Former President Donald Trump is officially back on the campaign trail holding what they described in the campaign as the first rally of his 20, 24 presidential campaign to return to the White House yesterday in Waco, Texas. The event featured all of Trump’s familiar lies about the 2020 election. He also called for the elimination of the deep state. But as he is facing legal investigations in three different jurisdictions, Trump complained about what he sees is the newest weapon in the Democrat’s attempts to steal the next election. This is how he put it prosecutorial misconduct is their new tool, and they are willing to use it at levels never seen before. In our country. We’ve had it but we’ve never had it like this. We must stop them and we must not allow them to go through another election where they have yet another tool in their toolkit. And join me now to talk about all of this. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California. She was a member of the January six select committee. Congresswoman, thank you for being with us. What do you make of Trump’s comments about these investigations swirling around him? He’s talking about prosecutorial misconduct. And we, as we mentioned with Daniel Dale are fact-checker in the previous hour. He’s not offering any evidence of that. He’s just saying it well, there is no evidence. And I think obviously he appears to be worried that he will be indicted. I don’t know if will be indicted, but certainly he engaged in criminal conduct. I mean, our committee did criminal referrals, of course, doing the referral and you know, being the prosecutors to two different things. They have to make sure that not only do they have probable cause, but I think given the high profile of a potential defendant, they’re going to want to ensure ensure that they have sufficient evidence to convict. So there’s no evidence whatsoever that there’s anything improper on the part of the prosecutors, although the ex-president certainly tried to weaponize the Department of Justice when he was president. And he called the 20, 24 campaign the final battle last night. He did this in Waco, Texas, during the 30th anniversary of the infamous standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult in that area. Let’s listen to that And 2024 is the final battle. That’s going to be the big one. Our enemies are desperate to stop us because they know that we are the only ones who can stop them. All of the hatred, rage and contempt the radical left has for you and your values. And this nation has been very much directed on me. Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state. They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you. And I’m just standing in their way. It’s the same language of incitement that we’ve heard time and again from the former president. We know that Late last week, the House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, was talking about how he was worried that somebody could get killed with all of this rhetoric flying around. Are you worried about that, too? Well, I think it’s a concern. The rhetoric that he’s using today is not dissimilar to the type of rhetoric he is prior to January six, in fact. In some ways, it’s more overt and blatant than the events leading up to January 6th. I mean, he posted a picture of himself holding a baseball bat next to the prosecutor in Manhattan, calling the crossing shooter a number of horrible names like an animal and thug. He disparaged the idea that his followers should remain peaceful. You know, this is cause for concern. We know that certainly not all of his followers are inclined to take up arms. But there’s enough of them were willing to do battle in his behalf that someone could get killed. And people were killed, obviously, on January six. And he kicked off this rally with a version of The Star-Spangled Banner. Perhaps you’ve seen this in this version was sung by a group of inmates currently jailed for their role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. As the song played, Trump was standing on the stage with his hand over his heart and so on, as as images from the attack on the Capitol played on screen. What did you think of that? Well, he’s elevating the violence. We know from our investigation that he tried various ways to overturn the election but he was left only with mob violence. By the time January six rolled around to elevate people who have been either convicted or in most cases pled guilty to violent assault, these were individuals who viciously attacked police officers in the assault on the Capitol That’s not patriotism. And that he would elevate them is admirable, I think tells me a lot about where the ex-president is in terms of honoring and encouraging violence. I think it’s something that’s cause for concern. I am worried, frankly, that my Republican colleagues I think many of them don’t agree, but they are not speaking up and they need to do that or else. Once again, we’ll see potentially violence brought into the political arena. And that’s not American. That’s the absolute opposite of being pro-American. And finally, a federal judge ruled this week that some Trump allies, top Trump allies. Names you would recognize would be compelled to testify before a grand jury about the events surrounding January six. You served on the House January six committee. I mean, you tried mightily on that committee to have some of these people people like Mark Meadows come and testify. You couldn’t compel that testimony. It sounds like they’ll have to cooperate with this grand jury. What questions need to be asked Well, I have a lot of questions. I mean, Meadows was involved on a day to day basis with the president on these various schemes. I’d like to know frankly, what documents Mark was burning in the fireplace. That’s been reported by several people. I’d like to know about the conversations they had and what the ex-president was doing on January six itself. I’d like to know the details of the meeting on December 21st where members of Congress came over to plot with the President and Mr. Meadows to overturn the election. But, you know, he still has his Fifth Amendment right not to testify against himself. And I think he certainly does have some criminal exposure. You know, one of the people I’d like to talk to was Dan Scavino, who again, was there the entire time. On January six, he could tell us what the president the ex-president was doing And also, he was, you know, right by the president’s side. Every time there was a digital message that was sent out And I think he could tell us a lot about that, too. He also, of course, has the Fifth Amendment right not to testify against himself. All right, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it, as always. Thank you. Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPBNKhnXbMk
