"DNI Tulsi Gabbard is out"

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Hi there, everyone. Happy Friday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. We come on the air with the breaking news that Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is resigning. In her resignation letter, Tulsi Gabbard writes that she is stepping down in the wake of her husband being diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. She writes that her last day will be June 30th. We wish her husband every good health outcome and her family all the best during a supremely challenging time. However, as a public servant who chose to serve in Donald Trump's cabinet, her tenure in his administration will be defined by two things. One, being sidelined as the administration plunged the nation into a war with Iran, and two, the deep politicization of the intelligence community in the pursuit of Donald Trump's political aims. As a veteran, Tulsi Gabbard, cut her teeth, her political teeth, opposing the wars in the Middle East. As recently as 2019, here's what she had to say about the prospect of war with Iran. When we talk about a potential war with Iran, which is looking like we are walking very dangerously down that path, what I think is important for the American people to know is that a war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk. The devastation and the cost would be far greater than anything we've ever experienced before. Fast forward seven years and Tulsi Gabbard finds herself awkwardly defending a war she spent years very publicly opposing. Her written testimony to Congress back in March essentially knocks down one of Donald Trump's stated reasons for the war that Iran was not rebuilding its nuclear enrichment program since the strikes of 2025. Donald Trump had it points said that Iran was, quote, two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon. So the Gaputum of the administration said and the views of the war skeptical, very large and significant chunks of the MAGA coalition that Tulsi Gabbard had claimed to belong to for so long was so gaping, so vast, that her chief deputy, her close political ally, Joe Kent, resigned over Trump's decision to go to war with Iran. Your Times reports this, quote, she was seldom seen in the room when Trump made important national security moves and was widely viewed within the administration and by lawmakers in Congress as not a key member of the president's national security team. But even if sidelined on national security issues, as Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard brought her office and her resources to bear on chasing down some of Donald Trump's wildest conspiracy theories and grievances, and she did that with fervor. She claimed a, quote, treasonous conspiracy of Obama-era. administration officials, including our colleague, MS Now Senior National Security and Intelligence Analyst, the former director of the CIA John Brennan. She said that conspiracy was in service of undermining Donald Trump. In recent months, she was seen trying to investigate Donald Trump's baseless election fraud claim. She even showed up at an FBI raid of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia.

That raid itself was an extraordinary event, but it was made all the more stunning and unprecedented by the fact that the DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, was there on location. Resources told the New York Times that Tulsi Gabbard put the FBI agents who conducted that raid on the phone with Donald Trump. Tulsi Gabbard denied that Trump made any orders or asked any questions. When it came to her presence at the raid, she said she was sent there by Donald Trump himself. That breaking news of the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard is where we start today with the aforementioned former director of the CIA, our senior national security and intelligence analyst John Brennan. Also joining us, former assistant special agent in charge at the FBI, our national security and intelligence analyst Michael Feinberg. Director Brennan, your thoughts first on this resignation from Tulsi Gabbard. Well, first of all, Nicole, as you pointed out, it's tragic news about the diagnosis of Tulsi Gabbard's husband, and we wish them both the best as they deal with this health challenge. But I think it's been quite clear that the record of Tulsi Gabbard's leadership of the community has been really something of questionable integrity as well as competence. She didn't have the experience when she was nominated to be the Director of National Intelligence, which is a very important and complex job in terms of the orchestration of those 18 intelligence agencies. As you pointed out, her engagement on the ground in Georgia on election related matters and her specious referrals to the Department of Justice about this broad conspiracy. And also, I think there was just some questions about whether or not she was engaged in any of the key foreign policy on national security matters in this administration. And so it's quite clear that CIA director John Ratcliffe has had the inside track in terms of access to the White House and access to Donald Trump. And Tulsi Gabbard, I think, was looking for a role. But again, I don't think she ever clearly understood what the statutory requirements and obligations are of the Director of National Intelligence. And again, she comported herself, I think, in a highly partisan... and a very unfortunate counterproductive manner in terms of what was good for national security. I mean, and on that point of her partisanship in this job, let me show you how she responded to questions from Senator Warner.

You were present on the scene. Are the photos of you on the scene? I was at Fulton County, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action. that had long been awaited. I was not aware of what was in the warrant or was not in the warrant. And to say thank you to go to the FBI for the request that was made by the president for you to show up in Fulton County. To go and observe the FBI's activities on this issue. So why when you look at the fort, your question served? Do you have the answer why the president was knowing about this affidavit before it was even served? I'm not aware that the president knew about an affidavit before it was served. Then why was he sending you to Fulton County? This occurred the day that the FBI had it approved, their warrant approved by a local judge, and they began to execute this. To address your question, sir, about the foreign nexus question, in order for us to better understand the vulnerabilities in our election systems that may exist today as we look to 2026. Just an absolute mosh pit of an answer there under oath before Congress. I want to try to dissect it as part of her important legacy to your point, Director Brennan, of what she plunged the intelligence community into. Her answer under oath there is that she was there to observe the FBI's activities. What is the history of the... intelligence agencies, a person who sits atop them observing domestic law enforcement operations. Well, I think she was flailing around to respond to Senator Warren's question because there was no good reason for her to be there. There is a responsibility of the Director of National Intelligence to provide an assessment about any type of foreign interference in our elections. And this is now growth of what the Russians did in 2016 and in other years. But there's absolutely no reason why a director of national intelligence should be on the ground with FBI agents and others. This is wholly inconsistent with her responsibilities and obligations. And again, which I think because of these actions that Tulsi Gabbard is involved in, as well as previous DNIs who are highly partisan like Rick Rich Cornell. Even John Ratcliffe when he was DNI, I think it really has brought great discredit to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But again, what she has done, I think, has further debased, I think, the importance and the integrity of that office. I mean, Michael Feinberg, importantly, Marco Rubio, as the Republican head of the Senate intelligence community, ran these questions to the ground. And he seems to be Donald Trump's cabinet official in the best standing. If there really were, she testified to, quote, questions, sir, about the foreign nexus questions in order for us to better understand the vulnerabilities in our election systems that may exist today as we look to 2026. Literally the...

the person in Congress who ran those issues to the ground if John Durham is no longer a credible source or Chris Krebs or Bill Barr is Marco Rubio, who wrote the definitive Senate report on foreign interference in the 2016 election. I guess I ask you again, what happens to an agency when the person atop-it can't answer questions under oath about what she was doing at an FBI raid of an election office? Well, you've pointed out a real irony in this entire situation, which is we actually have reams of data analysis and conclusions about what foreign interference looks like in an American election. It was run to the ground by agencies that were definitely nonpartisan, headed by storied career professionals like director Brennan himself. But... We have cast their conclusions and the lessons learned to the four wins simply because Donald Trump is afraid they reflect poorly on his 2016 victory. So we've gotten rid. of the best analysis we have on foreign influence in the United States election. And now in this perverted power play totally at odds with the norms of rule of law and our constitution, you have individuals like Tulsi Gabbard. manufacturing conspiracies for which there is no evidence whatsoever in what is probably an effort to undermine the objectivity of elections going forward that may hurt Donald Trump's standing. As for Marco Rubio's ability to push back against this, That would imply that Marco Rubio has the leverage of a normal human being with the spine where he could plant his feet and do such pushing back. And so far, since inauguration, we have not seen any evidence of that particular vertebrae. I mean, I guess I always raise his role as the chair of the committee that wrote really the most scathing report. I mean, I may be among, you know, the handful of humans who read both Mueller, Volume 1 and the Senate Intelligence Committee's report. And Marco Rubio replaces, I think it's Richard Burr, who has to leave for some ethics scandals back when Republicans could actually be ensnared in ethics scandals. That's how long ago it was. And when Marco Rubio takes over, I mean, he gives these public statements about how it is, I think he calls it the most exhaustive and the most comprehensive investigation to the origins of the Russian investigation. And he holds himself out as a person who best understands Russia's attack on the 2016 election. It's amazing to me that he can't reach across the room. And...

You know, Donald Trump is now awash in conspiracies. Just like move on to number two, three, four, five, six, or seven hundred. The idea that this still animates, the person that runs the intelligence agency that sits atop of all the other intelligence agencies feels like a story that best illustrates not just the insanity, but the cognitive dissonance inside this cabinet, Director Brennan. Well, Marco Rubio certainly knows better, and he stood fully behind and endorsed the intelligence community assessment that, as Michael said, clearly exposed the Russian interference in 2016 election on behalf of Donald Trump. But it's clear that individuals within the administration who surround Donald Trump are unwilling to speak out and speak up. And it seems like even in private, they are unwilling to do that, which is why we continue to go down these roads. of the conspiracy theories as well as just abuse, I think, of their roles, the responsibilities. And so whether you look at a Tulsi Gabbard, you look at Pete Hegseth, and you look at individuals who really don't have that experience and the competence that are needed at the lead of these very important departments and agencies. And then you have a Donald Trump who continues to insist on that it's his way or the highway. You need people, like in the first Trump administration, who stood up to them, the Jim Mattis is, the John Kellys and others. You don't have that in this administration. And it's also you don't have that in the Republican leadership in Congress. And as bad as things might be now, I really fear for what we're going to see over the next two and a half years. Things were most awkward, Michael Feinberg, for Tulsi Gabbard, when her deputy quit over Donald Trump's decision to go to war with Iran. And he quit. He read a letter. He appeared on Tucker Carlson's podcast program. She wasn't really in the room and in that really detailed TikTok from the New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. She is, I think, absent and it's noticeable. You know, Rackless there, Marco Rubio's there, JD Vance. I don't think JD Vance is there. He's out of the country. But most of the other senior national security officials are at the table. Just talk about how completely opposed to everything she'd ever said publicly about anything the war in Iran was. Yeah, I mean, look, her proffered reason for leaving the Democratic Party at one point was that she thought it was led by baby boomer generation individuals with no firsthand experience of war who were too eager to use the military to solve conflicts that she thought could have been avoided or ameliorated the other way. But. As we've seen repeatedly, for example, with JD Vance or as we just discussed with Marco Rubio, Donald Trump is almost a force of nature in that as he draws people into his orbit, they exhibit a willingness to shed their prior principles and prior beliefs in the way that an aging snake would get rid of rough skin. So once she signed on...

to be a member of this cabinet, you know, this was predictable. There are very few people this time around in the Trump administration whose positions are not completely protean, whose principles are not completely malleable. And what amazes me, and I think it's something all three of us have remarked on at points in the past, is that none of these people. Last, they all get thrown out once they are no longer useful. And the very public sacrifice of their integrity, the abandonment of their principles, the willingness to elid their beliefs is all that remains after them when their reputation is gone. Let's not forget. the comments Marco Rubio made about Donald Trump during the primary leading up to 2016. He, I don't quite know how to phrase this on family television. He called Donald Trump's manhood into question at one point based on the size of his hands debate, yes, yes. JD Vance literally without hyperbole compared Donald Trump to Hitler. Tulsi Gabbard was a Democrat who fervently believed against going a war in Iran. Todd Blanche took an oath to the Constitution and worked as a federal prosecutor protecting the country. I don't know what remains of the people these individuals once were at this point. Right, who Trump, as he said, every story ends exactly the same way with an unceremonious dismissal or in this case a resignation for a family medical crisis, but nobody comes out as good as or better than they went in. On this breaking news, we are grateful to you, Director John Brennan, for joining us and starting us off. Michael Feinberg sticks around a little bit longer when we come back. A rare, exceedingly rare rebuke from the normally compliant Republican Party over Donald Trump's slush fund for his supporters and allies will bring you that news and ask if we should believe our eyes as we watch this. Plus, as Americans prepare to take a little Memorial Day weekend break, Donald Trump's economy is making it more and more difficult to afford. to travel and enjoy that break. And later in the broadcast, Stephen Colbert says his final goodbye, and Donald Trump still can't get over it. We'll show you how Stephen Colbert turned the lights off the show last night. You don't want to miss that. We'll get to all that and much more when Dudley White House continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

An acting attorney general Todd Blanche met with Senate Republicans on Thursday to defend this political stink bomb. Quote, what unfolded in an ornate room just off the Senate floor Thursday morning was a two-hour blowup in which dozens of Republican senators vented their anger and concern about the president's fund at Todd Blanche. They questioned its legal basis, whom it would pay, and how the process would work. And they made it clear they wanted no part of the plan. Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said this, quote, so the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops, utterly stupid, morally wrong, take your pick, end quote. I mean, this isn't the first, quote, utterly stupid or morally wrong decision Mitch McConnell has had. to make with regards to Donald Trump. Trump went down the escalators at Trump Tower 11 years ago. At any point in those 11 years, Mitch McConnell might have stood up to him. We know he privately described Donald Trump as a, quote, despicable person. But Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican Party wouldn't be here now if they'd spoken up before this news cycle, with Donald Trump now literally asking them to sign off on and commit money to paying out the people who threatened to kill all of them and Mike Pence on January 6th. They had decided any other moment before this week to hold him accountable for January 6th. I voted to impeach and convict him during his trial in the Senate. Back when Mitch McConnell said this. There's no question, none. The President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. I'm going to bring in Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Ben Wheater, and joining me at the table, Paul Reikoff. He's the host of the Independent Americans podcast. He is the founder and CEO of Independent Veterans of America. Michael Feinberg's still here. Ben, what do you think? I mean, I think, you know, I think if we're thinking about why, why this moment, why now, I mean, certainly, you know, I don't think you can find very many people outside of, you know, President Trump and Todd Blanche who are defending this IRS slush fund. But, you know, the politics are important to consider. On the one hand, you know, we've seen in recent weeks the tremendous power that Donald Trump still wields in Republican primaries. you know, Senator Bill Cassidy, Representative Thomas Massie, both ousted.

after bitter primary fights in which Trump was adamantly opposed to them. But we also know that the party is extremely worried about their prospects in November. The backdrop is we have a very unpopular war in Iran. We have the economic impact of that. And then this IRS slush fund is a very, very hard thing to defend to voters. You know, how do you defend to voters that your taxpayer money should go to someone who is convicted of crimes? So in some of the cases of some of these January 6th protesters have been subsequently convicted of other crimes after. for being pardoned. It's a very, very hard sell. And I think, you know, the political calculus and the real challenges that Trump's decisions, which seem, from a political perspective, be driven more in many cases by vengeance than any real grand political strategy are causing some Republicans to say, wait a second, you know, maybe it's time for us to actually step up and oppose something. Yeah, I mean, Paul Recove, I think the problem, is that there's a political calculation at all. It should just be WTF, this is wrong, next request. Because the thing about Trump is, and this has always boggled my mind about the fear that Republicans have. He'll move on and ask for something else next week. I mean, this is, like he doesn't stay mad. He just asks for something else ludicrous. And here he is, I mean, the thing with the fun, too, is that he doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. He thinks it's too small. Listen. You know, it was the most violent thing I've ever seen in politics, what they did. And yet if I say, oh, let's look at this one or that one, they say weaponization, weaponization. What they did in terms of weaponization will never be allowed to happen to this country again. So we think that those people, we think that anybody involved in that process should partake. And you're talking about peanuts compared to the value. It destroyed the lives of many, many people. So it was the most violent thing. I think he's talking about the prosecutions of him. I played the sound of Mitch McConnell basically referring him for criminal prosecution. That's essentially a criminal referral. If he'd done that on paper, it would have been asking the Department of Justice to investigate him, describes him as practically immorally responsible for the violence on January 6th. So it's Memorial Day weekend. where we honor the integrity, the sacrifice, the honor of generations of Americans who step forward. And a couple days before that, he wants to provide compensation, and we shouldn't even call it compensation, a payout for people who violently attack the government. Domestic terrorists. who showed the opposite of honor, integrity, and courage. It's despicable. It's overwhelmingly unpopular. It's about time Republicans stepped up and drew a line, and hopefully that'll give them momentum on things like Iran and Cuba. But I also think there's another part of this. The more desperate he becomes, the more dangerous he becomes. And I don't think this is accidental. I think this is strategic. I think he wants to incentivize people to stand up and oppose the government, to attack. The government cites the elections. It would be a great focal point coming up in just a couple weeks. And I've called it Plan C. Plan A, if he wants to disrupt the elections, is the military. And they're likely to say no. Plan B would be ICE. Well, we don't know where that's going to go. This is Plan C. This is the backup plan. This is a green light to every insurrectionist and everyone who wants to stand with Trump and against the evil forces that he conspires. This gives him a green light.

to do bad things and know that you will be pardoned and you will even get paid for it. So I think we have to be really mindful of the fact that he knows that the midterms are a circuit breaker. He knows they will hold him accountable. And things like this are not accidental. They're quite intentional. Even if they fail, the signal he's sending with it is very important. Well, let me just press you on that because people have said this for a couple days. And I just want to put out some reporting from NPR because. They have heard this, right? So the convicted insurrectionist who was pardoned and then went on to molest children and also be charged, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison, told his child victim of molestation to keep quiet about being molested because he was coming into a lot of money, restitution from Donald Trump for January 6. And so... I guess instead of debating whether or not that that is the plan, that is what the insurrectionists have heard. Right. I mean, it's okay. The president wants you on his side. The president considers you a victim. And it kind of reminds me of... I don't know, maybe like when Saddam Hussein let everybody out of prison because they would disrupt things, right before he knew the Americans were going to attack. And this is what you do. You pick the worst of the worst, the people who are the most desperate, the people who are most despised, and you give them a green light to do bad things. And he's been doing that throughout every time he's been in office since 11 years ago when he came down that escalator. And I think it's really, really important that we think strategically about how to combat that, not just dismiss it as a whim of something that Trump does and also recognize Republicans have actually stopped him on something. That's really... really, really important. They haven't stopped him on Iran. They didn't stop him on Venezuela. And now this is so lame that the bar is so low. But now we need them to potentially stop him on Cuba. Because it is Memorial Day weekend. And they want to make more veterans. They want to put more people in Arlington. And they're already focused on Cuba. There's an aircraft carrier down there. They're sending all the messaging. And they didn't stop him on Iran. They didn't stop him on Venezuela. And hopefully they can have a war powers vote on Cuba before he actually hits Cuba. That would be nice. I want to bring Michael Feinberg in on Todd Blanche's performance in cleanup. If Pam Bondi was fired in part for not turning around acknowledging the January 6th or the Epstein survivors, it will be interesting to see what happens to Todd Blanche, who defended the fund by saying lots of people get money for beating up cops. I'll give you two minutes to think about that one, Michael Feinberg. We will all be right back.

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You know, earlier this week, Mel Brooks announced that he was giving away all of his scripts, ephemera, sketch ideas to a comedy archive. And, you know, he's functionally stepping away after his next movie is near as we can tell. And a lot of us who love film wonder, will we ever laugh as hard again as we did at the producers or maybe Young Frankenstein? And I was assuaged in that concern when Todd Blanche with a straight face said he was there at the Senate as the acting attorney general, not Donald Trump's personal attorney. So the fact that he was willing. The fact that he had to articulate that, even though everybody knows it's not true, really goes to show how obscene and obnoxious his statement about people getting money who beat up cops all the time really was. This is a party that for my whole time when I was a supporter of it, and I imagine this is true for you as well, Nicole, cried it itself on being the party of law and order, on being the party that backed the blue, on being the party whose supporters had bumper stickers of the thin blue line across the American flag. And we have gotten to a point now. Where because Donald Trump needs to rewrite history to escape his culpability for the first real insurrection to try and stop the peaceful transfer of power, we have an attorney general, a sycophant with a suite in the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. building, who is saying not only is it okay to assault federal police officers who are protecting our democratic process, but it's okay to give them a payout for their troubles as well. I opened this with a joke about Mel Brooks, but let's be clear, this is morally despicable. These people have a black hole where their ethical compass should be, both as individuals and as stewards of the American nation, that this is even being discussed would have our founders rolling in their graves. Yeah, and Ben, I guess what makes this news cycle different from everyone over the last nine years is that it's Republicans saying that, not me. Yeah, I think, you know, I think it is striking. And I think, you know, this isn't the only instance in which you're seeing some pushback as well. I mean, there's pushback about, you know, the situation with Iran as well. I think there's, you know, and as I said before, I think there's a political landscape, but also, you know, to think about this IRS slush fund, remember, what happened here was, you know, Trump and his sons dismissed the lawsuit and struck this deal.

And there was, you know, an end around to some extent of the judicial process that was playing out, a judge that might not have signed off on such a deal. I spoke with the lawyer that was cited as having negotiated the settlement that was the precedent for that Todd Blanche cited in this case. And, you know, at every point in that process, they had a judge who signed off on it. And I think that deal was made with the IRS with the assumption that Congress would not. step up and would not oppose it because in so many other instances in these first two years of the Trump presidency, they just have not. And so I think this is a really remarkable, heartbreaking moment. And, you know, I wonder if we'll continue to see this. I mean, we're already seeing other signs of it. Right. That's the question. That's why this matters. Is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? Ben Wheeler, thank you for joining us. Michael and Paul stick around a little bit longer to banter about that question when it comes to the war in Iran. Don't go anywhere. These chicken hawk. are going to send us home for Memorial Day weekend where I'm going to honor my fellow veterans that I serve 27 months in combat with. And they are going to not even give an up or down vote on continuing this war almost three months in. While Americans are paying almost $5 a gallon at the pump, it is pathetic. And they use this procedural argument. And every American should just be absolutely outraged about this. It's a disgrace. We need to get him on a podcast, so we don't have to do all that bleeping. That was Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan last night, visibly outraged, but didn't seem to surprise because, naturally, what do House Republican leaders do when they are afraid of being rebuked by members of their own party over Donald Trump's increasingly unpopular and unaffordable agenda, including the war in Iran? Well, they call the whole thing off. Last night house, Republicans scrapped the war powers vote. It was meant to force Donald Trump to withdraw from the war in Iran or at least try to get approval from Congress for it. After, as the New York Times puts it, quote, it became clear they, the Republicans, lack the votes to defeat the measure. More from that report, quote, the decision to shelve the war powers resolution came after Republicans had lost control of the floor during an earlier unrelated vote, with several of their members defecting and several more absent. As the House chamber descended into chaos, leaders wary of risking another public defeat on a far more politically consequential vote, abruptly scrapped the Iran war measure. We're back with Paul and Michael. This is perhaps one of the biggest political stories in the second Trump term that Trump doesn't have the political juice to continue to wage war in Iran. I think you're right. Pat Ryan's a friend of mine, and he speaks for so many people. He also is a West Point grad, a combat veteran. He represents West Point. It's in his congressional district. And he understands what he's talking about. And I think he's touching on something that a lot of Americans feel, especially veterans feel right now, that there's a generation of chicken hawks that are sending other people's kids to die all over again. And I think Iran has become a dividing point, especially within the Republican Party, especially within the veterans and national security community, with people like in the Mantlesphere, the podcasters like Joe Rogan and Sean Ryan.

But I also want to say that... Who are out. They're done. They said, we're done. That's it. He said no regime change wars. And now Tulsi Gabbard's out, who her entire platform. She said no regime changed wars more than any politician I've ever seen in the last two decades, right? But it's... But it's also... Congress is also the dog chasing the car. Because Iran's already underway. The question is, can they stop Cuba? Because he said Cuba's next. They're communicating it, you know, like there's probably an over under on the polymarket now, whether he does it before or after July 4th. But they didn't stop him on Venezuela. They didn't stop him on Iran. They have an opportunity to stop him before he starts combat with a new country. And Cuba is that dividing line. I think we have to try to push that to the forefront and see where Republicans stand on that because in some ways Iran's already underway. Well, the thing that people say, and they point to Indiana and they point to Bill Cassidy and I guess Thomas Massie and say, well, he's still really powerful in the Republican Party. You can't say that. without pointing out how small the Republican Party is right now. It's shrinking by the week. Yeah, I think Thomas Massie's really, really important. I've been talking about this a lot this week. I mean, he just carved out a whole new lane for a presidential campaign just by running against Iran, against the tariffs, in favor of releasing the Epstein files and against Trump. That's a presidential platform that's pretty popular. In either party. In either party or no party at all. He could also run as an independent and galvanize a lot of people, and he's worked across the line with Ro Khanna and other. So something's happening here, whether the movement is going to be within the Republican Party to challenge Trump and whoever his successor is if he leaves. power or to actually break away, and they're representing a majority of the country that is against all those things, but also doesn't want to go to the Democrats. 45% of the country is independent and unaffiliated, and they're looking for voices who represent that angry majority, especially on national security and regime change wars. It's amazing how wide open this question of national security is right now, Michael Feinberg. Yeah, I'll be honest. I'm not quite as ready as you to put up the bunting and celebrate at the Republicans' newfound discovery of integrity and is fine. Because all we've got right now are... to use a word I hate, vibes. We don't have concrete actions. There haven't been votes on any of these things. There's been rhetorical pushbacks. There's been rumors leaking out of closed sessions. And when push comes to shove, the Republican voters have not supported the individuals who've pushed back. And the individuals who claim to push back when the moment of crisis comes, Don't. Mitch McConnell could have stopped all of this in that speech you played earlier and did it. So I'm not confident that Republicans are actually going to have the medal to follow through on this.

I'm with you. I appreciate the gentle blowback. That's why you're here. Michael Feinberg, Paul Reikoff, thank you both for being here today. Have a great weekend after the break. A huge legal defeat for Donald J. Trump, Todd Blanche, and DOJ, and one of their most closely watched deportation cases. We'll bring you that breaking news next. It is a seismic legal rebuke of the Trump administration. A federal judge has thrown out the criminal case against Kilmar Abrago Garcia. He is the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, that judge calling it, quote, an abuse of prosecuting power, end quote. The government had charged Abrago Garcia with human smuggling after the government was forced to bring him back from El Salvador. Alvin Bragg Garcia was challenging those charges by the Department of Justice on the grounds that the charges were vindictive. U.S. District Judge Waverly Dan Crenshaw agreed the ruling names acting Attorney General Todd Blanche 29 times and says this, quote, Todd Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrago. He did so to justify the executive branch's decision to remove him to El Salvador. The evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power. The objective evidence here shows that absent Abrago's successful lawsuit, challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution, end quote. When we come back how Donald Trump is dismissing the concerns of the American people this holiday weekend, much more news ahead. Don't go anywhere. Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business. None of which are connected. And each one more expensive and more complicated than the last. Scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say ODU's programs for manufacturing and accounting and more are what building blocks. And they're all connected on one platform. But I say ODU sound all. Amazing. What Odu is hard. For business. A simple, efficient software that can handle everything for every fraction of the price. Sign up at Odu.com. That's ODO.O.O. com.