The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki makes the case that Donald Trump's failed "state fair" and his other calamitous projects at the seat of American government is an encapsulation of his entire presidency, from overblown vanity projects to sketchy budgets to utter incompetence to weaponizing his Justice Department to help feed his cover story.

Jonathan Swan, reporter for the New York Times and co-author of "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's declaration that he intends to pardon everyone in his circle, and how that knowledge emboldens his staff to act without fear of any consequence.

Andrew Weissmann, former FBI general counsel, talks with Jen Psaki about former special counsel Jack Smith's extended interview on MS NOW earlier today.

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Jen Psaki takes a closer look at the dubious timing and thin excuses for the billions of dollars financial disclosure forms show Donald Trump made when he returned to the White House.

After financial disclosure forms show Donald Trump taking in billions of dollars while president, Rep. Robert Garcia talks with Jen Psaki about the accountability Democrats intend to bring to the Trump family and his administration if they take back the House in November.

Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, talks with Jen Psaki about why Donald Trump's is the most corrupt administration in American history.

Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper talks with Jen Psaki about his campaign for Senate and the issues voters are telling him matter most.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weisner discusses his campaign for governor and fighting Donald Trump in court.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with Jen Psaki about the significance of primary victories by Democratic Socialist congressional candidates in New York City and why sitting Democrats would be smart to meet these new potential members as colleagues and not buy into the fear-mongering frenzy the right-wing is stirring up.

JD Vance tried to downplay the significance of the Watergate scandal by declaring that it would be merely a 12-hour scandal today. What he didn't say but what everyone heard is that the reason Watergate would be a smaller story today is that Donald Trump produces scandals bigger than that at a rate faster than the news media can report. Jen Psaki gets reaction from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

The same vanity that is making a priority of Donald Trump's pet projects maybe also be their undoing, at least in the case of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool project. New reporting from the New York Times suggests that part of the reason for the out-of-control algae bloom in the pool is that devices meant to treat the water were removed at the same time that Donald Trump wanted to make a pretty spectacle of his UFC birthday celebration of himself. David Fahrenthold, investigative reporter for the New York Times, talks with Jen Psaki about his new reporting and the emerging pattern among projects Trump pushes with no-bid contracts. "The things Trump wants done the most are often the things that are done the least well."

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After years of political party power players like Senator Mitch McConnell trying to take control of national party purse strings to which candidates to help and how to shape the party, all it took was one ruling by the Supreme Court to change the way campaign politics is funded. Jen Psaki talks with Jim Messina, former campaign manager for President Barack Obama about how the Supreme Court's ruling changes the game in terms of how political donations are spent.

Donald Trump has had a long-time fixation on the political power of demagoguing around restricting citizenship and who can be called a citizen of the United States. And despite the plain language of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, Trump is not alone on the radical right in wanting to expunge birthright citizenship as an American right. Rep. Jamie Raskin and general counsel for the NAACP, Kristen Clarke, talk with Jen Psaki about creeping right-wing tide against birthright citizenship and the significance that today's Supreme Court ruling was too close for comfort.

Rep. Jason Crow talks with Jen about the eyebrow-raising results coming out of tonight's Colorado primaries. 

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Michael Steele shares a jaw-dropping exchange between Senator Gary Peters and Postmaster General David Steiner in which Steiner admits that a new proposed Trump administration rule would withhold mail ballots from states that do not comply with Trump's voter database demands. Senate Peters joins to discuss.

Mychael Schnell, MS Now congressional reporter, and Scott MacFarlane, chief Washington correspondent for MeidasTouch, discuss Donald Trump making enemies in his own party.

Kristen Clarke, former assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice, talks with Michael Steele about how the lop-sided Supreme Court is hollowing out civil rights under the Constitution and what reforms need to be made when power changes hands in Washington.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford joins to discuss his race for governor and the issues voters are telling him need to be addressed.

And Adm. John Kirby discusses Donald Trump's Iran mess and how Iran is playing the upper hand in its victory over Trump.

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