On this week’s episode of the Insider podcast, Preet Bharara and Joyce Vance discuss:
– President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand the National Guard’s role in D.C. law enforcement;
– Trump’s threats to deploy troops to other major cities, including Chicago, New York, and Baltimore; and
– Two separate DC cases of alleged law enforcement assault in which federal prosecutors failed to secure indictments before a grand jury.
A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER
Jake Kaplan is the Supervising Producer at Stay Tuned with Preet.
What does it mean for the rule of law when a president claims he has “the right to do anything I want to do” in the name of stopping crime?
In a new episode of the Insider podcast, Preet Bharara and Joyce Vance discuss President Trump’s latest efforts to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., his threats to deploy the National Guard to cities like Chicago and New York, and whether any other branches of the federal government will impose meaningful checks on executive overreach.
As Preet and Joyce explain, Trump’s legal authority in D.C. differs sharply from what he could attempt in states like Illinois or New York. In the states, his authority would be far more constrained by the powers reserved to governors.
Joyce: “There is, legally, a big difference between activating the guard in D.C., where Trump is always the commander, and trying to force the governor of another state to activate their guard… But I caveat all of that by saying Trump is not someone who respects the bounds of law.”
Preet and Joyce also discuss why Trump’s rhetoric is so dangerous, pointing to his claim that alleged crime reduction justifies sweeping executive authority.
Preet: “I think it’s that his worldview is—not withstanding the Constitution, not withstanding the separation of powers, not withstanding checks and balances, not withstanding all of those things—a result-oriented system that can be rewarded democratically…That to me is the most dangerous expression of what he’s about…It’s the rationale for it: If he stops crime, he can be whatever he wants.”
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Stay Informed,
Jake
