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  • President Trump is a threat to democracy,

  • but as Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan

  • have made clear this week, he's not alone.

  • For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."

  • [ Cheers and applause ]

  • We know Trump thinks he's above the law.

  • That much is clear in the Russia investigation.

  • Trump keeps interfering in that investigation

  • by dangling the possibility of pardons for his aides

  • or praising associates who refuse to cooperate

  • like his ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort

  • or his former adviser Roger Stone.

  • -"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort

  • and his wonderful family.

  • Justice took a 12-year-old tax case

  • and, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him.

  • And unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break

  • and make up stories in order to get a deal.

  • Such respect for a brave man."

  • -"I will never testify against Trump."

  • This statement was recently made by Roger Stone,

  • essentially stating that he will not be forced

  • by a rogue and out-of-control prosecutor

  • to make up lies and stories about President Trump.

  • "Nice to know that some people still have guts!"

  • -Well, he is right about Stone's guts.

  • This is a real photo

  • of his actual outfit from the inauguration.

  • It takes real guts to go out in public

  • dressed like a coke dealer from a Charles Dickens novel.

  • I mean, look at him.

  • He looks like he's about to carjack Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

  • And for months, Trump has been openly

  • floating the possibility of pardoning Manafort,

  • even as Special Counsel Robert Mueller

  • tries to get Manafort to cooperate in the investigation.

  • Trump even praised Manafort publicly

  • in an interview on Fox News and complained that Mueller

  • was trying to get him and other Trump associates to flip.

  • -This whole thing about flipping, they call it --

  • I know all about flipping.

  • For 30, 40 years, I've been watching flippers.

  • They flip on whoever the next-highest one is.

  • It's called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal.

  • -You know...

  • Trump may say he's against flipping,

  • but if he was ever arrested,

  • he would flip more than a dad working the grill at a cookout.

  • Here is our scientific computer simulation

  • of how Donald Trump would react if he was indicted.

  • "It was Don Jr., it was Eric, it was Ivanka,

  • it was Melania, it was Tiffany!

  • Take Tiffany! You don't want me! You want Tiffany!"

  • [ Cheers and applause ]

  • And Trump did it again last week

  • in an interview with the "New York Post"

  • where he confirmed again

  • that he's considering pardoning Manafort.

  • -During an Oval Office interview,

  • President Trump told the "New York Post"

  • he has not ruled out a pardon

  • for former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

  • "It was never discussed, but I wouldn't take it off the table.

  • Why would I take it off the table?" The President said.

  • -Here's my question.

  • Why are you doing interviews with the "New York Post"?

  • Trump so desperately wishes he was the mayor of New York

  • and not the president.

  • Then all he'd have to do is talk to the "Post,"

  • show up to ribbon cuttings,

  • and have sandwiches named after him at delis.

  • "Make sure you order the Donald Trump.

  • It's a turkey sandwich,

  • but the turkey is ham because I'm a liar."

  • [ Laughter ]

  • [ Applause ]

  • Trump was already facing

  • possible obstruction of justice charges before,

  • but his comments praising Manafort and Stone

  • and dangling the possibility of a pardon raised a new question.

  • Is he also guilty of witness tampering?

  • That's the opinion of at least one

  • prominent Republican lawyer, George Conway --

  • the husband of Kellyanne Conway --

  • who's been an outspoken critic of Trump.

  • George Conway retweeted Trump's tweet about Roger Stone

  • and added this --

  • "File under '18 USC subsections 1503, 1512.'"

  • Which are the statutes of witness tampering

  • and obstruction of justice.

  • The best part of that move

  • is that by tweeting out the actual laws,

  • he made sure Trump will have no idea what he's talking about.

  • "18 USC 503. What language is this?

  • You know what? I'm just gonna quick 'translate tweet.'"

  • [ Mouse clicks ]

  • [ Laughter ]

  • [ Applause ]

  • So...

  • Trump has been dangling the prospect of a pardon

  • and hoping Manafort and Stone

  • will refuse to cooperate with Mueller.

  • If you're Mueller, the question is, how do you respond to that?

  • And we found out on Tuesday when he filed a sentencing memo

  • for ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn

  • and recommended that Flynn get no jail time

  • because he's cooperated with multiple investigations.

  • And yet, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani

  • tried to argue that that was actually good news for Trump,

  • although I really can't follow his logic or his syntax.

  • Here's a text message that Rudy Giuliani,

  • the President's lawyer, sent to a political reporter

  • after the Flynn news broke.

  • "Wow. Big crime for a special whatever.

  • Maybe a group of angry, bitter Hillary supporters

  • who are justifying themselves by the goal justifies the means.

  • Over-the-top unethical behavior."

  • What?!

  • Does Giuliani's iPhone have auto-incorrect?

  • I have no idea what that means.

  • It's like when your grandpa uses the voice-to-text feature

  • while he's driving.

  • "Wow. Big crime for special whatever.

  • Watch where you're going, you idiot.

  • Oh, that was my exit."

  • [ Laughter ]

  • Of course, Rudy isn't just bad with phones.

  • He's also terrible at Twitter.

  • Last week, he tweeted, "Mueller filed an indictment

  • just as the President left for G-20.In July

  • he indicted the Russians, who will never come here,

  • just before he left for Helsinki."

  • But because Giuliani forgot to put a space

  • between the period and "in," he accidentally created a link.

  • So someone bought that link for $5,

  • and now when you click on it, you get this message.

  • [ Laughter ]

  • [ Cheers and applause ]

  • Ya burnt. So basically, ya burnt.

  • In reality, we burnt because the same grandpa vampire

  • who wrote that tweet was named cyber security adviser

  • by Trump in 2017, which is like putting

  • the Hamburglar in charge of security

  • at the ground-beef factory.

  • So the story that's unfolding here is simple.

  • Trump broke election laws, lied about it,

  • and then tried to obstruct the investigation with those lies.

  • He's a threat to democracy and the rule of law.

  • But he's not alone, as we've seen this week

  • in states like Wisconsin and Michigan.

  • After the GOP lost elections in those states,

  • Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan responded

  • with pushes to limit the power

  • of Democrats who won those offices.

  • The GOP's power grab in Wisconsin is so shameless

  • that hundreds of protesters have streamed into the capitol

  • to vent their anger, and they just happened to be there

  • on the same day that the outgoing

  • Republican governor, Scott Walker,

  • was hosting the annual tree-lighting ceremony,

  • which produced this very odd scene.

  • -Protesters swarm the capitol for the second day straight.

  • -The governor of the state of Wisconsin, Scott Walker.

  • [ Mixed applause and boos ]

  • -Merry Christmas.

  • -Demonstrators booed Governor Walker

  • at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

  • -It's so weird to watch someone say "Merry Christmas"

  • to a bunch of people booing him.

  • He's like a dad who got his kids a graphing calculator

  • when what they really wanted was an Xbox.

  • "Hey, kids, let's do some math.

  • You want to show me what you're working on?"

  • [ Laughter ]

  • Republicans are trying to get away with this as we speak,

  • but protesters have courageously challenged them

  • in public hearings.

  • Here's one Wisconsin resident

  • who showed up to a public hearing

  • and stood up to Republicans while also trying

  • to maintain her Wisconsin politeness.

  • -Greetings. My name is Jan...

  • And I'm speaking mainly to the Republicans here

  • because I believe there is something you don't understand,

  • and that is that you lost.

  • You lost! You lost!

  • The problem is you can't let go of power.

  • And you're stealing!

  • I've looked at this panel for six hours.

  • You couldn't look at us.

  • You don't trust us. You think you're better.

  • You think you're more intelligent.

  • Well, you're not. You're not letting the voters choose.

  • Look at me!

  • -Oh, you done it now! Jan is angry!

  • [ Laughter ]

  • In Wisconsin...

  • [ Cheers and applause ]

  • And that's a big deal because in Wisconsin

  • the highest threat level is Angry Jan!

  • [ Laughter ]

  • Jan even put on her yellin' turtleneck.

  • Republicans in Michigan are also trying

  • to preemptively take power away

  • from the incoming governor

  • and the incoming attorney general, Dana Nessel,

  • and if you're wondering if Nessel is the kind of attorney

  • who's going to sit quietly for that sort of thing,

  • allow me to direct you to this very real campaign ad

  • she aired last year.

  • -If the last few weeks has taught us anything,

  • it's that we need more women in positions of power, not less.

  • So when you're choosing

  • Michigan's next attorney general,

  • ask yourself this.

  • Who can you trust most

  • not to show you their penis in a professional setting?

  • Is it the candidate who doesn't have a penis?

  • I'd say so.

  • [ Cheers and applause ]

  • And she was right, but unfortunately,

  • even if Republicans don't take out their penises,

  • they can still act like a bunch of dicks.

  • You might be thinking to yourself,

  • hey, Republicans won the state legislature fair and square,

  • so they get to pass the laws if they want.

  • but Republicans actually won the state legislature in Wisconsin

  • despite getting fewer votes

  • because gerrymandering in Wisconsin is insane.

  • -Wisconsin Democrats won a majority of votes

  • for the state assembly, state legislature.

  • They won by a margin of 8 points.

  • That's where Wisconsin Democrats hit a snag.

  • Because of the way Republicans in Wisconsin

  • have gerrymandered the districts in the state,

  • even though the Democrats got more votes in the assembly --

  • they got a ton more.

  • They won by 8 points in terms of votes for assembly seats,

  • but still, Republicans won most of the seats.

  • -Republicans won 45% of the vote and 64% of the seats.

  • And look, I'm not saying Dana Nessel

  • is right about Republicans and penises,

  • but some of those districts look very strange.

  • [ Laughter ]

  • Trump might be the most prominent example

  • of the GOP's lawlessness, but he's not alone.

  • We have a president who thinks he's above the law

  • and Republicans who think they're above elections.

  • A democracy can't function if you change the rules

  • after the game just because --

  • -You lost! You lost! You lost!

  • -You're a hero, Jan! This has been "A Closer Look."

President Trump is a threat to democracy,

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