Are We are Still a Nation of Laws? With Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent for The Nation.
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode Bill talks with Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent for The Nation, to discuss the rapid erosion of legal norms and accountability under the Trump administration. They analyze the extrajudicial killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, emphasizing the lack of due process and the administration's misinformation. Elie critiques Merrick Garland's inaction and explores the complexities of holding law enforcement accountable, particularly under restrictive federal influence. They address Trump's other law-defying actions, such as the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, while scrutinizing the questionable effectiveness of international and domestic responses. The conversation concludes with reflections on the potential long-term impact on U.S. democracy and the role of future leaders in restoring legal and moral standards.
Today Bill highlights the work of the American Civil Liberties Union. Fighting the good fight against the Trump. More information at ACLU.org.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, good friends. Good to see you again. I hope you didn't get hit too badly by the big cold front and the snow. |
| 0:13.0 | But, you know, after shoveling ourselves out, it's back to the cold reality of Trump too. |
| 0:19.0 | It's almost quaint these days to think back to when we could say with |
| 0:23.6 | confidence that we are a nation of laws and not of men. That's certainly not true any longer. |
| 0:30.6 | Today, sadly, we're a nation of one man who considers himself above the law and acts accordingly. |
| 0:40.5 | And nowhere is that more visible today than in Minneapolis, where Donald Trump, against the law, sent federal forces into a city that didn't need |
| 0:46.0 | them or want them, where ICE agents broke into people's homes without a search warrant, |
| 0:52.1 | where ICE agents terrorized and arrested American citizens for doing |
| 0:56.6 | nothing more than engaging in peaceful protests, and were ICE agents shot and killed two Americans |
| 1:03.6 | and were defended and promised immunity by the President of the United States. |
| 1:10.2 | Not to mention all the other illegal actions Trump has taken in the last few weeks. |
| 1:14.8 | It does make you wonder whether the law still applies in this country, |
| 1:18.2 | and there's nobody better to put that question to than today's guest. |
| 1:23.3 | Elimistow, author, political commentator, and justice correspondent for The Great Nation magazine. |
| 1:30.3 | Elimistow, good to reconnect with you, and thank you for joining us. Welcome back to the Bill Press |
| 1:34.7 | pod. Thanks for having me, Bill. I am very happy to have a job that's not at CBS. I'm still allowed to do |
| 1:41.0 | real journalism. Wait, but as whoever said recently, that's a place where you can watch good BS, right, on CBS, right? |
| 1:50.8 | I wanted to talk to you today about the breakdown of law in this country and there's no better place to start and no worse place to start in Minneapolis. |
| 2:00.0 | Let me ask you, Ellie, do you think there's any other way to describe what happened to |
| 2:04.6 | Renee Good and Alex Preti then murder? |
| 2:08.6 | Yeah, I think with Prettie especially, that's an execution. |
| 2:13.6 | Right? |
... |
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