The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki shares reporting from ABC News that the indictment of New York Attorney General Lititia James by Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan caught Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, off guard, raising questions about whether she has fallen from Trump's favor despite her devotion and sycophancy. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins to discuss Bondi's job performance and why she...

With the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James by Donald Trump's Justice Department, Trump's pattern of political prosecutions is undeniable. Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, talks with Jen Psaki about the damage Trump's malicious prosecutions are doing to the U.S. legal system, and why it's more important that ever for members of the legal community to defend the rul...

Jen Psaki shows House Speaker Mike Johnson's pattern of avoiding having to address any issues that might cast Donald Trump in a poor light by pretending they are "not in his lane," not relevant to his position in Congress and therefore he can't speak on them. But when asked about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, Johnson wasted no time leaving his lane to speak his mind. New reporting from t...

Jen Psaki points out Attorney General Pam Bondi's strenuous efforts to avoid having to answer for anything happening within the department she leads, which is a problem throughout the Trump administration and is particularly acute in Trump himself, who not only famously refuses to take responsibility for anything but seems to have no real idea what is going on with the things he's supposed to be i...

Jen Psaki points out examples of Donald Trump not being aware of what his own administration is doing, or of the fallout of his own actions, raising questions about whether Trump understands the political consequences of the harm he is causing the American people with his shutdown of the federal government. Rep. Dan Goldman joins to discuss. Kat Abughazeleh, Illinois congressional candidate, talks...

As public displays of Donald Trump's erratic behavior seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity, and the stakes for the fate of the country seem increasingly dire, more public figures are speaking out about whether Trump is not well enough to serve. Rep. Madeleine Dean, who was caught on camera confronting House Speaker Mike Johnson about Trump's condition, talks with Jen Psaki about her co...

Jen's Version: Jen Psaki addresses questions raised in the White House briefing room with real answers instead of the Trump administration's distortions and spin, including the bizarre claim that Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is donating his time to world peace by inserting himself into the affairs of countries that have given him billions of dollars. Maryland Governor Wes Moore talks wi...

As the federal government heads into shutdown, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen Psaki about Democrats' openness to bipartisan negotiations but criticizes his Republican colleagues for using a "reckless rubber stamp" when it comes to Donald Trump. Donald Trump's secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, summoned all of the U.S. military's top leadership to an extremely unusual meeting i...

George Conway, president of the Society for the Rule of Law, and Liz Oyer, former Department of Justice pardon attorney, talk with Jen Psaki about the myriad flaws and shortfalls in the Trump Justice Department's case against former FBI director James Comey. New files turned over from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein to the investigators with the House Oversight Committee contain the names of close a...

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann talks with Jen Psaki about the legal issues inherent in the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, and the procedural steps that have been skipped in Donald Trump's rush to have his political enemies prosecuted. Weissmann points out that having a trial that gives Comey a platform to mount a defense may be a move Donald Trump comes to regret. Senat...

While it was generally understood that Donald Trump's installation of his own personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia to replace the abruptly departed Erik Siebert, was related to his stated desire that his personal enemies be criminally prosecuted, it wasn't entirely clear until today's MSNBC report on the expectation of an indictment of former FBI...

Donald Trump managed to take it personally when an escalator at the UN General Assembly stopped working while he was on it. Jen Psaki takes the opportunity to observe another instance of the "Donald Trump rage cycle," and points out that the thin-skinned president's petty tyrades are less intimidating the more people learn to stand up to him. Jen Psaki revisits MSNBC reporting from the weekend abo...

Jen Psaki reports on the negative reactions of some surprising Republicans to the Trump administration's use of political intimidation to silence Donald Trump's critics. Along with the few Republicans who have opposed Trump on covering up Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, the unquestioning obedience Trump enjoys from his party may be showing cracks. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads...

With Donald Trump saying the quiet part out loud about who should be allowed to speak in the United States, Jen Psaki follows the money through the corporate powers that are helping the Trump regime reshape American media in order to protect their financial interests. Meanwhile, Congressoinal Democrats intend to investigate potential conflicts of interest by media conglomerates looking to appease...

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker reacts to breaking news that Disney's ABC television network has capitulated to strong-arming by the Trump administration to remove Jimmy Kimmel from the air, and encourages Americans to not only push back on Disney, but to remain steadfast in standing up to Donald Trump's intimidation tactics. Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara weighs in on the legal perspective...

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz talks with Jen Psaki on the day that he had declared his candidacy for reelection. Walz offers harsh words on Donald Trump for his response to shootings in Minnesota, including the fatal shooting of Democratic politician Melissa Hortman, as well as the deployment of the National Guard to American cities, and Trump's handling of the economic challenges Americans are faci...

Jen Psaki looks back at past examples of political violence in the United States and how political leaders addressed the country with calls for unity and cooler heads, with examples from John Boehner to Utah Governor Spender Cox, who spoke this morning at a press conference announcing that the suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk is in custody. Senator Tina Smith discusses the dire state of pol...

As the manhunt continues for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Alicia Menendez talks with Vaughn Hillyard, MSNBC senior White House correspondent, Ken Dilanian, MSNBC justice and intelligence correspondent, and Marc Santia, MSNBC investigative correspondent, about progress in the investigation so far. Senator Amy Klobuchar talks with Alicia Menendez about how the i...

Senior White House Correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, who has covered Charlie Kirk's ascent in conservative politics, joins Jen Psaki to provide insight into Charlie Kirk’s rise and influence within the MAGA ranks and young conservatives. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.ads...

Donald Trump and his Republican acolytes defy credulity with their bizarre denial that Trump's page in Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book is somehow a 22-year-old forgery, but as Jen Psaki points out, that isn't the only unbelievable story Trump is trying to push to escape a reality that makes him look really bad.  In the latest edition of "Jen's Version," Jen Psaki addresses questions asked at the W...

In an exclusive, extended interview, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's threat to blitz Chicago with ICE agents, supported by the deployment of National Guard troops. Pritzker discusses what tools he has to push back, what Chicago residents can do, and what else he thinks Donald Trump has in mind while he normalizes military on the streets of U.S. cities. Rep....

The Senate Finance Committee was not gentle with Donald Trump's HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., grilling him on his perspectives on vaccines and often catching him in contradictions. Jen Psaki shares highlights of some of Kennedy's more frustrating lies, and the efforts of senators to call him out. As Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, levels accusations of mortgage...

The role of Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre in demanding accountability for Epstein and his accomplices, and keeping the case in the spotlight even as powerful forces attempted to make the case disappear, cannot be overstated. Sky and Amanda Roberts, brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, talk with Jen Psaki about the challenges Giuffre faced, and her legacy...

Jen Psaki shares Donald Trump's seemingly self-contradicting answer to a question about internet rumors that he had been out of the public eye for several days because he had died. But Trump has plenty of other reasons to want to hide from the American public. Jen Psaki shows how Donald Trump's unpopular and illegal agenda is suffering one legal loss after another in court challenges, and talks wi...

Ian Bassin, co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, and former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg, talk with Jen Psaki about a federal appeals court finding that Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, and other legal problems the administration is having with overreach, like Jeanine Pirro humiliating herself with her failure to match an indictment to her tough talk on the sandwich-th...