Susan Glasser

Yes. But it's not only the scale and scope of the corruption that take it into a different realm, but the fact that they've systematically gone after weakening the rule of law that would go along with constraining our leaders from accepting this kind of money, from You know, it used to be a big deal to do something that had the appearance of potential impropriety or the appearance of confraction.

I mean, this is what a lot of Washington, quote unquote, accountability reporting was like when I got here as a kid right out of college in the 1990s, okay? You know, there was a whole Bill Clinton fundraising scandal, no controlling legal authority, and Yeah, forget about that, right? Okay, now we've just exploded the campaign finance laws.

I mean, this is what a lot of Washington, quote unquote, accountability reporting was like when I got here as a kid right out of college in the 1990s, okay? You know, there was a whole Bill Clinton fundraising scandal, no controlling legal authority, and Yeah, forget about that, right? Okay, now we've just exploded the campaign finance laws.

We have, and I'm sure we'll talk about it, crypto coin for the Trump family that's literally going into the pocket of the president of the United States. So for me, this issue of, I'm glad we started with this question of when is it corruption or not? Because

We have, and I'm sure we'll talk about it, crypto coin for the Trump family that's literally going into the pocket of the president of the United States. So for me, this issue of, I'm glad we started with this question of when is it corruption or not? Because

If we stick to that legal definition, Eric, unfortunately, in a world where Donald Trump has appointed his former personal lawyer to be the Attorney General of the United States, who literally was a registered foreign lobbyist for the government of Qatar, and has, according to you and your colleagues at the New York Times, personally signed off on a legal guidance allowing Donald Trump to accept a $400 million Boeing jet to be the new Air Force One from Qatar...

If we stick to that legal definition, Eric, unfortunately, in a world where Donald Trump has appointed his former personal lawyer to be the Attorney General of the United States, who literally was a registered foreign lobbyist for the government of Qatar, and has, according to you and your colleagues at the New York Times, personally signed off on a legal guidance allowing Donald Trump to accept a $400 million Boeing jet to be the new Air Force One from Qatar...

Oh, no. I mean, this is the sort of the final death rattle of the post-Nixon era, post-Watergate reforms that were designed to protect the country in many ways and protect our political system from the kind of abuses that Richard Nixon envisioned. Because it wasn't just, by the way, his specific cover-up of Watergate.

Oh, no. I mean, this is the sort of the final death rattle of the post-Nixon era, post-Watergate reforms that were designed to protect the country in many ways and protect our political system from the kind of abuses that Richard Nixon envisioned. Because it wasn't just, by the way, his specific cover-up of Watergate.

There were a whole host of abuses of power that Richard Nixon- That's why Agnew went down, right?

There were a whole host of abuses of power that Richard Nixon- That's why Agnew went down, right?

Well, that's right. The vice president. That was actually for corruption of a very old-fashioned, you know, Menendez-like crime. He was literally getting bags of cash predating his time in the federal government as vice president.

Well, that's right. The vice president. That was actually for corruption of a very old-fashioned, you know, Menendez-like crime. He was literally getting bags of cash predating his time in the federal government as vice president.

That's right. Richard Nixon was seeking to weaponize the IRS against his political opponents. I mean, there was a whole array of abuses of power that will be very familiar to anybody who spent any time reading Eric's terrific coverage in the New York Times about the Trump family and its essential use of the inner – basically the –

That's right. Richard Nixon was seeking to weaponize the IRS against his political opponents. I mean, there was a whole array of abuses of power that will be very familiar to anybody who spent any time reading Eric's terrific coverage in the New York Times about the Trump family and its essential use of the inner – basically the –

unclear barriers between their personal financial interests, their personal political interests, and use of official government agencies and actions to benefit themselves in a whole host of ways, both personally, financially, and politically. That's what Donald Trump's 2019 impeachment was over, was essentially seeking to take hundreds of millions of dollars in

unclear barriers between their personal financial interests, their personal political interests, and use of official government agencies and actions to benefit themselves in a whole host of ways, both personally, financially, and politically. That's what Donald Trump's 2019 impeachment was over, was essentially seeking to take hundreds of millions of dollars in

military and security assistance that the United States Congress had authorized Ukraine and to say, I'm not going to give that to you unless you undertake this personal political errand for me of investigating my political opponents. So this is Donald Trump's playbook, his MO, and the scale and scope of it is, frankly, Richard Nixon's fever dream.

military and security assistance that the United States Congress had authorized Ukraine and to say, I'm not going to give that to you unless you undertake this personal political errand for me of investigating my political opponents. So this is Donald Trump's playbook, his MO, and the scale and scope of it is, frankly, Richard Nixon's fever dream.

I mean, the level of not only the dollar signs, but across such a wide array of fronts. And The fact that Trump sort of does it almost in front of us, flaunting us, has served in a bizarre way to insulate him. But you're right, John, I think to underscore that Trump is the beneficiary of this erosion over time phenomenon. of these laws and institutions.