MSNBC or DNC TV? You couldn’t tell the difference on Wednesday as the vitriol thrown against Attorney General William Barr continued. Earlier in the day, MSNBC repeatedly interrupted Republicans during the hearings to fact check them. Nicolle Wallace called Barr a “liar.” Wallace and Brian Williams followed this up by assailing the scary radical” Barr, comparing him to a cheating boyfriend.
Wallace rallied Democrats to impeach: “The nitty gritty reality of this is whether the Democrats will say, 'Politics be dammed. Donald Trump tried to commit crimes.'” She ranted, “Where this goes after today is that we know what we have got. It's sort of like dating gone awry and you catch someone cheating or whatnot. At least you know what you're working with.”
Wallace warned, “We know that in William Barr, we have a staunch Trump ally and who is smarter than Donald Trump. That makes him scarier on both those measures.” Using a term reserved for terrorists, Williams berated, “If your theory on Barr is correct, where did he become radicalized?”
Wallace concluded, “...We were lulled into some complacency about Barr because of the perception that he was an institutionalist. I’m not sure that’s really true.”
For more on Wallace interrupting “liar” Barr and saying “shit” on air, go here. For more on Williams interrupting Barr hearing to call Lindsey Graham a liar, go here.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Reports
5/1/19BRIAN WILLIAMS: Nicole, can you believe that at a certain level the conversation we're having is the danger inflicted upon these professionals by administration in power.
NICOLLE WALLACE: Yeah, that’s where my brain went. I mean, you are speaking to some of the finest and most eloquent people that grace our airwaves. Let me be a little more crass. Donald Trump had really nice things to say about the FBI when he thought they were going to prosecute Hillary Clinton over her use of a personal e-mail server. He thought Jim Comey was great. He now thinks he's a bleeping, bleeping bleep because he refused to bend to Donald Trump's corrupt will. So, the entire Mueller report is about Donald Trump's effort to corrupt people around him. The Trump story, right now, is about successful and less than successful efforts at corruption. He tried to use Don McGahn to carry out his corruptly intent efforts at obstructing and thwarting this investigation. Don McGahn both participating extensively, we know from these footnotes it was at least30 hours.
If you read through all of them, it sounds like more than 30 hours of conversations. His presence in that interrogation room as well as his presence in the west wing where he sometimes stood is the only reason, the only reason that we're not talking about charges being recommended for Donald Trump. So, this is an elegant conversation. The nitty gritty reality of this is whether the Democrats will say, “Politics be dammed. Donald Trump tried to commit crimes. And Bob Mueller sure as heck didn’t say he didn’t commit crimes. He simply, for reasons that are still unknown didn't recommend charges be brought.
Where this goes after today is that we know what we have got. It's sort of like dating gone awry and you catch someone cheating or whatnot. At least you know what you're working with. We know that in William Barr, we have a staunch Trump ally and who is smarter than Donald Trump. That makes him scarier on both those measures. But we also know we have the substance, the richness, the texture, 150 witnesses attesting to Donald Trump's efforts at committing crimes. If the Democrats can't do something with that, I'm not sure what other evidence can be provided. This is the clearest, the sharpest, the most distilled document of Donald Trump's presidency that we’ve seen.
WILLIAMS: If your theory on Barr is correct, where did he [Barr] become radicalized?
WALLACE: [Wallace laughs.] I already offered my theory about Fox News. I mean, our colleague Rachel Maddow has done some great reporting on his role on pardons around the Iran Contra. I said, I laid it on you guys. I’m in a “blame the smart people first,” mood, that we were lulled into some complacency about Barr because of the perception that he was an institutionalist. I’m not sure that’s really true.
