"This place is gonna get shredded." Inside Trump's DOJ.

Video Description

Under Donald Trump, the Department of Justice’s mission to uphold the law “without fear or favor” has been upended. With Attorney General Pam Bondi carrying out Trump’s orders to punish political enemies and protect his allies, America’s justice system faces its greatest crisis in decades. In her new book Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Carol Leonnig (with and co-author Aaron Davis) exposes how the DOJ’s independence began eroding long before Trump’s second term — and why fear, politics, and misplaced loyalty paved the way. Kara sits down with Leonnig, MSNBC senior investigative reporter, bestselling author, and five-time Pulitzer winner, to discuss: - How Trump 1.0’s internal pressure campaigns shaped today’s “weaponized” DOJ - Why the FBI missed red flags ahead of the January 6th Capitol attack - The stubborn bravery of the National Archives officials who refused to stay silent - And what the DOJ’s loss of independence means for America’s future 00:00 Introduction 02:07 The DOJ under Trump: “Devastating” 02:34 The structural wrecking ball Trump took to the DOJ 03:06 Fear, bravery, politics, and noble intentions 03:15 Merrick Garland’s misplaced optimism 04:45 Stubborn bravery: prosecutors who refused to back down 05:14 Gutter politics: Trump’s personal attacks on FBI agents 07:35 Fear inside the FBI — agents “stepping over the bodies” of colleagues 09:35 Trump 1.0 — Sessions, Rosenstein, Mueller, and Barr 15:11 The FBI’s blindness before January 6th 17:33 The DOJ’s paralysis under Trump 18:05 Trump’s election overturn attempt and the Jeff Clark plot 18:59 The National Archives sound the alarm about fake electors 21:01 J.P. Cooney and the push to investigate Trump’s inner circle 23:37 Merrick Garland’s failures 26:27 Inside the the January 6th fallout and investigation 30:18 The Mar-a-Lago document investigation 41:19 Pam Bondi’s DOJ purge and Trump’s retribution 42:04 The long-term damage to America’s justice system 45:09 How to rebuild after Trump — post-Watergate parallels 47:31 Who is at risk from Trump's indictments? 48:21 The new normal of weaponized justice Subscribe: https://goo.gl/FRleYo Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-with-kara-swisher/id1643307527 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42ntT7XnfdbbYetUQu0vu5?si=ddbc94321e3948af FOLLOW US Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onwithkaraswisher/?hl=en TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@onwithkaraswisher?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-swisher-b7213 Threads: https://www.threads.com/@onwithkaraswisher Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/onwithkaraswisher.bsky.social