CNN released a report late last night saying that a plumber, a maid, a chauffeur, and a woodworker are among the staffers of Mar-a-Lago, including some current staffers, as well as contract workers who federal prosecutors are gonna be calling to testify against Donald Trump and his two co-defendants. [00:00:17] Other likely witnesses include Trump's Secret Service agents, former intelligence officials, as well as people who were in the room during that infamous call where he produced the bomb Iran plans. Currently, the trial is set to begin in Florida in May, that is, before the election. [00:00:33] There had been the possibility that Aileen Cannon was going to shift that. But apparently, the update is that as of this morning, she has announced that, at least as of right now, that she is not going to do that, which I actually find that to be a more interesting development perhaps than the fact that we have a better idea of the witnesses. [00:00:50] You can dive into that report if you want a little bit of information about what those witnesses have previously told prosecutors that they've seen. There's a lot of reports of them seeing documents, although many of them don't seem to know exactly what the documents were. It doesn't seem like they were rooting around in the boxes. They just saw that. [00:01:06] Yeah, there's official government looking documents or just strewn around haphazardly. But the idea that Aileen Cannon, a judge who has previously shown an incredible willingness or desire to help out Donald Trump in whatever way she can, if she's not gonna manipulate the timing of this, [00:01:22] that's more consequential than maybe any other decision that she's made. And obviously, there's time for her to reverse that, Bret, but we were previously talking on the show about the timing of these things. We would probably want to get these trials done before the election, so at least they'll happen at all, but what do you think? [00:01:40] >> Speaker 2: Well, a lot of the public sentiment around political figures has to do with what's in the news cycle at the time, not whether those elements of the news cycle have been resolved. If I'm Donald Trump and I feel like I'm innocent, I want those trials to be wrapped up before we go to vote. [00:01:58] But if they're just starting, they're in the ether, they're out there and people are thinking about it and they're like. And I think one of the reasons that Donald Trump lost is obviously, people were stuffing ballot boxes obviously, voter fraud, even though no one can prove that at all. [00:02:14] It's a joke, but one of the reasons he lost is people are like just Donald Trump's too much. I can't handle it. There's this horrible feeling of how it is out there. At the time, it was COVID, people are just like I can't, it's too stressful plus Trump is just too much of a headache. I can't handle all this anymore. [00:02:31] Right now, Biden gets that like. It just feels horrible out there. Negativity on his polling numbers, but Trump is still the one where people are like, I can't, I can't handle the guy. And so the question will be, will folks wanna jump off of the boat? [00:02:49] That's just kind of making them feel a little seasick and onto the one that has several holes in it and is going right for the rapids. No one's gonna wanna do that in the calculation of the Democrats. But Aileen Cannon is a Trump appointed judge, and many Trump appointed judges [00:03:04] have done things that don't go so well for Donald Trump. And so we'll see how it pans. >> Speaker 1: This is getting into raw speculation, but there had been a lot of reports coming out over the past couple of weeks like increasing concern over Aileen Cannon, whether she should remain in charge of this. [00:03:22] Is it possible that this is a sort of strategic thing of rejecting, at least for now, the possibility of changing the timeline to reassure critics that she can be considered a responsible judge in this case? I don't know, I don't know. But anyway, okay, we wanna get to Donald Trump's response to this, [00:03:39] because he did not like this report coming out. Although, again, most of these witnesses we're gonna be testifying, we already know that they have talked to federal prosecutors. So I don't know why you'd be so shocked by this. It's a confirmation that they'll be coming back and a confirmation that some of them might not know that much. [00:03:57] But he put out this long truth social post, I'm not gonna read this entire thing. There's little tidbits that I find interesting. I mean, he talks about how the boxes were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act. [00:04:13] He really thinks that if he just keeps claiming that something that has never been true, then I guess he doesn't have to have a trial. And they weren't openly and plainly brought, you avoided for a year and a half, turning them back over. And after you turned some of them over, you hid others. [00:04:29] There's nothing open or plain about that except perhaps the law breaking. But anyways, he says he even suppliednupon request, security tapes to these election interfering thugs. He was required to turn over the tapes. This is not charity, buddy. [00:04:46] This is not like you being a mens or something. You had to turn over those tapes. >> And he wants credit for not breaking more laws than he already had. >> More, 100%, and then he goes into, of course, forget all that stuff. Biden had documents on his garage floor by his cherished Corvette. [00:05:06] I love that he at least respects the connection, the relationship between a man and his cherished sports car. Or Chinatown, where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out. I don't know what that update is supposed to be a reference to, probably nothing. And then blah, blah, blah, he's very angry about all this. [00:05:23] So look, it's a lot of bluster. It's a lot of defenses that are not defenses that we've heard before. But coming out of this, I mean, we can't ignore the fact that there's a lot of people that can attest to the documents being there. I don't know why that matters so much, because we know that the documents [00:05:39] were there, but there's a lot of potential what he might see as people who should have been loyal to him, who are willing now to work with prosecutors. So it's not great for him. Any other thoughts, Bret? >> Speaker 2: I just love it. A plumber, a maid, a woodworker, a chauffeur, a priest, [00:05:55] a rabbi, walk into a mar, [LAUGH] and it's just a complete setup for a joke, because America is such a joke right now. All of our leaders look are like animatronic figures at Disneyland that are breaking down in the hall of Presidents, which is a crappy ride. [00:06:12] I hate it, it's so sad. >> Speaker 1: Was there a time where our politics, or even just our presidential elections weren't stupid? Utterly, ridiculously stupid? >> Speaker 2: I mean, they weren't, no. [00:06:27] >> Speaker 1: Obama versus Romney. >> Speaker 2: They have been not stupid before. They're expressly the stupidest they've ever been. There have been stupid things along the way, like a guy going like, I'm gonna cancel these important groups, these important federal agencies like, pass. [00:06:44] I don't remember them, oops. >> Speaker 2: [LAUGH] >> And there have been like silly things that have gotten you in trouble like Michael Dukakis in a weird outfit in a tank. And they've been mean, they've been wildly tricky, and horrible, and mean. [00:07:02] Stupid things have sunk presidential candidates like Nixon not shaving before a debate and looking sweaty, but they've never been this expressly stupid. I don't remember anything quite on the level of, yeah, I took a bunch [00:07:18] of boxes and put them by my toilet, and in those boxes are laser secrets. >> Speaker 1: [LAUGH] >> Horrible. >> Just relentlessly dumb. [MUSIC]