BOMBSHELL: Don Jr, Ivanka, Jared Kushner SUBPOENAED

We have some explosive news here as it. looks like Don Jr., Ivanka, and Jared. Kushner may be facing a subpoena now. Mark, can you explain what this news is? >> Yeah, so as you know, Donald Trump has. sued the BBC for a broadcast that they. did where according to him, they uh. spliced together various parts of uh his. words and speeches related to January. 6th uh in a way that, you know, made him. look bad. I mean, let's be clear, the. words as they were were plenty good.

enough to make him look bad. But. nevertheless, uh that that's their. that's his claim. And the defense has. been very aggressive. You know, probably. because it's not a US legacy media. company. It's uh you know, it's the BBC. Their lawyers have been, you know, really really pushing on the question of. state of mind and damages and all of the. elements that go into uh these kinds of. lawsuits. So, in this instance, they've. issued a subpoena for uh testimony and. uh information from, as you point out, the the children of uh of Donald Trump.

and uh and Jared Kushner. Uh because it. goes to his state of mind, right? I. mean, like, you know, Donald Trump is. saying, "I didn't think this on January. 6 and I didn't mean that on January 6.". And after all, who better to ask other. than perhaps Donald Trump and his wife. uh what Donald Trump meant on on January. 6 or what his state of mind was than. than his kids? >> Does the fact that subpoenas are being. issued for his kids suggest that they're.

going to work their way up to the big. fish, which means that Donald Trump. himself may be getting subpoenaed in all. of this as well. >> Oh, Donald Trump's definitely getting. subpoenaed. In fact, uh when it comes to. a party to a litigation, you don't even. need to subpoena them. you just notice. their deposition. Okay? Like that is the. price of bringing the lawsuit, right? The price of bringing the lawsuit is. that Donald Trump has to turn over. documents. Donald Trump has to uh sit. for a deposition because he is uh he is. the one behind this. So yeah, there's no. question that they are working their way. up uh to him. And I suspect that, you.

know, Trump has been and there's been. back and forth in this litigation about. this has been very sensitive to certain. kinds of information. Um, I suspect that. Donald Trump is actually not going to. resist his own deposition because like. honestly he just speaks gibberish during. these things and he figures he he has he. has evaded and dissembled and and you. know danced around you know the the. facts of January 6 so many times he'll. just do the Donald Trump show. But I I I. suspect that he doesn't think his kids.

necessarily are are up to the the task. Now, logic would suggest that while. Donald Trump is perfectly content to do. the Trump show, as you said, that he. probably doesn't want his kids, Don Jr., Ivanka, and even Jared Kushner to go in. and do these depositions. And so, is. there a world where he could back out. now or or just dismiss withdraw his own. lawsuit recognizing that now that things. are starting to get real, he might. actually be exposed to more uh legal. exposure by virtue of them doing these.

depositions? >> Absolutely. And look, you probably. remember just a few days ago, Donald. Trump withdrew from this same lawsuit. claims that his companies had been. damaged. Uh that there had been brand. damage done that had in impacted his. companies. Uh and that was clearly. because the BBC was going to get. discovery about the finances of his. business dealings, right? So he didn't. want that. So yeah, look, Donald Trump. uh could withdraw this lawsuit and you. know, we've seen him before bring.

litigation only to then uh withdraw it. when, you know, it's no longer useful to. him, right? Uh, I assume in this. instance he thought that they would do. what CBS News did when they shoveled $16. million dollars to Donald Trump uh to. settle a lawsuit uh over an. edited 60 Minutes piece or what ABC News. did when it settled another $16 million. lawsuit. So, I assume, you know, that. he's gotten used to the idea that since.

the legacy media in the United States. will bow down and and put money in his. pocket or his charity's pocket or his. presidential library, whatever it is, that he assumed that the BBC would do. the same. And they haven't. And. interestingly, you know, as a sideline. here, I got to I got to plug your book. because you wrote an important book here. uh uh that talks about what needs to. happen after Donald Trump. And part of. it is about the question of how we deal. with a society, a group of elites, a.

group of institutions that have failed. us. You know, they have failed us. through capitulation, through. collaboration, through frankly adherence. to norms that no longer make sense. And. I want everyone to know that now is the. time to buy this book. Like, if you. haven't had a chance yet, this is the. moment that I'm asking you to do it. Uh, so we're going to put a link right now. on the screen and also in the. description of this episode so that you. can just like with one click you can go. and you can buy this book. Please do so. right now. >> I appreciate that. And again, as Mark.

said, I'm going to put the link right. here on the screen and also in the post. description. If you have the ability to. do so, please grab a copy of this book, support my work, and support independent. media more broadly. Mark, it's worth. asking here if we're in a situation. where Donald Trump does decide to. withdraw his lawsuit, is there some way. for the BBC to then sue him to keep this. going in some form or fashion? >> So, look, there's always a question of. whether or not um if you're in the. position of the BBC, you could bring. some kind of action also for sort of.

defamation or, you know, false. statements or something that he said. about them in the media. I I don't think. the BBC is going to do that. Uh and. there are a number of reasons why. Uh. first of all, like you know, they're a a. broadcasting company. They're not really. interested, I don't think, in having. ongoing litigation with um the president. of the United States. They're also a. British company, right? And they've. already been dragged into the US court. system over this. I I know we're going. to get people saying, "Well, can't they. sue in Britain?" Not a British lawyer.

Don't know. But I suspect that even if. they could sue there, again, it's just. not going to be in the interest of a. large corporate media giant to want to. advance defamation claims or false light. claims because usually they're the ones. trying to constrict the law there. They're not going to look to advance it. I do think that what you said about him. withdrawing previous uh lawsuits against. other entities that don't bend to his. will is exactly on point here because. he's just become accustomed to the fact.

that he can get these these weak. institutions or these overleveraged. institutions to bend to his will and and. really the point in all of this is not. necessarily to win because he doesn't. have meritous lawsuits in in any of. these whether it's CBS, whether it's ABC. or whether it's the BBC. C. He just. wants people to be differential to him. He just wants people to to gravel at his. feet. And he knows by virtue of what CBS. has done, by virtue of what ABC has. done, what Meta has done, what the. Washington Post has done, that there are.

plenty of players in this space that are. willing to just lay down for him. Um, but I think that. >> and and by the way, don't forget, you. know, David Ellison, right? I mean Dave. Ellison, you know, bought uh uh CBS by. virtue of uh uh taking control of. Paramount and now is trying to purchase. also Warner Brothers, merge merge the. two companies. And you know, one of the. backstories, I mean, there's like the. main story about like what this means. for the combination of the two companies. and studios and jobs, but one of the. backstories and probably the only story.

that Donald Trump cares about is what. does it mean for CNN, >> right? And like if you know anyone who. thinks that David Ellison is buying, you. know, this and and that Donald Trump. focuses on CNN, that David Ellison's. going to be like, "Oh, no problem CNN.". You just keep on doing the thing that. Donald Trump hates. Like this is the. problem I with the American media right. now is that they all understand that. Donald Trump like lives in this 1970s, 1980s conception of media. And so he. cares enormously about, you know, the.

legacy outlets. And for the people who. are owning these big legacy outlets, whether it's a Jeff Bezos and the. Washington Post or David Ellison, like. they look at these legacy outlets and. they're like, "We're not so much. interested in this. We're interested in. rockets or interested in movies or. Disney's interested in theme parks." But. it's a real problem for our democracy, what we are watching. So, I want to also. make sure that everybody goes ahead and. subscribes to this channel because Brian. and I do these episodes so that you can. get, for example, a straight discussion.

without any fear of corporate overlords, without any fear of shareholders, without any fear that Brian or I are. going to lose some government contract. because we don't have any about what is. going on in this BBC case. And I. challenge you as someone watching this. video, go find the Legacy Media covering. this with as much, you know, forthright, no both sides as Brian uh does. on his channel. So, I want you to also. hit the subscribe button uh on this. channel and hit the bell to make sure.

you're alerted when there's new content. >> Well, I appreciate that. And and in. fact, I think this is a good moment to. point to a letter that you wrote to. David Ellison, uh that has since gone. viral and it's hosted on Democracy. Docket, which is your news outlet that. you made to focus on everything voting. in elections. I'm going to put the link. to this article right in the post. description of this video. So, if you're. not yet signed up, please make sure to. sign up for Democracy Docket. But this. article that you've written, this open. letter that you've written has gone far. beyond the reaches of political or legal.

discourse and it's now really um uh made. waves in the entertainment space. So, can you talk a little bit about about. what this open letter says and what you. were seeking to do with it? Yeah, it's. really interesting because I wrote it um. because David Ellison wrote an essay. which is what the New York Times calls. its op-eds, a guest essay uh in the in. the New York Times in which he goes to. some length to basically say, "Look, I. think that part of the reason why. California and the other states are. trying to block this merger is because.

they think that I'm a right-winger and. I'm trying to take over CNN and and you. know, then he then he very clumsily. says, you know, I gave money to Joe. Biden and people would be surprised at. my politics. And I really thought it was. important to take this head-on. And I. and I point out at the beginning, I I'm. not an antitrust lawyer. I'm not. purporting to speak to the legal merits. of whether, you know, of what the. antitrust claims are, but I am someone. who cares enormously about democracy and. I care enormously around the First. Amendment and the role that the media.

plays in that. And you know what I. wanted to let Mr. Ellison know is that I. don't actually care what is in his. heart. Like I don't care whether he is. secretly a closeted Democrat who really. wished that Joe Biden ran for reelection. and voted for Kla Harris. Like it is of. no moment to me what is in his heart. What matters to me is what he's doing, right? >> And what he is doing at CBS right now is. plain as day. I mean look at what he did. with the nightly broadcast. Look at what. he's done with 60 Minutes and the.

Exodus. Look at what he did. Uh, a lot. of this is coming because Barry Weiss. was put in charge here. And and Donald. Trump only cares in this merger about. what becomes of CNN. And I don't believe. that that David Ellison, regardless of. whatever may be in his heart, will. sacrifice. anything at all at the risk of of of not. pleasing Donald Trump when it comes to. CNN. And so I think we'll see CNN. collapse into a puddle of capitulation.

if in fact this merger goes through. >> 100%. And you know there was there was. um an instance where Bill Maher went to. the White House and he made some news. because he would say you know actually. in this dinner that that we had or this. meeting that we had with Donald Trump um. he was very self-deprecating and he. could laugh at himself and and isn't. that great that people can see that like. you know behind the the brash bravado he. can actually he can actually take a joke. and and it's the same thing. It's like I.

don't care what's in his heart. I don't. care what he does in private. I don't. care what he does behind closed doors. What matters, the only thing that. matters is what he does in public. And. so, if he's going to be hostile toward. marginalized people, if he's going to. restrict voting rights, if he's going to. deny the existence of climate change, if. he's going to cut people's healthcare, that's what matters. I don't give a. if you can laugh at yourself behind. closed doors. That makes it even worse. because it shows that you should know. better. And the same thing goes with. David Ellison here. If he's claiming.

that he has different politics than it. might seem, then show don't tell. And. thus far, he hasn't been able to do. that. But I would highly recommend for. people who are watching right now, check. out the open letter on democracy docket. And please make sure to subscribe. I'm. going to put that link right here on the. screen and also in the post description. And I'm going to put a link to grab my. book the day after right here on the. screen as well. If you haven't had a. chance to grab a copy of that, that's a. great way to support my work. I'm Brian. Taylor Cohen. >> I'm Mark Elias. >> This is Democracy Watch.