The Rachel Maddow Show - Season 11 / Year 2018

Rachel Maddow speaks with Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig who reports that Trump's lawyers say the special counsel is investigating the president but does not believe he is a criminal target at the moment.

Incoming National Security Adviser, John Bolton, faces questions from White House lawyers over the connections between his PAC and Super PAC and Cambridge Analytica.

Rachel Maddow looks at the relationship between Donald Trump adviser Carl Icahn and EPA chief Scott Pruitt and how Icahn's business interests intertwine with Pruitt's ethics scandals and peculiar EPA policies.

Rachel Maddow rounds up the latest reports on Donald Trump's scandal-plagued EPA chief Scott Pruitt, including pay raises for his friends on staff, a no-show job for senior counsel Samantha Dravis, and Congressional interest in corruption warnings that went ignored.

Rachel Maddow offers an exclusive look at newly obtained documents, one of which appears to be a letter from former acting attorney general Dana Boente informing the Department of Justice that he has been asked to testify for Robert Mueller's investigation.

Rachel Maddow shows how the Beltway media spun up an elaborate myth about Paul Ryan as a budget hawk focused on reducing spending and debt. Ryan announced his retirement two days after the CBO announced a record deficit resulting from the budget Ryan oversaw.

Rachel Maddow shares new NBC News reporting that because Donald Trump has backed out of the idea submitting to an interview with Robert Mueller, the investigation can procede to the next phase, closing the obstruction part of their inquiry with a focus on four key findings findings in Trump's attempt to obstruct justice.

Rachel Maddow points out that the fact of Donald Trump's chaotic personal circumstances will unavoidably influence how U.S. actions and intentions are perceived around the world.

Rachel Maddow relays a Washington Post report that CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with North Korean dictator Kim Jon Un over Easter weekend, while a meeting between Donald Trump and Kim is still in the planning stages.

Rachel Maddow reminds viewers that former FBI Director James Comey will be her guest on Thursday's show.

Former FBI Director James Comey talks with Rachel Maddow about the notes he took after meeting with Donald Trump, which have now leaked to the public after they were delivered by the FBI to Congress.

Rachel Maddow reports on new felony charges against Missouri Governor Eric Greitens related to a charity he runs, separate from the disturbing sex scandal that has also brought charges.

Rachel Maddow reports on the myriad legal developments happening in Donald Trump's orbit, from his new lawyer Rudy Giuliani trying again on a Trump interview with Mueller, to his old lawyer asserting his Fifth Amendment rights in the Stormy Daniels case.

Leaked emails indicate that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with top members of the Trump campaign in June 2016, appeared to direct the Russian government response to a DOJ information request in a 2014 case.

Rachel Maddow reminds viewers of former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's history in Ukraine, and reports on the suspension of Ukrainian investigations into Manafort as they dovetail with the Mueller investigation because they don't want to risk upsetting Donald Trump when weapons deals are on the line.

Rachel Maddow points out that Donald Trump's new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Fox News that Donald Trump fired James Comey over the Russia investigation, and wonders what happens now that there is such an overt admission on the matter.

Rachel Maddow reports on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein making clear in a new speech that he will not entertain requests for information about the Trump Russian investigation from members of Congress whose motivation is to help Donald Trump undermine the investigation.

Rachel Maddow reviews the implausible explanations from corporations exposed as having paid Donald Trump confidant Michael Cohen sums totaling millions of dollars, including claims of paying for his expertise in healthcare and accounting.

In yet another example of seemingly discrete stories turning out to be connected, the Michael Cohen case took a odd twist to intersect with the Eric Schneiderman abuse story. Joy Reid explains with help from Emily Jane Fox, Vanity Fair senior reporter, and Paul Butler, former federal prosecutor.

Rachel Maddow catches up on the day's news, including a ruling by a judge who not only rejected former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's bid to have charges dismissed, but also pointed out just how deep and long Manafort's ties to Russia run, making the charges he faces from Robert Mueller particularly relevant.

Rachel Maddow describes the peculiar turns in U.S. foreign policy toward Qatar that happens to correspond with Qatar's disposition toward helping the Kushner family with a skyscraper burdened by hundreds of millions of dollars of debt.

Rachel Maddow revisits the history of Richard Nixon trying to use the IRS to audit his personal political enemies and notes the parallels with Donald Trump's attempt to punish Amazon with higher postal rates because of his personal disdain for The Washington Post.

Rachel Maddow reports on the plea deal by Michael Cohen's business partner, Evgeny Freidman, in a case involving his taxi business that makes it likely he'll help prosecutors in Cohen's case, making him, in turn, more likely to make a deal to aid the investigation of Donald Trump.

Rachel Maddow puts into perspective former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's assertion that Donald Trump is only in office because Russia put him there, and what that means to current political events.

Rachel Maddow looks at several lines of inquiry in the Mueller investigation, from the utterly mysterious to the more obvious crimes, and notes that because there is so much still unresolved in the case, details cannot be shared, and certainly not with a subject of the investigation, his legal team, or his partisan acolytes.

Company documents and sources detail how the Israeli private security firm spied on former Obama administration officials in an effort to undermine the Iran nuclear deal..

Rachel Maddow talks with Steve Kornacki about history's lessons for what to expect from midterm elections and whether 2018 is likely to follow a familiar pattern that Donald Trump won't like.

Rachel Maddow shows how politicians who dabble in criminality are often able to make criminal charges go away by offering to resign. In the case of now-ex Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, resignation didn't make all of his problems go away.

Rachel Maddow shows how Richard Nixon's open talk of using his pardon power to excuse his staffers in Watergate ran afoul of legal understandings of limits on a pardon, limits Donald Trump is likely to discover himself if he does for Michael Cohen what he seems to be suggesting.

Rachel Maddow reviews the checkered history of Kim Yong-chol, the North Korean master spy who founded the nation's elite global hacker army and also spent a couple of hours in the Oval Office at an impromptu meeting with Donald Trump.

Rachel Maddow points out that State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert should maybe not have used D-Day as an example of the strong relationship between the United States and Germany.

Rachel Maddow looks at what has become a pattern of panic by Donald Trump affiliates and associates when questions from or about the Trump Russia investigation send them hiding, denying, or shutting down operations.

Rachel Maddow reminds viewers that MSNBC's special coverage of the nuclear summit between North Korea and the United States begins at 8pm ET on Monday, hosted by Rachel Maddow and Brian Williams and featuring lots of thoughtful expert guests.

Among the consequences of Donald Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un is that he agreed without apparent condition to end joint U.S./South Korean military exercises, a concession North Korea has sought for decades. Rachel Maddow points out that it's not just North Korea that was eager for this outcome.

Rachel Maddow reminds viewers that the inspector general's report on the FBI and Justice Department's handling of the Clinton e-mail investigation is expected to be released Thursday afternoon. All 500 pages of it.

Rachel Maddow reports on the findings of the Department of Justice inspector general report on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation and notes that the unequal treatment James Comey gave to Clinton was the result of Republican attacks on law enforcement that made Comey more concerned about giving the impression of favoring Clinton.

Rachel Maddow reads through the court transcript of Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's lawyers trying and failing to convince US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson that their client deserved to remain out of jail while waiting for his trial.

Rachel Maddow points out that Donald Trump and his political allies are fomenting outrage over the cruel treatment of migrant children on purpose to boost their anti-immigrant credibility and bolster political support.

Rachel Maddow reports exclusive news that the Department of Justice has asked the Pentagon for help processing immigration cases and the DoD has agreed to send active duty JAGs to Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys.

Rachel Maddow reports that HHS Secretary Alex Azar, whose purview includes the facilities housing separated migrant kids whose parents can't find them, skipped out for his college reunion on the day after his agency build a tent city in Texas to house migrant children taken from their parents.

Efren Olivares, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project Racial and Economic Justice Program, talks about the effort to reunite families split by Donald Trump's zero tolerance border policy.

Rachel Maddow looks back at how the infamous Supreme Court decision in the Korematsu case was eventually exposed as a sham when the truth behind the government's reasoning was exposed, and reads Justice Sotomayor's dissent in the Trump Muslim ban case which points out that the animus behind Trump's policy doesn't have to be exposed because he tweeted it.

Rachel Maddow reports on nearly 600 women, including at least one member of Congress, being arrested at a single massive protest of Donald Trump's family separation border policy at the Hart Senate Office Building, likely on a precursor to a weekend of planned events.

Rachel Maddow digs into transcripts of Friday's court hearing to find out who the FBI says tipped it off to Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort's storage locker, which was raided for evidence last year.

Rachel Maddow shares NBC News reporting that conservative congressman Jim Jordan is accused of knowing about sexual abuse of wrestlers at Ohio State when he was a coach and doing nothing about it, a charge he denies as the number of accusers increases.

Rachel Maddow looks back at how a political stumble by President Johnson ultimately led to President Nixon being able to choose two new Supreme Court justices, radically altering the direction of the Court.

Margaret Stock, immigration attorney, talks about the U.S. military's sudden discharge of immigrant military enlistees with vague explanations of failed background checks.

Rachel Maddow shows how former Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is running out of legal tricks to forestall his trial as he withdrew a request to change jails once the judge showed willingness to consent, and he lost another bid to suppress evidence taken from his storage locker.

Rachel Maddow tells the story of the FBI spying on Russian spies in the U.S., "Donald Heathfield" and "Tracey Foley," and notes the extensive biography of Peter Strzok, who led many of those operations - the same Peter Strzok that Republicans are trying to smear in order to discredit the Mueller investigation.

Rachel Maddow reviews some highlights as well as some newly learned details from FBI Agent Peter Strzok's testimony in Congress as Strzok stood up to Republicans bent on political showmanship.

Carol Lee, NBC News national political reporter, talks about how Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence agents advances public understanding of the Russian intrusion into the 2016 election to help Donald Trump.

Rachel Maddow reads excerpts of the transcript of Mariia Butina's court hearing on Monday, in which it was revealed for the first time that Butina had testified in a closed session of the Senate Intelligence Committe

Rachel Maddow alerts viewers that former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates will be a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show on Thursday, July 18 at 9pm ET.

Rachel Maddow reports on Direct of National Intelligence Dan Coats' surprise discovery that Donald Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the White House, while U.S. military leaders wonder what Trump promised Putin on Syria.

Rachel Maddow reports that the judge in the trial for former Donald Trump campaign chair, Paul Manafort, has provided lawyers for both sides with a list of potential jurors, signaling the initial steps of the trial with no sign of a plea deal from Manafort.

Rachel Maddow shows how the White House transcript and video of the Trump Putin press conference in Helsinki has been edited to remove the question asking Putin if he wanted Trump to win the election, part of a broader campaign of information warfare the Trump administration is waging with Russia against the American people.

Rachel Maddow shows that prosecutors in the Mariia Butina case say their evidence overlaps with other investigations, and notes that the NRA has been oddly silent on how they're cast as a tool of Russia in the Butina charges.

Rachel Maddow reports breaking news from CNN, confirmed by NBC News, that Michael Cohen asserts that Donald Trump knew in advance of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer and is willing to say so to Robert Mueller. Hallie Jackson, NBC News chief White House correspondent joins with details.

Even though Donald Trump has shown little interest in securing the United States against cyber attack, senior members of his staff are expressing increasing alarm at ongoing operations by countries like Russia and how to repel them.