Welcome to the beat. Today, Democrats are vetting. An untraditional pick for the number two posted DOJ,

Todd Blanche, testified in the Senate. This is a post that he clearly got because he defended Trump

and lost, by the way. You can see him there with defending Trump in the New York criminal trial in Manhattan.

This is the reason what you see on your screen passed his prologue for his current

position that he's being vetted for. In fact, the now confirmed AG also served as one of Trump's

defense attorneys during the impeachment. This has replaced other traditional and standard

merit and legal qualifications for what it takes. Indeed, these moves

hearken all the way back to what many viewed as a lawless Nixon era. The president is

not hiding it. He is blatantly installing his personal legal defenders because of his own past

personal legal problems in these posts. That is a big part of the story tonight.

Donald Trump never accepted the premise of the constitutional oath that he and other officials

take, the independent rule of law. He's long wanted loyalty from everyone in government and especially

at DOJ. So that is the baseline for how we got here tonight, as Democrats used their Senate powers to vet this nominee, who is in for these reasons, and also raise alarms about how top DOJ officials would deal with what Democrats call the extreme and, quote, unqualified FBI pick, Cash Patel.

President Trump vowed to use the Department of Justice to advance his own interest

to seek, and I quote, retribution.

Mr. Patel is probably the most unqualified candidate for the FBI directorship that I've ever

seen.

We have a president who thinks that the DOJ is his law firm.

Four of the people nominated by President Trump, two top roles of the Department of Justice

were his personal attorneys.

I can only imagine how they would have reacted if a Democratic president

installed his own personal criminal defense attorneys as Attorney General,

...