BREAKING: Grand Jury declines to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James

 

MS NOW

9.39M subscribers

Dec 4, 2025 #letitiajames #trump #politics

Carol Leonnig, MS NOW Senior Investigative Reporter and Andrew Weissmann, former top prosecutor for the Justice Department joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the breaking news that a Norfolk grand jury has declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, a defeat for Donald Trump’s Justice Department for what appeared to be a vindictive prosecution of one of Donald Trump’s chief political enemies.  » Subscribe to MS NOW:    / @msnow   MS NOW is the go-to destination for domestic and international breaking news, and best-in-class opinion journalism. For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of our day click here: https://www.ms.now/ #letitiajames #trump #politics

My conversation with Rep. Nicolle Wallace: Trump’s weakness, the media’s role, and how Democrats can fight back

 

September 7, 2025

Recently, I sat down with an ally in the fight for democracy, Nicolle Wallace, for a conversation. Nicolle and I chat a lot on her show, but there’s always more to discuss. We spoke about her incredibly interesting background, the devolution of the Republican Party, and offered a behind the scenes look at her primetime show. We hope you enjoy this extended version of our weekly conversation.   This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Marc: Nicolle Wallace, welcome to Defending Democracy.   Nicolle: It's such an honor. Thank you for having me.   Marc: It's amazing to be on this side, where I get to ask you questions for a change.   Nicolle: I'm nervous since I put all the tough questions to you every day.   Marc: I love your show. Everyone who follows this podcast knows I consider it my favorite show to be on and to watch. I've noticed your style is very conversational. How and why did you develop that?   Nicolle: I'm laughing because I usually have about 40 questions. Someday you'll hear my executive producer, who's a genius, letting me go as long as he can before reminding me that we have to pay our bills and get to commercials.   Maybe this is a product of aging on TV, but I find there's more I don't understand, more I need explained, and more I need clarified. Especially after last November, I feel the need to question everything: myself, my assumptions, and what I'm hearing in real time. I have to fight the urge to say...

Want to read the rest of my conversation with Nicolle Wallace?Upgrade to read about: Her transition from Republican communications director to MSNBC host Why Democrats need to prioritize winning How Trump's second term is more dangerous than his first Become a member to read the full interview and support Democracy Docket’s mission.

ACCESS THE FULL WRITTEN INTERVIEW

 

Friday, September 5

THIS WEEK Missouri GOPers join the attack on fair maps North Carolina and DOJ team up to disenfranchise voters  Court blocks DOJ request in South Carolina Supreme Court asked to decide if citizens can still enforce Section 2 of the VRA

MISSOURI     Missouri GOPers join the attack on fair maps

The Missouri legislature convened this week to redraw the state’s congressional map to benefit the GOP, at President Donald Trump’s prodding. Texas lawmakers last month passed a congressional map designed to add five GOP seats. California was the first state to fight back, greenlighting a map that could counter Texas with five new Democratic seats if approved by voters in November.    Now, Missouri has entered the fray. Its eight seats in Congress are currently held by six Republicans and two Democrats. Under the new map unveiled by Gov. Mike Kehoe (R), the GOP could pick up one additional seat, at the expense of Black voters in Kansas City. For good measure, Kehoe also wants lawmakers to pass a separate measure attacking direct democracy — it would make it more difficult for Missourians to pass laws through the state’s ballot measure process.   Missouri’s legislature only needs a majority of members to be present to do business, so Democrats can’t hold up the gerrymander by leaving, as their allies in Texas did.  But opponents of the gerrymander still have some tools to work with. The NAACP filed a lawsuit Wednesday arguing that Kehoe lacks the authority to call a special session just to help Trump rig the 2026 election and to make it harder to use the ballot measure process. Read more about the Missouri lawsuit here.

Your contribution directly supports the reporters digging deep into stories you won't see anywhere else. Become a member for $10/month and invest in informed democracy coverage.

SUPPORT OUR NEWSROOM

NORTH CAROLINA   North Carolina's GOP-controlled elections board works with DOJ to disenfranchise voters

North Carolina’s election board, now in GOP hands, has teamed up with Trump’s DOJ on a proposed settlement to a lawsuit challenging the state’s voter registration practices. If approved by a judge, the deal would put around 98,000 registered voters at risk of disenfranchisement in state and local elections unless they provide more identification. Read more about the North Carolina plan here.

SOUTH CAROLINA South Carolina blocked from giving voter data to DOJ

A South Carolina judge this week temporarily blocked the state from giving the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) its entire voter database, after a lawsuit filed by a voter 

 

The South Carolina lawsuit came after the DOJ demanded the state turn over its entire statewide voter registration list, including every voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number and Social Security number. A judge issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the South Carolina Election Commission from releasing the voter data until at least a Sept. 10 hearing. 

 

DOJ’s demand to South Carolina is part of a broader effort to gather voter data from states across the country, in order to pressure states to more aggressively purge the rolls.

NORTH DAKOTA  U.S. Supreme Court asked to decide if citizens can still enforce Section 2 of the VRA

It’s a massively consequential question that’s been rising to the surface in the voting world: Can private citizens and organizations still sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), or does only the government have the right to bring those cases? 

 

The answer will have serious implications for the fate of the most successful civil rights law in history.  

 

Native American voters and tribes filed a petition Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is enforceable by private plaintiffs. They’re urging the court to overturn a series of Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rulings that determined citizens no longer have the right to bring lawsuits against racially discriminatory voting laws.

 

To understand why this matters so much, consider the dramatic transformation at DOJ under Trump, in which the department has flipped its positions in voting lawsuits and switched its objective from protecting voters to searching for voter fraud. If we were forced to rely on today’s DOJ to bring racial discrimination voting cases, then that path to preserving their rights would be all but dead. 

If the Supreme Court upholds the Eighth Circuit’s ruling nationwide, it would mark the most significant rollback of voting rights since Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. Read more about the petition here.

OPINION

Election officials must guard their systems – including from federal overreach

As we’re seeing in South Carolina, the courts have a role in protecting election systems from federal overreach. 

 

As the 2026 midterm election gets closer, election officials will have to stand their ground to prevent unauthorized access to databases, equipment and other systems. That’s true even if the request is coming from the White House, writes Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan organization that aims to promote the responsible use of technology in elections.

“Our democracy is only as strong as the people willing to defend it. State and local officials are on the frontlines of this work, and they must stay firm in the tough battles ahead — for the systems they manage and the voters they serve,” Smith says. Read more here.

NEW EPISODE  Nicolle Wallace calls Trump a "weak" man

The Republican Party has been co-opted by the far-right to enact their radical agenda. Nicolle Wallace joins Marc to discuss the devolution of the GOP, Trump’s weaknesses, and the media‘s role in preventing a fascist takeover. Watch it on YouTube here.

What We’re Doing

Unlike in Texas – where state lawmakers can push GOP redistricting into law – it will be up to California voters to decide whether the state uses a new congressional map to counter the Texas gerrymander. With five congressional seats possibly at stake, the California special election in November is going to get heated – and probably expensive. That’s why Marc signed up to speak at a YES on Prop 50 fundraiser Sept. 10, to support the effort to counter the GOP gerrymander. We hope you’ll join him.