Good morning. It's Saturday, October 26th, and I'm Charles Coleman, Jr. filling in for Ali Velshi today.

Now, after the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, reforms were made to increase how independent the Department of Justice is from the White House.

But since returning to office, Donald Trump has dramatically transformed the DOJ from the top

down. Lawyers who recently worked for him in a personal capacity are now calling the shots.

And what has followed has been a series of increasingly urgent warning signs about the rule

of law in this country.

On Friday, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, who, on behalf of the people of New York,

prevailed in a civil suit against Trump and his family business last year, was arraigned in federal court in Virginia. She pled not guilty to two counts related to mortgage fraud.

And this is now the third politically charged case to be

bought against one of Trump's perceived enemies. It comes just one month after Trump put up this social

media post, which he reportedly intended as a direct message, asking Attorney General Pam Bondi,

quote, what about Comey, Adam Schiff, and Letitia?

Two of the three people he named there have since been indicted. In the third, California Senator Adam Schiff has been under investigation for months now.

According to MSNBC's Carol Lennon and Kandin, the prosecutor in Maryland leading that

investigation does not think the case is strong enough to proceed against Schiff.

Others, like the Trump-appointed DOJ official, Ed Martin, still want to see that case move forward.

And meanwhile, Trump is continuing to openly talk about how much he dislikes Schiff,

dialing up the pressure on the DOJ to prosecute her.

I would just say, Adam Schiff is one of the lowest forms of scum I've ever dealt with

in politics. He's a horrible human being, very dishonest person. I have no idea what's going

on. You tell me that he's going to be indicted. I don't know. You could ask Pam. I don't

know if she could say it. Probably you are allowed to say indicted. I don't know. You could ask Pam. I don't know if she could say it.

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