The Department of Justice seems to be moving forward with potential charges against Donald Trump. If they pursue these charges related to the alleged insurrection, it could have serious consequences for him under the 14th amendment. This situation is different from previous indictments and has garnered attention and pushback.
Chris Smith: Brian McWilliams, good to have you with us. Plenty of cover, former president Donald Trump says he received a letter on Sunday night. informing him that he’s a target of the January 6 grand jury investigation. Now the letter from special counsel, Jack Smith, gives him 4 days to report to a grand jury. That’s according to Trump, and suggested that the short deadline may mean he would be arrested and indicted.
He calls the letter horrifying news for our country. He wrote in a message posted on his social media platform truth social. This witch hunt is all about election interference. and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement. Well, my next guest, live from LA, has been following this and so much more.
Brian McWilliams:: is a native Philadelphia. He’s an expert in public relations and communication and can be heard on the weekly podcast The Lines of Liberty found at lionsofliberty.com.
Brian McWilliams:: It is always a joy, Chris. Fantastic to be here.
Chris Smith: Now last week, I told listeners that special counsel Jack Smith was just a few weeks away from moving on the January 6 allegations, and the Washington Post mentioned the same thing in a sink column. What legal consequences are now likely for Donald Trump? Do you think following this letter he received on Sunday night?
Brian McWilliams: Well, I mean, it certainly does seem that they are moving forward with potential charges for Trump. Obviously, they are taking this to the next level, and really, the side of this that people need to pay attention to isn’t so much that Donald Trump is being hit with yet another politicized attack from the Department of Justice here. But the real consequence here is that if they try to get him on this, quote, unquote, insurrection right, which is what the Democrats have been labeling the SaaS from the get go. An insurrection to undermine the democracy to take over the country, Well, then it could be coming into play with the 14th amendment, which specifically says you’re banned from engaging in a civil office, a military office if you have engaged in insurrection versus the United States. So that’s really the core of this.
And that’s why it’s so much more different than the other indictments that he’s faced for these various, you know, keeping the documents or the violations of campaign finance that he faced before. So this one has a little bit more weight to it, but at the same time, it’s going to have the same pushback from the general population of, it certainly looks like they’re just trying to take him out.
Chris Smith: That’s true. And I would have thought the majority of political watchers would view it that way. I agree entirely. However, in the short term, he’s got 4 days to front up to the grand jury? How will he play this?
Firstly, he’s got to send in his lawyers to say that the time required for him to do so is too short, I guess there’ll be an attempt to do that. Will he just refuse to turn up? That means he can be arrested the following day.
Brian McWilliams: You know honestly, knowing Trump, the smart thing to do probably is to refuse to show up. to make them drag him in and just and to merely make a spectacle of it. Because, you know, think about that. I mean, that you lean into this. At this point, we’ve seen he is Teflon, you know, Teflon Don when it comes to public perception of this.
And if it if they’re got to try to make it a spectacle, if they’re got to try to Trump this up to include the, you know, exclude the bad pun here, glee into it. Let them make it a spectacle. Use that to your advantage. And I think that is what he will do.
I think he’s got to lead into it. He’s a master of medium manipulation. Why not take this and spin it to his advantage? which honestly might be what the Democrats want. They might view Trump as the easiest candidate to beat, and thus, they’re moving forward with this to give him more ammunition to cement the base behind him.
But still, in the interim, it’s got to be curious to see what actually plays out here. I mean, I don’t think the time frame will allow them to actually press real charges against him before the campaign actually comes to fruition, but it’s certainly fascinating to watch.
Chris Smith: Oh, fascinating to watch absolutely is. Now ousted Fox News, Tucker Carlson appeared in his first major public event since his April termination from Fox on Friday. When he hosted an Iowa presidential forum. Now Trump didn’t attend. We knew that.
but Tucker grilled the other GOP presidential candidates. Some were better than others. What was the fallout from this? Who are the winners and losers? Do you think?
Brian McWilliams: Well, I mean, Vivek Ramaswamy really came out strong. I’ll say that. He was a big winner. And it’s kind of funny. You can see that Tucker clearly has a fondness for Vivek Rama Swamy because he didn’t really press him too hard, so he came out a winner.
DeSantis came out neutral, which is probably fine for DeSantis. He’s still maintained this position, but candidates like Mike Pence. I mean, Mike Pence got put into the ground. He is one of the biggest gaps you’ll ever got to see. Carlson, who is very antiwar to his great credit, really pressed him on the Ukrainian war.
He asked, you know, asked by his parents Why should we be funding this war to the tune of billions in Mike Pence? Instead of funding at home in our cities, you can’t walk around the corner without stepping in feces, And Mike Pence said, well, that’s not my concern. It bothers me the worst answer in the history of politics. Where and whether or not it was taken out of context, whether he meant something different doesn’t really matter in our current environment. So, Mike Pence was basically put down.
Tim Scott didn’t have a great showing. Nikki Haley, I don’t think had a great showing. Asia Hutchinson, I believe, didn’t have a great showing. So, there were a number of candidates who really were pushed to the side. Now a lot of these people weren’t really going to be front runners anyway, but it was curious to see that Trump’s name really wasn’t evoked in this. It was kind of like Voldemort and Harry Potter.
You know? Nobody really took shots at him, and I was shocked to see that because I thought that that would be the main thing. The man’s not there. Here’s your chance. to take him out, to get some shots, and then nobody really did that.
Chris Smith: We’ve got to keep a close eye on Nikki Hailey because of the way things are looking, it’s not beyond comprehension that she could become the vice president of the United States, Brian.
Brian McWilliams: That’s where I’ll push back on you, and I’ll tell you why. I think that Donald Trump views Nikki Haley as a traitor to his call, and obviously, Donald Trump is a man with a big ego. He takes a lot of umbrage at people that he doesn’t think supported him after he supported them first. So — True.
Nikki Haley, after being appointed to a position that Trump had in his cabinet, she is now running for president, I think Trump sees it as an attack on him. and to double down on that. A lot of these candidates had statements after this latest letter, the target letter that came out about this January 6, and we’ll find out what the actual charges are. But Nicky Haley did not really come to his defense strongly. You know, she had a very tepid statement about this saying essentially, well, you know what?
We need a candidate that doesn’t have these kinds of scandals behind the scenes. Donald Trump is not to take too kindly to that. Yeah. I’ll tell you that. Okay. So, who do you use to give feedback?
Chris Smith: Well, I I just think that a male is likely to pick a female to balance the gender, and I’m just wondering if Nicky is not a vice presidential candidate for the reasons that you rightly point out, although stranger bedfellows have, you know, gathered together. Who else could possibly be a VP to Trump?
Brian McWilliams: Carrie Lake out of Arizona is always kind of floating there. I personally don’t think he’s got to pick her. I think she’s a little bit too out there. I have actually settled and, you know, this is gotta be. I guarantee you’ve got to play this for me in a year and rub it in my face that I’m so wrong about it. But I actually think the vague Ramaswamy could be a legitimate candidate, even though he’s not a woman, but he is a man of color.
And if you look at it this way, he’s on the rise. Trump could basically take out a competitor. He could add to his base add to his voting total with somebody that is not of the political class. Right? What was Trump’s pitch? I’m an outsider.
I’ve got to tear this down. I’m not on this political machine anymore. And what are these candidates that are out there? Vivek Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur. He’s young.
He’s smart. Again, a man of color, who is going to help you in some sectors. He’s an entrepreneur who has built himself up and is coming at this and can kind of cover some bases that Trump’s a little bit weak on in certain portions.
Chris Smith: That’s interesting. I’ve been watching his blog very closely, Brian. I’ve been watching his vlogs. He’s a good performer in front of the camera too. Absolutely.
Brian McWilliams: He’s not a bad looking cat. And Trump could use that. Again, it’s another shot of vitality under there, and he can say, look. It’s me and Vivek. We are both outsiders.
I’ve got another shot in here to take down the system, come in and support me. I’m anti establishment. It builds into his brand that’s already existing there, and it is really consistent.
Chris Smith: Alright. Fair argument. Now just one last thing on Tucker. He struck an ad deal with more than $1,000,000 with public square, an online marketplace for companies with conservative values. How infuriated would Fox executives and Fox lawyers be right now?
Brian McWilliams: I’ve either got to be infuriated or they’re or they’re high fiving each other and going out for whiskeys. Right? It’s like that. These are the two ways this could go. because either they had Tucker who was getting paid 1,000,000 of dollars to go away, essentially, and I’d argue that he’s the most dangerous man in conservative politics because of that because he has nothing to lose.
Tucker’s getting paid millions has the biggest show in the world and really can just say what he wants. Now with this ad deal, I wonder what the ramifications are. Is he got to be after reigned in because of this ad deal? Does he have to forfeit the money Fox would pay him? So, I don’t know.
This is a really fascinating development behind the scenes, and those lawyers might just be jumping up and down with joy. I really don’t know.
Chris Smith: When do lawyers not jump up and down with joy?
Brian McWilliams: Well, they probably were pinned down by prostitutes. Come on, Chris. You know?
Chris Smith: There is that. I wasn’t thinking about that. You did.
Brian McWilliams: So, I took care of what out of left field there? Apologies to the audience. I don’t expect any of this one.
Chris Smith
Chris Smith has had a remarkably wide and successful career in media… Starting off in 1981 in rural radio and TV in Moree NSW, Parkes NSW, and Bendigo Victoria, he developed skills in news reporting, presenting bulletins and live sports calling.
Back in the big smoke, he worked as a senior reporter for Seven News and travelled the world covering dramatic events such as the Tienanmen Square massacre, San Francisco earthquake and drug trials throughout Asia.
It was at Channel Nine that Chris not only made his mark as an award-winning reporter with “A Current Affair” but drove the show as it’s Chief of Staff under hosts Jana Wendt, Mike Willesee, Mike Munro and Ray Martin.
He was then poached by French media company “Lagardere” to broadcast from Beijing, as the first westerner to broadcast live in China on China Radio International. He was then elevated to the position of program director and deputy MD China.
On his return to Australia in 2000, he was appointed as Program director and Afternoon Show host at Radio 2GB Sydney…where he was instrumental in reviving a great media brand.
During his 22 years at Macquarie Radio, he took his Afternoon Show to number 1 for no less than 84 surveys…finishing with a commanding 13%.
That success continued when he switched to the weekend morning program for 3 years.
Chris was then contracted to Sky News Australia and hosted “Chris Smith and Friends” and “Chris Smith Tonight” each Sunday night…as well as floating as host for all the other night time current affairs shows.
He’s contributed to both Channel 7’s “Sunrise” program and Channel Nine’s “Today Show” over the past 20 years… and as a current affairs commentator on “Credlin” and “Paul Murray Live”.
Chris is now hosting a global news talkback program on TNTRadio.live, and multi-national broadcaster which has just celebrated its 5 millionth download.
