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Good morning.
It's Monday, December 23rd.
Over the course of the campaign, President-elect Trump made numerous threats to investigate, prosecute, jail, or otherwise punish his perceived opponents, including private citizens.
A new poll asked respondents if they would support that.
So, this morning, we're asking you: do you support or oppose President-elect Trump's targeting of political opponents?
Here's how to share your thoughts with us.
If you support Donald Trump's targeting of political opponents, call us on 202-748-8000.
If you're opposed to it, it's 202-748-8001.
You can send us a text to 202-748-8003, include your first name in your city-state.
And you can post to social media, facebook.com/slash C-SPAN and X at C-SPANWJ.
Welcome to today's Washington Journal.
We'll start with that poll I mentioned.
It's from Monmouth University, and it's released December 12th.
The headline is: Republicans would not be that bothered if Trump goes after political enemies.
Here's some of the findings from that poll: 48% say President-elect Trump is, quote, serious about suspending laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies.
47% believe the president-elect is exaggerating, so he won't actually do it.
23% of Republicans would be bothered if President-elect Trump suspended laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies.
So that's a little less than a quarter.
77% of Democrats and 55% of Independents would be bothered by that.
Here's an article by Politico that says this: Trump promised to get revenge.
Here are his targets.
From Liz Cheney to Jack Smith to Mark Milley, Trump has a lengthy inventory of people he's pledged to punish.
We'll get more into those specifics, but let's hear from President-elect Trump.
This is from a week ago.
It's his first post-election news conference, and he promised more defamation suits against the media.
And you need a fair press.
And the press is: no, I see others.
I have a few others that I'm doing.
I'm going to, as an example, we're bringing I'm doing this not because I want to.
I'm doing this because I feel I have an obligation to.
I'm going to be bringing one against the people in Iowa, their newspaper, which had a very, very good pollster who got me right all the time.
And then just before the election, she said I was going to lose by three or four points, and it became the biggest story all over the world because I was going to win Iowa by 20 points.
The farmers love me, and I love the farmers.
And it was interesting the way she did it.
She brought it down two weeks before, she said I was going to only win by four.
That was a big story.
But that was good because she brought it down from like 22 points to four or whatever the number was, way up, way up, easy win.
Never even thought to go there.
I respect them.
I love them.
And they understand there's no reason to go there because she brought it from way up, walk away, which it was, and it turned out to be in the election too, by the way.
It was a win by many, many points.
And then she brought it down very smartly to four a couple of weeks before.
And everyone said, wow, that's amazing.
He's only up by four points.
Then she brought it down to where I was down by three or four, whatever number she used.
And that was the Des Moines Register.
And it was their parent.
And in my opinion, it was fraud and it was election interference.
You know, she's gotten me right always.
She's a very good pollster.
She knows what she was doing.
And she then quit before.
And we'll probably be filing a major lawsuit against them today or tomorrow.
We're filing one on 60 Minutes, you know about that, where they took Kamala's answer, which was a crazy answer, a horrible answer, and they took the whole answer out and they replaced it with something else she said later on in the interview, which wasn't a great answer, but it wasn't like the first one.
The first was grossly incompetent.
It was weird.
And that was fraud and election interference by their news magazine, a big part of CBS News.
So as you know, we're involved in that one.
We're involved in one which has been going on for a while and very successfully against Bob Woodward, where he didn't quote me properly from the tapes.
And then on top of everything else, he sold the tapes, which he wasn't allowed to do.
He could only use them for reporting purposes, not for sale purposes.
And he admits that.
And I think we'll be successful on that one.
And we have one very interestingly on Pulitzer because reporters at the New York Times, Washington Post got Pulitzer Prizes for their wonderful, accurate, and highly professional reporting on the Russia-Russia-Russia hoax.
Well, it turned out to be a hoax, and they were exactly wrong.
Wonder what you think about the question of President-elect Trump targeting his political opponents.
Our lines are support and oppose.
Also, I want to make sure you know about this story that just broke this morning, and that is this.
Here's the Associated Press: Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates, so Trump can't have them executed.
It says President Joe Biden announced on Monday, that's today, that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.
We'll have more on that as the story continues.
But we will get back to our topic and take your calls.
Here is Anna up first on the line for support in North Carolina.
Hi, Anna.
Good morning, Mimi.
Good morning.
I don't think it's really whether or not it's a supporting him and going after political opponents.
My feeling is that if there's just cause to do so, then I think he should.
I'm kind of leaning towards, I've seen a lot of people targeting Trump for, you know, eight years just brutally.
And I don't think the legacy media has treated him fairly.
You know, they do fact-checked on him, but like in the debate, they didn't do Kamala Harris.
And I don't know.
I just feel like, you know, with that J6 hearing that they had, or not the hearing, but the whatever, the committee, the Nancy Pelosi hearings.
The January 6th committee hearings, yes.
And those documents that disappeared, they can't be found.
I mean, that needs to be investigated.
It's just, I don't know.
I don't think he's going targeting his political opponents, but you've got to also understand that kind of they, the Biden administration kind of did that to Trump's folks, too.
You know what I mean?
Just by the subpoenas and arrests and all this stuff.
But I don't know.
It just kind of seems like you feel that that wasn't fair.
Like, for instance, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, his campaign.
Yeah, I mean, because so many people were subpoenaed in the Biden administration, but nobody arrested them for not showing up.
I mean, you know what I'm saying?
So don't you think that's kind of a double standard?
I mean, that's just my opinion.
All right, Anna.
And this is Lily in Annapolis, Maryland.
Appose.
Hi, Lily.
Yes.
Good morning.
I just want to let all of America know how Dan, I mean, it's just astounding to me that he got reelected.
This man has proven himself to be nothing but a psychopath, a deranged.
And for him to be allowed to continue and go after the people that he perceives as his opponent.
And if nobody stops him, there is no end to this man's madness.
So Lily, wake up, America.
Respond to Anna, who said that he was targeted unfairly by Democrats.
I would like to say to what was her name?
I'm sorry, what was her name?
Anna.
You just have to look and see what he did.
I mean, there's going to be consequences to this kind of behavior.
It's astounding to me that people don't see that.
I mean, the way he has conducted himself over the years, I mean, just talk to the people who live in New York.
They know him like the back of their hand.
That's why he lost New York.
I mean, he is just, this is a man who needs professional help.
He has a mental problem.
Please, America, wake up.
All of you who voted for him, I have no doubt you're going to end up having buyers' remorse.
All right, Lily.
Set out to destroy this country.
Let's go to Houston, Texas to Melba.
Melba, you support.
I can't stop laughing at that lady ahead of me.
He was just too Trump derangement typical.
But yes, everyone has the right to defend himself and his name and her reputation.
And I think just this unfettered leash, unleashing of invective against him without any restraint or any fact checking is just not acceptable.
We have to stop that in America.
We just have to stop that.
So we're better than that.
Would that be just for the media or everybody?
Do you think that?
Well, for the media, especially because they've finally gotten their comeuppance.
So here they've finally been exposed to the bias, you know, unbalanced and unfair opinions that they have been putting forth here.
And I'm just hoping that they do better going forward because they can't do any worse.
So here are some other targets according to the Politico article.
President Joe Biden, it said that Trump has frequently called Biden corrupt.
And in June, reposted a true social message that said he should be, quote, arrested for treason.
This is his promise: quote, I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family.
Do you agree with that, Melba?
All of the above.
And I hope he takes them to task.
All right.
And here is Mary Ann in San Rafael, California, opposed.
Good morning, Mimi.
Morning.
I really like how you kind of dig or go back and forth.
I hope you will with me, but of course I oppose people going after people.
This is not kindergarten we're going to throw down in the schoolyard or something.
But I'd like to point us and Mr. Trump back to some things that happened here in this country, like killing of Indigenous people, giving them blankets lace with smallpox, breaking their tools so they couldn't exist out here.
The 49ers, you know, our great football team, well, the real 49ers went after the Indians and just killed innocent people, children.
Anyway, I hope Mr. Trump one time thinks about it because it's a huge wound.
And then, of course, there's the one about the slavery, hello, and the Japanese people.
Marianne, are you saying that he should focus on those injustices rather than his political opponents?
Or how is that related?
It's related because I don't think this country is going to move forward in any way until we take care of the vile, horrible things that this country was built on, the way that the violence, and he comes from an alcoholic family.
His brother died, and I think in his 40s, early 40s, of alcoholism.
And I just think, you know, he must know that, I mean, I think the guy has a human bone in his body, I'm hoping, because I'm not opposed to him completely.
But, yeah, I'm just hoping for some healing out here.
You know, we're in California and we have ours, and then there's the Trail of Tears to Cherokee people who had to walk 3,000 miles.
Try walking 13 miles.
And it's, you know, it's just a wound that I think we can't get over.
One time you had the question on the show, is the American Dream still possible?
And I just don't think the American Dream is going to be possible until people really look at what has been done, what we have done here in this country.
All right, Marianne.
Let's talk to Rick next in Saratoga Springs, New York.
What do you think, Rick?
Oh, thanks for taking my call.
Well, the way I see it is what 78-year-old man who's the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States, who's never been arrested, who's under four jurisdictions with 84 felonies.
That doesn't make sense.
They said the laptop was false.
Prior to the 20 election, they had 51 former CIA operatives say that it wasn't, and it was true.
They've done this over and over again.
So they said hold on, Rick.
So those former intelligence professionals said that the laptop was in line with Russian disinformation.
They didn't say it was, as they didn't have access to it.
So do you think they still should be prosecuted for that?
For saying, yeah, this sounds like something that Russia would do.
Go ahead.
Wait a second.
And here you go again with C-SPAN, leaning to the fact that you know the FBI had the laptop and you know they had access because they have high clearance.
So what do you think?
No, I'm talking about the 51 because you're right.
President-elect Trump has said that he wants to prosecute them as well.
So what do you think?
Go ahead.
I'll let you finish your topic, your comment.
Yes.
Leon Panetta went on Fox News and said that it's completely false.
He doesn't care.
It was still Russian disinformation.
And then if you look at it, Hunter Biden sitting with his father telling somebody that unless you send us $5 million, we're going to wreak havoc on you.
Okay.
And here's what Politico is reporting about the 51 intelligence professionals who signed the letter about the Hunter Biden laptop.
It says this.
Trump remains galled by a letter from intelligence professionals weeks before the 2020 presidential election, contending that a release of purported emails from Hunter Biden, quote, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.
The ex-officials acknowledged in a letter that they didn't know for certain whether the emails were genuine, but said the disclosures were suspicious.
And you could see that at Politico.
Here is Cal, New York City.
Cal, what do you think about the targeting of political opponents?
Oh, good morning.
Good morning, and happy holidays to C-SPAN and everybody listening.
You too.
I suppose I was clearest in my mind about the attacks that he was having on journalists, on people in the media.
I think a lot of those are over-exaggerated threats.
I think that as far as the media is concerned, I think his point is to just damage their credibility.
I think about the earlier hearings this year with Congress and how they were broadbeating the heads of these various universities for their supposedly anti-Semitic policies and how they were just browbeaten to the point that their jobs were in risk.
Some of them, a couple of them actually quit their positions.
I think for Trump, the lawsuits are a scare tactic.
I think he would rather have These folks testify in public and admit, as some journalists already have, that they were too lenient with Biden on terms of the age issue and on terms of his other policies.
And I think rather than some kind of restitution or imprisonment, I think his greatest victory was to see, you know, Joe Scarborough or somebody on MSNBC fired because their ratings are so bad and they lose credibility because of this kind of exposure.
All right, Cal.
I want to bring something to your attention.
Also, some breaking news.
The Matt Gates ethics report is expected to be released today.
CBS News says that Matt Gates' ethics report says his drug use and sex with a minor violated state laws.
It says that the former representative, Florida Republican, who briefly stood to become president-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women, including a 17-year-old, for sex and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.
And that report is 37 pages long.
This is Bruce in Lexington, Kentucky.
Good morning, Bruce.
Hello.
Can I start with a joke?
Okay.
What do you get when you cross a hummingbird with the doorbell?
What?
A humdinger.
Okay.
Mimi, you're a humdinger.
Okay, but let's get back to our topic.
What do you think of the targeting of political opponents?
Well, I think if they've done wrong against him, he should have his recourse.
I think it's being characterized a little incorrectly.
And I don't think this is one of the major problems right now.
I'm amazed that we don't have, you haven't had any shows about the congressional report on January 6th and the two articles about Biden not being able to be president because of his mental acuity.
So I think those are way more important.
But I do think Mr. Trump, President Trump, does have the right to seek retribution where he was wronged.
And I don't see anything wrong with that.
All right, Bruce.
And you mentioned January 6th.
We've got an interview on MSNBC.
This is New York Democrat Dan Goldman.
Oh, please, MSNBC.
I mean, we'll play that and we'll play some other stuff.
Don't worry.
We'll get it all there.
So this is Dan Goldman.
He played a role in President Trump's first impeachment trial, and he spoke about the threat against January 6th committee members.
Obviously, the January 6th committee did an investigation that was authorized by Congress, upheld by courts of law.
It was totally legitimate, and it's part of their duties.
But just the fact that because Donald Trump does not like what happened means that those people should go to jail says everything that you need to know about what his expectation is for Kash Patel, for Pam Body, for the Department of Justice.
And that's why they are there.
That's why Kash Patel is there because he has also promised to go after Donald Trump's political enemies.
I sat on a weaponization subcommittee for two years here, led by the Republicans.
They didn't demonstrate a single instance of the weaponization of the federal government by the Joe Biden administration or by House Democrats.
And here they are trying to elide the fact, ignore the fact that Donald Trump's entire purpose with his selection for the FBI is to do just that and to jail his political enemies.
That's Banana Republic's stuff.
And it's not just bad for the political enemies and for our political system.
It undermines our entire rule of law.
It undermines the credibility of every single prosecution that's out there.
And you see that because defendants all around the country are making these allegations that their prosecutions are political.
He's already undermined the institutions, and he will go much further if Cash Mattel is confirmed.
And I disagree with Dave.
I think the Senate Republicans will uphold their duty.
They will uphold their oath to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump.
And they will recognize that Cash Mattell is unqualified and dangerous and should not be the FBI director.
So, Congressman, quick follow-up.
I mean, you speak of political enemies of Donald Trump.
You served, of course, as lead counsel in the first impeachment trial of Trump when he was in office the last time.
Would you be considered a political enemy?
Are you fearful that you could potentially be targeted or prosecuted?
Well, I've been on lists, enemies' lists, and I guess that is a possibility.
I welcome that possibility.
I hope that they put their attention on me and not the good men and women who are career public servants in the federal government, who are just doing their jobs and who are really subject to retribution.
I can happily and ably stand up for myself, and I have a megaphone here in Congress.
I have the speech and debate clause defenses.
So, yes, if he's going to attack his enemies, please bring it on, Donald Trump.
And let's go back to the calls to Bertha in New Jersey.
Bertha, you're opposed.
Actually, my name is Ursa, like Ursa Kidd.
But I'm opposed to what the Democrats and the Republicans.
It's now it's like getting petty.
Everybody is forgetting about actually the American people, and that's what it's all about.
I don't hear anything about us, the American people, who are really basically suffering out here.
All I hear is revenge and back and forth.
And these same Democrats and Republicans are so beholden to the billionaires, the special interests, and big farmers.
They don't really, I don't see them really caring about us anymore.
I've been a Democrat all my life, and I'm so disappointed in them.
And I've always been disappointed in the Republican Party.
And Fox News, the mainstream media, all of them, they're a disappointment too, because they're getting off track.
It's all about the American people, not about what's going on.
And our education system, it begins there, and that has failed us.
And I can tell by a lot of these comments.
The education system has failed us.
It's not equal, and it never has been.
And that's all I have to say.
Happy holidays to you.
Happy holidays.
Kurt in Mount Union, Pennsylvania.
Good morning, Kurt.
Yes, good morning, Mimi, and Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
What I'd like to say is I like to reflect on the wisdom of the past generations, which is what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Let's see if all these people can withstand the same scrutiny that they put on him.
So, Kurt, I want to ask you something.
We got a text from Larry in Milford, Michigan, and he says, as a MAGA, I don't care how Trump goes after people he has grievances with with his own resources, but he should not use the Justice Department.
What do you think of that, Kurt?
Exactly what I told you, Greta, or Mimi.
I said that what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
They used it against Trump.
So let's see if they can withstand the same scrutiny.
All right.
Let's go to.
Oh, sorry.
Ruben in Philadelphia, opposed.
Go ahead, Ruben.
Yes, good morning, Leemi.
I oppose this.
Like the lady from Earth just said from New Jersey, there are better things that we need to be targeting other than revenge.
I mean, Donald Trump actually tried to get Don McGann to lie about what was going on in the Muller situation.
Manafort got locked up during the Mullah situation.
Roger Stone got locked up during the Mullah situation.
Gabriel Sterling, an election official in Georgia, warned President Trump that somebody was going to get hurt and violence is going to take place as he keeps their eye on these lies to be spread about him winning the election.
And on January the 6th, that actually happened when the police officer shot Ashley Babbitt.
And when they beat the police officer up and Brian Sicknet, he was killed on that day.
And Donald Trump is still continuing these lies.
And while it's mad at allowing this to happen, he just lied about the people in Ohio eating cats and dogs.
And America had to come out and say, please, Mr. President, stop spreading these lies.
It is Donald Trump who is the opponent of this happening in America.
He's been doing this since he came down the gold escalator, promoting violence inside of his rallies.
It is Donald Trump, and the people know this.
All right, Ruben.
And this is a text we got from Larry in New Jersey.
The incoming administration needs to concentrate on the business of carrying on America's business, not his own.
And this is Ed from North Texas.
Trump administration should focus on criminals no matter what their title or background is.
This includes suing the media for false claims and all those getting kickbacks from false claims.
Also, an investigation on how politicians like Liz Cheney got her extreme wealth, making her official salary and now worth millions.
Here is a recent interview with President-elect Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, responding to a question about what should happen to Liz Cheney.
She made these comments on Wednesday.
Here it is.
This thing from the very beginning has been a hot bunch of garbage.
The idea that they have tried to force this down the throats of the American people since January of 2021, they thought this was the ticket.
Look, they were desperate for anything to happen to make sure that Donald Trump never got back in the White House.
The moment they have been dreading, again, we are 35 days away from that moment right now.
I can't wait for it.
The country can't wait for it.
The world, quite frankly, can't wait for it.
But they said, you know what we'll do?
We will take this thing and we will blow it up out of proportion.
We'll ruin people's lives.
We'll throw people in jail regardless of whether or not they did anything.
We'll put people on no fly lists.
We will make people admit to things they didn't do because we're the government and we can threaten you and we're the Department of Justice and you should be afraid of us.
Everything that has happened with this January 6th nonsense, anyone who did anything illegal ought to be held accountable.
And I'm not a legal expert or a legal scholar, but I do know that when you break the law, that means you go to jail and you serve time.
What they have perpetrated on the American people by way of this January 6th hoax is absolutely terrible and it is a stain on our country's history.
These people ought to be ashamed of themselves.
I know they aren't.
So we'll go ahead and shame them.
We'll go ahead and make sure they never forget that history recalls every single day from now till forever what these people did and the way they personally and single-handedly tried to destroy this country.
Thank goodness God is good and he always shows us he shines the light in the dark places.
This is just the beginning, Benny.
If you think this is good, wait till Donald Trump gets in there.
Wait till Kash Patel gets in there.
Wait till Tulsi Gabber gets in there.
Wait till these people start shining a light in all the dark places that the Democrats and the establishment never wanted us to go.
Our question for this hour, for the next half hour of this segment, is: do you support President-elect Trump's targeting of his political opponents?
The phone numbers are on your screen.
If you are in support of that, it's 202-748-8000.
If you're against that targeting, it's 202-748-8001.
And we'll talk to Peter in New York.
Good morning, Peter.
Good morning.
How are you today?
Good.
I'm against it because I do not want to see Donald Trump sink to the Democratic level.
I mean, if anybody can't see that those were politically motivated, it's hilarious.
It's also racially motivated.
Look at all the prosecutors and stuff that went after him.
This is, you know, it's said that the Democrats have been doing this, and now they're trying to turn it around.
I mean, if you watch MMCC, you know how crooked the Democrats are because you can listen to their lies.
Thank you for taking my call.
Kelly in Clemens, North Carolina.
Good morning, Kelly.
Good morning.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
And I support this because it's not what people are saying.
It's not that he will just be going after them because they don't like him.
These will be over actual laws that have been broken.
He will only go after people who have broken the law.
And as the ones that they went after him, that was political.
That was exactly political if you know the law.
And no, I'm not a lawyer, but I watch one a lot that does show me what was correct and what wasn't correct.
But these people, you're going to find out it's all going to be exposed.
And you will find out that a lot of our government, a lot on both sides, on Republican and Democrat, that they have been involved with Diddy and they have been involved with Epstein.
And it's a very sad story, a very sad story.
And he's not just going to go after people he hates.
He's going after people that he likes too because they broke the law.
People he likes like who?
Well, like Republicans.
I mean, I can't give you the exact names because the list has not been exposed yet.
All right.
And here is Denise in Freedom, New York.
Good morning, Denise.
Good morning.
I'm asking that you bring up the interview with him with Leslie Stahl, where she, right before the election, said that the laptop was false.
Show people that.
I think that he has every right to go after people that fraud what they did.
The White House working with the mainstream media is the biggest trod on the American people.
And it started with the Russia collusion.
For three years, we dealt with that.
But bring up the Leslie Stahl interview.
Show how she treated the sitting president of the United States.
She should be, he should go after her.
This is an article from NBC News that says this.
Kash Patel, so he's the nominee to be the FBI director.
It says, Kash Patel once said he would come after journalists.
It now hangs over his FBI candidacy.
It says Trump's pick for FBI director has vowed to come after the media.
But he also later emphasized to NBC News that his comments apply only if people broke the law.
That's at NBC News.
It says this is his quote.
We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.
And whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out.
And Democratic Senator John Fetterman was a guest on Sundays this week on ABC, and he talked about meeting FBI director nominee Kash Patel.
Here he is.
You met with Kash Patel, I believe, right?
Yesterday, well, yes.
He's talked about going after Trump's enemies.
Yeah, and I've and we've had conversations, but we had, you know, all of these interviews were all off the record and those things.
So I'm not going to go into detail, but he absolutely is that's never going to happen.
You know, like he was, he was very, he's not going to use the FBI to go after Trump's enemy.
No, that's not it.
Or did you believe it?
I mean, he's written all like that.
That's what he claims.
And I found out, you know, his family's origin story and immigration.
And we talked about that and my wife, my family, immigration and things.
And so I learned things about him.
I never knew that he was a public defender.
So did you come across liking Kash Patel more than you thought you would?
Thinking you could support him?
It's, I mean, how much you can absorb in 30 minutes.
But I have learned things and I have heard things, and I have no regrets for having these.
I never left any of those interviews saying, well, that was a waste of time or I regret that.
And let's talk to Danny in Wildwood, Georgia.
Good morning, Danny.
Maharney, I just, a couple of things to try to get in real quick.
It's amazing to me that everybody's got a crystal ball that knows what Trump's going to do.
I'm sorry, but none of us know what he's going to do.
So let's don't jump to too many conclusions and let's see what he does.
And let's go from there.
I was a born registered Democrat ever since I could vote up to, you know, two or three cycles ago.
I started out conservative and I started voting that way.
I live in very northwest corner of Georgia.
We've all, most of us were Democrats.
Now we're Republicans.
But give him a chance.
I mean, I don't understand.
People, Hunter Biden, we know what he did.
It's not a secret.
The people of this country are not stupid.
That's the problem.
I am a, I guess, a lower middle class person, make about $40,000, $50,000 a year.
That's really no money.
But I know what's going on.
And people in my county know what's going on.
And you talk about election stuff.
You know, they had on the TV, there was never any, not one election thing wrong.
I live in a county of 16,000 people, 10,000 voters.
I know three personal people that election fraud was on.
I know one man that'd been dead five years that voted, and he had already registered to vote in the runoff.
This is facts.
Is this not somebody in a little town in Trenton, Georgia, with 10,000 voters?
And so, you know, you don't think stuff happened in the rest of the country?
Don't be naive.
Come on, we're smarter than that.
We're smarter than that.
Even a person like me with a one-year college education, they would agree.
I'm smarter than that.
And the people in these counties where I live in North Georgia, Dave Walker's two and two, but we're not stupid just because we're old country hicks, you know.
But this is ABC News that says this: Trump backs House GOP accusation, Liz Cheney tampered with January 6th committee.
She called the allegations malicious, cowardly assault on the truth.
It says that Republican Representative Barry Lautermilk, chairman of the House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight, in a new report suggests that former GOP Representative Liz Cheney should be investigated for alleged criminal witness tampering, claiming she played an integral role in shaping key witness testimony before the January 6th committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
President Donald Trump posted early Wednesday morning on his social media platform, quote, Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.
Well, Liz Cheney put out a statement.
Here's a portion of that.
She says this: Chairman Lautermilk's interim report intentionally disregards the truth and the select committee's tremendous weight of evidence and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did.
Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth.
No reputable lawyer, legislator, or judge would take this seriously.
Here's Charles in Virginia.
Hi, Charles.
What do you think?
Hey, good morning.
Thanks for taking my call.
Good morning.
Let me turn this down.
I'm just, I just, as I was sitting here waiting, I'm just, I was just, the word came to me, and that is that for all the so-called Christians in this country who say they believe in God, and I've heard a few people come in, calling this morning about how they trust in God and put and pray for and glad that Trump is in office because God ordained him, so on and so forth.
I just want to say, God does not require, does not like folks to take revenge.
And the word came to me is that vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
So for a president to take vengeful acts against people who investigated the truth on January the 6th, I just think it's appalling if all of these folks who honor and worship this incoming president, it just speaks to America really is as far as I'm concerned.
And I still go back to one question when he made the Hollywood, when Hollywood tape came out whereby he could touch anybody's vagina because he's famous, so on and so forth, and he can get away with it because he's famous.
All these women and men who love Donald Trump so much, if he could touch your daughter's, your mama's, your sister's private part, would you still vote for this man and worship him the way that you do?
God is looking.
God is listening to everything America is doing.
And what we're doing right now is no example to the world.
No one should be above the law.
But in my lifetime, I can clearly say that I can see that one man is above the law.
So, America, you get ready because you're going to get exactly what you asked for.
Thank you.
And let's go to Kendall, New York.
This is Teresa.
Teresa, what do you think?
Should Donald Trump target his political opponents?
Good morning.
I'm a little torn in this.
I do believe what the gentleman before said about vengeance is nice, but also I believe that it has got to shine the light, you know, and use he used as who he went to.
But I do also know that God is a God of justice.
And I think that me and the American people are crying out for justice because a great injustice has been done by the ones that hold a great responsibility to the American people through the media and through the medium, through, you know, the government is just, especially the Democrats, but also some Republicans, you know, whoever is guilty.
I think that they should pay because no one is above the law.
You know, so I mean, that's my opinion.
And this is Gary Alam on X, who says, Trump will repeat the last administration on political interference since this is now the political normal.
And Richard at Las Vegas texted, this isn't about revenge, it's about telling the truth.
And John in Waverly, Pennsylvania, turnabout is fair play.
As Democrats like to remind us, nobody is above the law.
Jonathan in Waynesville, Ohio.
Jonathan, you're opposed.
Yes, I'm opposed.
I mean, Liz Cheney called him out.
He's a crybaby, first of all.
And she called him out.
And the deal is, is he got called out for all of his BS and he doesn't like it.
You know, I mean, I'm going to call it how I see it.
And these people just walk around and think that he's God and all that.
Well, no, he's not.
He's 34 convictions.
He's liable for rape and so on.
The list goes on and on.
It's like, I'm sorry, I'm going to tell America, wake up.
You just voted your first dictator.
I mean, so, Jonathan, you said he's liable for rape.
He's actually liable for sexual abuse.
And that's something that got ABC a lawsuit.
George Stephanopoulos said that he was convicted of or liable for rape, and it wasn't.
What do you think?
What did you make of that situation with ABC?
Did you follow that?
Well, I followed some of it.
But it boils down to that he's liable.
Well, he's liable for that.
Fine.
Whatever he was liable in the court of law, that's what he's liable in the court of law.
He's 34 convicted felon here.
I mean, wake up to this.
I mean, American people just think that I don't know.
It's brainwashing to me.
You know, and somebody's standing here with another opinion, I'm sure.
My girlfriend here.
But it's, she called him out on it.
That's the whole point.
And 34 convictions.
Yep.
We got that point.
This is a recent interview about the Des Moines Register Iowa poll.
You remember President-elect Trump talked about that in a previous clip that I showed you.
This is pollster Ann Seltzer, and she talked about her findings versus the end results and the accusations that came out of that.
This was recorded before Donald Trump filed his lawsuit against the Des Moines register.
Here she is.
The reality is that more people supporting Donald Trump turned out.
I'm eagerly awaiting the Secretary of State's turnout reports that will happen in January to see what we can glean from that.
But there wasn't an adjustment to my data when we saw that it was going to be a shocker that I would have said, okay, let's adjust it.
It's not like I know ahead of time what the right numbers are going to be in the future.
So you kind of take the data designed to reveal to me our best shot at what the future is going to look like.
I'm mystified about what the motivation anybody thinks I had and would act on in such a public poll.
I don't understand it.
And the allegations I take very seriously.
They're saying that this was election interference, which is a crime.
So the idea that I intentionally set up to deliver this response, when I've never done that before, I've had plenty of opportunities to do it.
It's not my ethic.
But to suggest without a single shred of evidence that I was in cahoots with somebody, I was being paid by somebody, it's all just kind of hard to pay too much attention to it, except that they're accusing me of a crime.
Want to know what you think about that?
And this is Kurt in Browns Mills, New Jersey.
Kurt, you supporting this?
Yes, I am.
Good morning.
Speaking for myself, this story is seven years late.
I mean, if it really mattered, throwing bombs at this point is kind of stupid.
But the truth is, now it says that Donald Trump, now he's a better man than me, I'm thinking.
I'd like to read this.
If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.
If they're thirsty, give them water to drink.
You will heat burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.
So I think Trump said that his success will be his vengeance.
So I think he's a better man than me.
But the truth is, I'd love to see Joe Biden act actually answer questions in the court of law.
So, Kurt, I'm not clear.
What you read from the Bible would indicate not going after your political enemies.
Are you saying that you would support President-elect Trump going after Joe Biden and others?
Or are you saying that he should just be successful and that will be his revenge, so to speak?
Well, I'm telling you what he said.
I believe that no one's above the law.
And if you have nothing, if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about.
But I believe everything is on its head, and the justice system has been corrupted since they spied on Trump.
And even who knows?
It goes on and on.
But the truth is, they will never be brought to justice because they plead dementia these days.
If you watch these people that are in power, they get in front of a group of questions and they plead stupid.
So that's the new fit and get used to it.
And God will have the final say.
On the line for oppose, this is Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Eric, you're next.
Hey, good morning.
I think Most people, especially Republicans, are missing a very big point here, which is Trump wants to go after people who investigated an incident that we all witnessed.
And most of the witnesses who testified on January 6th were people from his administration.
A lot of them, people he appointed himself.
And those are some of the people that he wants to go after, too.
So this isn't about Democrats or anything Democrats are trying to do to Trump.
Trump is going after anybody that has anything negative to say about him or expose about him.
And that has been primarily people he has appointed himself.
Even when it comes to him complaining about rulings by judges, many of those judges have been judges he's appointed.
So, Eric, you talked about January 6th, and I want to ask you about this.
This is in Politico about the people that Trump has said he wants to prosecute.
And one of them is U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd.
It says, Trump has joined with his supporters, some of whom took part in the January 6th, 2021 Capitol riot, to call for the prosecution of Byrd, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashley Babbitt as she attempted to breach the entrance to the Speaker's lobby while House members were being evacuated.
And the Justice Department had ruled against any charges being filed against Byrd.
But Trump said that he's a thug and a coward and that Ashley Babbitt was murdered.
What's your reaction to that, Eric?
You look at those videos of January 6th.
If those were Democrats, what would Republicans be saying right now about who should be prosecuted and what type of actions they view would have been justified by the police?
All right.
And this is Julie in Rhode Island on the line for supporting.
Julie, I don't necessarily support going after his political opponents.
They have done a number on him.
They have gone after him from the minute he came down that escalator.
They lied about him.
They tried to put him in jail.
They tried to bankrupt him.
He even got shot.
And January 6th is not an insurrection.
Nobody got put in jail for that.
And I watched this woman, and her husband was military.
They went to her house to come for her husband, who was at the Capitol, but didn't go in the Capitol.
Eight of the military came bombing into their house.
She was standing outside holding her four-year-old son who was petrified and she was pregnant.
She had a miscarriage the next day because of the Biden administration going after this man doing nothing wrong.
And I believe that gentleman Bird who shot Ashley Babbitt, I believe he should be brought to justice because he shot her in cold blood.
Thank you.
Joan in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Good morning, Joan.
Good morning.
I don't know what's wrong with these crazy women that are supporting Trump.
The man said he could grab women's crotches.
He assaulted a woman in a department store.
He's a twice impeached president.
He's a liar.
He cited an insurrection.
What the hell is wrong with people?
This country is pathetic at this point to have these bunch of people trying to make excuses for this man that is the worst president that ever got to the White House and they voted to put his behind in there again.
Hopefully, they get what they deserve because this man is the worst thing that ever happened to the United States of America.
And that's all I have to say.
Thank you for listening.
Goodbye.
Brian in Ohio on the line for support.
Good morning.
Hey, good morning.
Hey, you know, there's a lot of divisiveness already in this country.
It sure seems to me like this entire subject, topic, the way it's being posed to the general public is pretty divisive.
I don't necessarily support the way that you're terming support.
However, justice, in fact, is part of our Constitution.
It's a big part of our country, and our founding fathers put it in to the Constitution to try and maintain a little bit of civility in this country.
You know, okay, let's look back for one example.
First example, Adam Schiff.
Okay, it's a good thing Mr. Trump decided to have that call recorded by the archives because that guy went out in front of the general public and made up the entire story.
He declared what was said on that conversation was all lies.
And so if you look at the mischief that's been going on in the background nonstop, what's your definition of support?
How about let's change that definition like the Democrats like to do.
Let's change it to justice.
You know, the fact of the matter is.
But Brian, I'm not following what you were saying about Adam Schiff and the conversation.
Tell me more about that.
There's a phone conversation between him and who came out in front of the entire world and declared that Trump had an unjust phone call.
He told the world this is what he said.
Which phone call are you talking about?
With about Ukraine?
About the one where he asked for an investigation of Hunter Biden?
Well, yeah, where he's asking about Joe Biden saying, son of a, you know what, you got to fire this guy, and there's some political nonsense going on with the taxpayer money being held hostage over bureaucratic politics in another country.
Okay, so he makes a phone call to Zelensky, and unfortunately for Adam Schiff, he recorded it properly through another chain that the intelligence committee did not have privy to.
And then Adam Schiff steps in front of the world and tells everybody what was the conversation.
All lies.
Okay, that is misconduct of the highest kind that can ever happen in this country.
If you're a representative to the United States taxpayer, you don't go in front of the world and lie about that.
And so I'm still not clear.
Brian, on you're saying that there was, so the audio was never released of that phone call with Zelensky, but the transcript was released, but I don't think it was a complete transcript.
Is that what you're talking about?
Yes, ma'am.
It was documented by a different source, the intelligent committee that Adam Schiff sits on, was part of, okay?
So they did it as a safety net to understand that these guys have no interest in furthering the United States as a whole.
They want to, in any way, maintain control in some capacity, even to the point of lying in front of the world about a conversation.
And then they attempted to impeach him.
Don't forget.
Millions of dollars.
That was twice.
And Ethel is in Shreveport, Louisiana, on the line for opposed.
Hi, Ethel.
Good morning, Amy.
I have a couple of points that I like to bring to the forefront.
Number one, Donald Trump has an issue with anyone at any time.
First of all, it was Dr. Fauci.
He was considered an outcast because of the COVID.
Then he chose to, I'm sorry, back up.
First, it was Obama.
Obama didn't have birthright, have a birth certificate.
He badgered Obama and his family about his birth certificate.
Then Dr. Fauci.
Then he has used the news media as a way to keep his name in the public eye and on everyone's mind.
The news media have made an obsession with Donald Trump.
This is his way of not being held accountable for his misbehavior like a child.
I'm going to blame everyone but myself.
He's not talking about how he's going to make the American people's lifestyle better.
He's only talking about himself.
That was his campaign slogan.
He was going to make America great again, but yet now he's talking about his political enemies.
He's getting the news media to focus on other politicians, past and present, as opposed to talking about the American people.
Don't buy into the unnecessary falsehoods of Donald Trump coming into 2025.
And I would hope that you all would give more constructive subtitles to work or talk about, discuss about.
Don't buy into Donald Trump's misbehavior, not being held accountable for his behavior and cause other people to have gone to prison, to have lost their lives, all because of he wanting to be number one.
Thank you.
All right, Ethel.
And Randy in Millington, Michigan, by text, I don't agree with targeting political opponents.
I hope all these people that think it's all right to start targeting political opponents feel the same way when the political party in charge changes to a different political party.
And Rob in Fairfax, Virginia, amen to the caller, Anna from North Carolina.
It is not targeting political opponents.
It is about equal justice under the law.
Caller from Maryland, Trump derangement syndrome on full display.
And that's the time we've got, but we've got a lot more time later in the program for taking your calls.
Coming up next, we continue with this week's Holiday Authors Series on Washington Journal: Eight Days of Conversations with America's Top Writers from Across the Political Spectrum on a Variety of Public Policy and Political Topics.
We'll talk today with Batia Unger Sargon, an opinion editor at Newsweek, to discuss her book called Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women.
Plus, your phone calls.
We'll be right back.
During Christmas week, each night at 9 p.m. Eastern, C-SPAN will feature interviews with departing members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents from both chambers.
They'll discuss their careers, key legislative achievements, the state of Congress, and American politics, and their farewell speeches.