#1535 We Don't Do Accountability (Trump and GOP Crimes That Go Unpunished)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 January 2023
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 1/7/2023
Today, we take a look at the criminal charges against Donald Trump that the January 6th Committee has referred to the DOJ but examine them through the lens of past presidential crimes that have gone unpunished from Nixon to George W. Bush
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SHOW NOTES
We speak with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a scholar of fascism and authoritarianism, and Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and Jill Wine-Banks, MSNBC legal analyst and former Watergate special prosecutor look to lessons from Watergate for what needs to happen with the Jan. 6th committee report.
Ch. 3: Lisa Gilbert on the January 6 Report - CounterSpin - Air Date 12-23-22
We spoke with Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-founder of the forged-for-purpose Not Above the Law Coalition, about what the hearings found and why it can’t end there.
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for decades, says the new documents show "absolutely brazen" tax fraud. "Donald Trump has been a criminal his whole life," says Johnston.
Ch. 6: Obama on Investigating Bush Crimes: "Need to Look Forward" - This Week - Air Date 1-11-09
Barack Obama on This Week, January 11, 2009
Ch. 7: Obama Admin: Torture Not Illegal, Just A "Disagreement" - The Young Turks - Aired 3-27-10
Speaking of hangovers... Look forward, not backward. We don't do truth and reconciliation in this country.
We’re joined by John Nichols, The Nation’s national affairs correspondent, to discuss the full report.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: Ginni Thomas not mentioned in Jan. 6 Committee report - The Mehdi Hasan Show - Air Date 1-3-23
Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern and political strategist Rina Shah join Mehdi to discuss.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 10: The upside of TikTok - James
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on the good and bad of tech and the structural nature of media
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | During today's episode, I'm going to be telling you about a podcast I think you should |
| 0:06.2 | check out. |
| 0:07.2 | It's called Future Hindsight, a weekly show that embraces the civics lifestyle. |
| 0:12.6 | Listen to Future Hindsight wherever you get your podcasts or at FutureHindsight.com and |
| 0:17.5 | keep an ear out mid show when I tell you more about it. |
| 0:20.9 | And now, welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left Podcast in which we shall |
| 0:25.5 | take a look at the criminal charges against Donald Trump that the January 6th committee |
| 0:29.9 | has referred to the Department of Justice, but examine them through the lens of past presidential |
| 0:35.8 | crimes that have gone unpunished from Nixon to George W. Bush. |
| 0:40.9 | Clips today are from Democracy Now, The Brian Lairer Show, Counter-Spin, This Week, and |
| 0:47.2 | The Young Turks with an additional members only clip from the Medihast song show. |
| 0:52.5 | And stay tuned to the end where I'll explain why there's no debate to be had between |
| 0:57.5 | the upsides and the downsides of social media and other innovative modern tech. |
| 1:08.6 | Robert Weissman, Head of Public Citizen. |
| 1:11.6 | If you can talk about these four criminal charges, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy |
| 1:20.8 | to defraud the United States, false statements to the federal government, and inciting or |
| 1:26.7 | assisting an insurrection. |
| 1:29.6 | These are the criminal charges that the House Select Committee is referring to the Justice |
| 1:35.2 | Department. |
| 1:36.2 | Yeah, I think what's important about them is maybe two things. |
| 1:42.1 | One, for those of us who are watching January 6th unfold in real time, it's sort of seemed |
| 1:48.9 | as a rally that sort of spun out of control. |
... |
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