidential nominees was set per the Senate rules, 386 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:01.079 could last as long as thirty hours within the Senate. 387 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.759 In twenty nineteen, Mitch McConnell changed that rule and shortened 388 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:13.319 it to three hours. Now, the president's going to have 389 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:18.119 at least a fifty It looks like Republicans are going 390 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:20.200 to have a fifty three seat majority in the Senate. 391 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:22.400 They don't even have to listen to Lisa murkowskiir Susan 392 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.640 Collins that much anymore. Debate is shorter. There's no reason 393 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:31.839 why Trump couldn't get his appointees confirmed in a normally 394 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:39.119 swift timetable. A LA Joe Biden's appointees in twenty twenty one, 395 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:44.720 a LA Barack Obama's appointees et cetera. He could get 396 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:49.799 people appointed fairly quickly. It's not Actually, I don't think 397 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:54.880 there's some crisis that's likely to happen as long as 398 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:01.000 Trump picks good, reasonable appointments. Well, I think we now 399 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:05.480 see why Trump wanted recess appointments, because he's picking a 400 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:08.880 bunch of people that it seems pretty implausible that the 401 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:16.680