Andy Levy & Skye Perryman

Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, where we discussed the top political headlines with some of today's best minds, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says, I love working for President Trump. It's the greatest honor of a lifetime. And if President Trump chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I'll say thank you very much. I love you, sir.

But first the news, Molly, another beautiful night of seeing Democrats outperform insane numbers no one would expect against Republicans in these special elections and in the primaries.

Yeah, so here's what's going on. Donald Trump is on the ticket, and even when he's not on the ticket, he's on the ticket, and so we're seeing these kind of insane like democrats are winning. The great example is Marjorie Taylor Green give a per seat in Rome, Georgia that is a seat she won. I don't know, is it twenty eight points? I mean some crazy, crazy number. Trump won Marjorie Taylor Green's district by thirty seven points.

Yeah, and you know, a thing that you really pointed out well was how much in the midterms last time to remind people that people said that like these three point or four point spreads are not worth sinking our money into, and people didn't donate to these candidates and then they'd lose by a point because of all the voter enthusiasm, and we could have not had Senator Ron Johnson was something you pointed out that was really astute if we had just not felt like the cook PVI

So we really really got to go.

In huge and Mandela Barnes. Let me tell you about Mandela Barnes, who was running a Wisconsin for that senate seed. I was told by even very smart white guys that was too much to hope that Wisconsin would not elect a black senator. FYI he lost by like one point.

Yeah, I'm so small.

Run and on just borned money into that race.

Important money into junk polls.

Right exactly, And so you know, the Democrats abandoned Mandela Barns. That would have been a really easy pickup. It's such a good example of like why it's what Mandilipman says, you have to run everywhere, and especially in a landscape like this where Republicans are getting significant headwinds, and it just is just a moment where Democrats need to run at every seat because the thing is like we all know there will be a time, and I know it feels like it's not true. Okay, I'm gonna tell a

Yeah, we need people realizing we got to get out on the streets and not fearing the miasma of that there might be doom coming. These voices who are saying that's got to really knock this off because conjecture right.

And also just remember the people who are saying that are incentivized for you to be scared to get clicks.

Okay, Molly, that is very important. I really appreciate it.

So pap body is going to try to dodge talking about Epstein in front of Congress. Congress is saying fuck off. Nancy Mace Everyone's faith.

You may know her as a complete lunative. Again, we have these moments in this podcast in America politics, at this moment where a Nancy Mays or a Thomas Massey or a Alex Jones, this is the case, maybe might be saying the right things, might be saying things we agree with, but we can still know that they are complete lunatics. That said, Nancy Mays wrote conna subpoena bondi or they wrote a letter to Bondi saying she still has to testify. Todd Bland said, no, here's the deal.

Yeah, no, I thought, that's right.

I mean, for the for the people who somehow, you know, I don't know, ten years into this shit, haven't remembered that or figured it out yet. But you know, you said, you're you aren't really sure why he said that. I think I'm pretty sure why he said that.

Because we're losing.

Yeah, yeah, and that's what you do when you're losing, particularly if you're losing and you have nuclear weapons, you.

Say stuff like that if you're a psychopath. On top of all that.

And what happened almost immediately was we saw so Tucker as soon as Donald Trump launched this thing. And again, no one has to hand it to Tucker, right, No one has to hand it to Techer. You knew him and his anti war stuff is very wrapped up in anti Semitism, anti Israel, anti this, anti that. So no one is handing it to Tucker Callson. But he has been staunchly anti Iran Moore, maybe because he's anti war,

Yeah, I think the reason Alex Jones couldn't pull over is he was afraid his car was going to get repossessed if they caught up to him. But yes, I know a lot of the MAGA people who are public facing are not happy with the Iran war, you.

Know, the cheerleaders that Fox Aside.

My only feeling is I don't know if that translates to the rank and file MAGA. The polling I've seen shows that they're okay with the Iran war, and because they're not as much ideological as they are just you know, in a cult, in a cult, so if Trump does it, it must be right. But okay, putting that aside, yeah, I mean, we are definitely seeing.

A huge split.

Is I guess would be putting it maybe kindly, but I think accurately.

And yesterday Tuesday, there was this one voice that was still defending him or had I mean, besides Ben Shapiro, who has gotten creamed partially probably because of anti Semitism, but also because he's staunchly pro Israel and thus staunchly pro this war, and his numbers are just going down. He's hemorrhaging viewers. MAGA turns out, Maga does not have

Now.

As you can imagine, that post did not go overwell with the Iraniance or with many Americans. I mean, I don't know about you, but I am sick of this shit. I'm just I'm sick of it.

Can't he just.

Behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly like the President three and eight. Yes, shut up, fucking shut up about that shit. You don't threaten to wipe out an entire civilization. We're talking about civilians, just casually in a social media post go Andy as someone who knows her.

Yeah, well, just the idea.

This isn't even like, you know, the sort of famous. I can't believe the leopard date my face, the leopard ate her face like she's she was the original, you know, blood coming out of her or wherever, and she's sitting there going, why is why can't he not be like this? You know, eleven years later, we're twelve whatever, however many years ago that was. I mean, that's just insane. But I will say this, Megan Kelly does have her finger

And I disagree, okay, And I'm gonna push back. And now I could be wrong, wrong, Molly. I know you're gonna be shocked to hear this, but I had been wrong before. So remember, part of what happened with Trump in twenty twenty was that he lost He lost the Indies, right, the normal people, the people who are like I don't like the tweets, I don't like the racism, but I really want a tax ted. So I'm going to whle my nose at both him. This is not that, this is the pure Maga. This is the royers. This is

A couple of things. One, it's not that I completely disagree with you.

I was saying, more like, just from an electoral perspective, right, the pure MAGA people you know, are probably voting for jd Vance or whoever in twenty eight But it's the not pure MAGA people who are looking around now and saying, you know, it's the ones who, for instance, keep saying, this is not what I voted for, even though it's what they voted for.

Right right.

Fun you know, you go get a poll, do you oppose or support the war with Iran? Maga Republicans support it seventy seven percent to.

Forteen right true. Okay, So that's where.

I would push back on. I'm saying that it's like, you know, MAGA as a block is not happy. They may not be happy with how it's being prosecuted, but they're not opposed to the war because Donald Trump is doing it and you know, in Trump we trust. So that's my only that that that's my pushback on that there. Yeah, but I agree with you again the forward facing MAGA people who are influential, and and the fact that seventy

Is timpole still.

I think I think he's basically going around saying we won.

What I would say is he's hitely skeptical occasionally, but mostly in on mister Trump's plague three D trust exactly. We don't want my interjection and so feel free to do your analysis.

Why can't we have your interjection? And are you not supposed to exist? I mean people know you.

Exist, Jesse as the Wizard of Oz. They're not happy about it, but they know, no, I.

Mean, they know they know the guy that's right every time. But yes, I do think it's an impossible situation for them because they have to you know, they got where they are defending the indefensible right, but now the indefensible doesn't track with America first right.

I do think again, not to hand it to him in the slightest bit. I do think Tucker Carson is legitimately quote unquote anti war, and I do think that he would be if even if we were winning this war, I think he would be opposed to it. I don't feel that way about Megan Kelly or or some of the other people that you've mentioned.

By the way, is this the fastests we've ever lost a war in our history?

Well, it was always this war was always like we're going to war and you said why and they said because nukes. Well do they have nukes? No? Could Could they have nukes? Maybe in two weeks? Maybe not, Maybe they have them, maybe they're a week away. I mean, like, you know, there was like literally no effort to sell the war, even w Right, even Wa even his dad, Like there was a sort of like it was, you

Into Afghanistan, right, But it didn't.

Make any sense. But at least there was you know, it was nine to eleven. We were all super traumatized, you know, at least right exactly, we at least they were trying to make the But it was I mean, it still was a moment where I was like, but Afghanistan, why Afghanist? Like it didn't make any sense.

But but yeah, like I didn't even hear about yellow Cake this time.

Around, all right, yellow Cake? Yeah, well there was definitely last time that was it felt like a real threat. This just feels like he's trying to descrive from the Epstein Files. And it really does feel at the end of the day, like, you know, people say that's such a that's such a like that. The dad says sort of not, you know, it's a it's a simplistic take on Donald Trump, but it may actually be true.

I'm sort of it in the simplistic take group.

Yeah, it might be part of it. I'm not saying it's not part of it. I don't think it's the whole reason. I don't think he's sitting there going I got to do something to distract from the Epstein files.

I'm going to bomb you around.

It's something he wanted to do, and and to me, he did it because he was convinced that there would be financial gain from it. Yeah, and you know, and it's turning out to be, of course, exactly the opposite. Although he is claiming that we are somehow going to make money off tolls.

In the Strait of Hormuz.

I really don't think that's gonna happen.

But you know, my favorite part of the whole thing is that he's like, straights were clear, right, we went to war, straits are not clear. Donald Trump's like, we're going to make money on this.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, look, it's you know, you can sit there and try to parse his language and try to analyze everything he says, and then you just at a certain point you have to say, why am I doing this? Why am I pretending that he actually means something intelligent, you know, and and and rational?

Yeah, because he doesn't.

And and like you said before, it's like it's you know, to stop with the three dimensional chess bullshit. I mean, I think a lot of people have stopped with that at this point, but there are still some people out there who should know better, who keep saying that he's doing this. Because it's like, no, he's just he's just not right in the head. And on top of which he's you know, sundowning. So you put that together and you end up with this.

It is interesting though to you know, like oil is so expensive and now he's you know, he clearly tacoed. But I mean, we shouldn't even say tacoed because like it was another civilization that he threatened to annihilight for seemingly no reason. So is it a taco or is it just like a came to your senses. But oil and gas really expensive, like really really expensive. And you know there's this Goldman Sax prophecy of oil at two hundred dollars a barrel, like there is not this could

Yeah, again, but it will make money for his you know, buddies in the oil industry and stuff like that. And again I do think saying distraction from the Epstein files again, there's there's some truth to that, but not not as a whole. As a whole, it's how can I help me and my buddies get richer?

Right?

Yeah, I really think beyond everything else. That is the sort of motivation, you know, whatever motivation he has left in his little right when he gets up in the morning is kleptocratic. It's how can I enrich myself? How can I enrich you know, my friends? And that's what, in my opinion, ultimately, this was all about that because for some reason, again not a rational or logical reason, he thought that what he's doing now would make him richer, would make Jared richer, and et cetera.

Yeah, I think that's right. And let me tell you was someday we're going to find out about all the shit that's going on behind the scenes that's so illegal and sketchy.

Oh yeah, I mean we already know enough to know that pretty much every single person in this administration in a in a just insane world would not be walking around free in the future. And like you said, that's just the stuff we know, the daily shit that the stuff that you know doesn't reach the level of billions of dollars of graft and corruption, the stuff that's only like you know, a half million a year, a couple of million there that we don't I mean, that's got to be just off the charts.

Yeah, no, I mean a fair number of people will go to jail events. Yeah, eventually, Andy Levy.

Molly John Fast, will you come back?

Sky Perriman is the founder of Democracy Forward. Welcome, Welcome, Sky, so good to be here. Let's talk about where we are right now with the midterms. We know that voting is decentralized in this country, so we know that Donald Trump has no power over the midterms. But I'd love you to talk us through why we're going to have safe, free and fair midterms.

We're going to have safe, free and fair midterms because lawyers are going to do everything they can in court to prevent any type of subversion of voting or the midterm elections. And because people in this country like the fact that we live in a democracy, or we are supposed to be living in a democracy, and that people in this country take the right to vote very seriously. People are energized. People of all political ideologies are energized.

That's going to be a lot of work.

I'm confident that the American people are up to the task, and I'm confident that the lawyers are up to the task.

What does that run ups look like?

Well, right now people are asking is Donald Trump trying to will he try to undermine the midterms? And the answer is he is already doing that. So we know a few things. We know that the Department of Justice has been trying to get voter roll data and voter roles from states, that every single court that has looked at these issues has that there is no basis for the Department of Justice to be demanding these voter rules.

So that was happening as early it's last year.

Is that cyber Ninjas.

The government has not yet said what group it is, but we are demanding discovery. We file a separate lawsuit to demand more information. We're investigating this through all the ways we can, and we're going to get to the bottom of it, and you'll see throughout the summer you're going to see litigation and investigatory demands and a range of the tools that we have and that other groups have to really shed light on what's happening and to start challenging it.

Now.

We don't have to wait until the midterms when we know many of these things are ongoing, so it's going to look like that, and then you're going to see the president do things in his fear mongering way. This week he threatened that he was going to use nuclear weapons. You're going to see him continue to try to distract people. You're going to see him continue to potentially try to deploy the National Guard to polling places. That's against the law, it would be blocked, but you may see that effort

This the best of this country come out in this crisis.

So the place that this administration has really been losing is the court. Besides in like, it's just not popular what's doing, but they've really been losing the court. I would love you to explain to U US a little bit about what losing in the courts is looking like, you know, sort of what cases are losing and what delian state looks like there.

Yeah, I mean, it's really unbelievable, Mollie. You know, it's been about we've been here and doing We've been up this, you know, a year and a few months now you've seen over seven hundred federal court litigations filed. And that does not include all the immigration detention cases or all the civil service cases.

It is the largest.

Effort because of how the administration is operating that we've seen legally, and you're seeing the administration lose seventy to eighty percent of the time. Even with the way they try to go to the Supreme Court, they're still losing so much of the time, including before judges the President Trump himself appointed.

So the texture of what this looks like now.

Has taken on a new life just in the last few months where DOJ can't keep up with the amount of unlawful actions of the President's taking in the amount of lawsuits that are being filed, and so you're seeing DJ come into court and sometimes not even answer the complaints, and judges have to issue orders because DOJ doesn't even have a response does have a defense, doesn't have a response to what the president's doing. You're seeing the Department of Justice abandon appeals on big.

Cases that we won.

So we won a big case before I judge the President Trump him self appointed against the administration in Stephen Miller's effort in the Department of Education to stamp out racial justice and racial studies. DEI was a dear colleague letter. It was issued last year. We challenged it, won a court order. They said they were going to appeal it,

But we're seeing it happen on some of these big priorities.

And so you're seeing that, and then you see the administration lose because of the words that the President and other administration officials use. So they make their case weaker because we'll go sue and say you're retaliating against you know, the nation's pediatricians.

You don't like what they have to.

Say about vaccines or about child health, you're retaliating against them. And before the Department of Justice can really make their defense, RFK Junior goes out on Twitter or True Social or x or whatever and admits he's retaliating against them.

And so we see that all the time.

We always say, let them talk and let them tweet, because we'll probably win in those instances.

So that's looking good now.

I'm not trying to minimize the harm that so many people in the country are facing, that communities are facing. Many communities have been harmed by the Supreme Court shadow docket, which has put a pause on some of the court orders that we've won in a way that's really been harmful. But by and large, the courts are protecting the American people in pretty extraordinary ways.

And Bondie is out to say more.

I mean, look, I think it's all the things that have been said. I mean, she obviously has a legacy of the Department of Justice that will be marked by everything from incompetence to cruelty to actually taking action against the very profession that the Department of Justice represents. Remember, they went after an unprecedented way as lawyers and law firms and have threatened judges. But I'll also say that it doesn't matter you know who the attorney general is. It's not the Pambondi.

We heard that.

You know, the President said, well, he was upset that Pambondy wasn't able to prosecute his enemies as aggressively as he.

Had wanted to see.

That's not going to happen regardless of who is the attorney general, because so much of what the administration has done is baseless and doesn't have a real legal basis. And so I do think that the administration is playing damage control right now.

They're trying to distract people.

They're having a real bad series of weeks because the American people aren't having it. You had eight million people in the streets at no kings this rash of legal wins that we're able to achieve right now because they're breaking down in the courts. But I also think that like the administration has a hard road ahead of it, and it doesn't have to do with who specifically the Attorney General is. It has to do with what they're trying to do with the Department of Justice, So we're

And of course many people.

Thought that this departure was because of the oversight that was happening with the Epstein files, and we see that today as we're recording this, the Department of Justice has said that Pan Bondi isn't going to show up to Congress as she's required to do. So I think that there will be more to see along those lines in the coming days.

What is the rationale for that that she doesn't want it or is there some like legal.

Yeah, no, there's not a legal basis for it. They will want people to think, well, oh, now that she's not Attorney general, she doesn't have to come to Congress. Well, Congress makes a lot of people will come to Congress and aren't attorney general, And especially when the questions that they have is about what happened in an official position, it's absolutely the case that people need to show up

We've seen Nancy Mays and Roe Conna say that they will hold her in contempt of Congress if she does not testify. I know this from my grandfather. You've naturally be jailed for contempt of Congress. I mean, I know that Trump won't probably allow it, but or he'll try to do something crazy about it, but theoretically, at least that could happen.

Right, Yeah, And I mean this is where you have to sort of look at what we've seen from this administration. So we have not yet seen the administration operate with like a level of courage or consistency. So typically what happens is they say, well, we're not going to do this, and you say, well, the law makes you do it, and we're going to enforce the law. And we've largely seen them at that point, they come up with some rhyme or reason, they go out and say a bunch

But you absolutely can't.

There are very direct penalties for being in contempt of Congress. It's not something that anyone would recommend you had. Steve Bannon, I think, served time because of his refusal to cooperate with the process. And we'll have to see what happens.

So you're doing a lot of cases, and you're winning a lot of cases, But what cases do you think are not happening that you think should be happening, or what is happening that you feel is so important.

So I think a lot of the cases that are

Lot of corrupt activity can happen. Now. I believe a lot of that back to is criminal.

I think a lot of that activity can be litigated in the civil system, but it is not easy, and we need to we need to be able to build and bring more of those.

You'll see us do that in the days ahead.

But we'll also need a nation that, after we get through this moment, says enough is enough, We're never going to let this happen again. That puts in place stronger guardrails there. Yeah, very very true. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sky, thanks.

For having me.

No moment full Jesse Cannon Smiley.

A lot of us are finding this pretty disturbing. The DOJ is really up at the ANTEA now showing they're actually seriously going to go after Cassidy Hutchinson for her testimony during the January sixth trials.

Yeah, but look, they are going to go after everyone, right, They're going to go after Cassidy Hutchinson. They went after Alvin Bragg, They've gone after They are just going to keep going after people. But here's the good news. It doesn't work because you cannot get juries to indict these people because this is not We're not a Banana Republic yet, and this is sort of the problem. Trump ism keeps running into is that like we have norms, we have a system which keeps our crazy president in check. I