What A Day - Trump Is Prosecuting His Enemies

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

Things have been moving fast since President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social last month QUOTE: "Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Since then, two of the three people Trump mentioned – former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General James – have been charged with crimes. Just last week, the Department of Justice indicted James on one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement in relation to allegations James lied on a mortgage application. James says the charges amounted to pure lawfare aimed at Trump’s enemies. So, to talk about Trump prosecuting his political enemies, we spoke Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.And in headlines, Trump reignites the trade war with China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to rehire hundreds of employees it fired by mistake, and Trump is in Israel to greet hostages held by Hamas upon their release.Show Notes:Check out the work AG Neronha is doing – https://riag.ri.gov/Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Monday, October 13th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day, the show that says Canada is a pretty cool place that, unlike President Donald Trump, I have no weird beef with. But I might, if Canada does action its plan to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. Now I know that this is not a new idea, and that Canada isn't even alone in its desire to put a nuclear reactor on the moon, but as a big fan of the moon, and as a non-fan of space-centered horror. films, I feel like nuclear reactor on the moon ends poorly. On today's show, Trump reignites his favorite hobby, threatening China with 100% tariffs, tanking the stock market, and then insisting everything's fine. And the Trump administration plans to gouge a Pentagon program to pay the U.S. military during the government shutdown.

Is it legal? No. Does it matter to them? Same answer. But let's start with our nation's state. state attorneys general. Last week, the Department of Justice indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement in relation to allegations James lied on a mortgage application. Charges that came only after Trump replaced

the previous U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who had said that there wasn't enough evidence to charge James with his former personal attorney, Lindsay Halligan. Weird. In response, Attorney General James released a video, saying that the charges amounted to pure law aimed at Trump's enemies. This is nothing more than a continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies

to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General. These charges are baseless, and the president's own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution retribution at any cost. And, uh, she has a point.

See, James gained national attention after winning a state civil case against Trump back in 2023. But if you forgot about that, Trump didn't. On September 20th, Trump posted on truth social what was, according to the Wall Street Journal, supposed to be a direct message to Attorney General Pam Bondi. The message read in part, quote, Pam, I have reviewed over 30 statements in post saying that essentially same old story as last time, all talk, no action, nothing else. as being done. What about Comey? Adam Shifty Schiff, Letitia. They're all guilty as hell, but nothing

is going to be done. Two of the three people Trump mentioned, former FBI director James Comey and Attorney General James, were charged with crimes within three weeks of that post, which is not at all terrifying. So to talk more about lawfare aimed at Trump's political enemies, I spoke to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Norona. Attorney General Peter Norona, welcome to what today. Great to be with you. Let's start with what's been happening to one of your peers, New York Attorney General Letitia James. The very same Letitia James, who won a state civil case against Trump back in 2003. She's accused of applying for a loan to buy a private home for herself, but then renting it out to others, saving interest on the loan as a fellow attorney general on a personal level.

Is this scary for you just to see someone else in your same position being gone after by the federal government, clearly for retaliation for something that happened a couple of years ago? Well, I don't know if it's scary because I think all of us as attorneys general, including Letitia James, Tish, to those of us who know her well, aren't afraid of Trump. But it's clearly outrageous for the president to target the people who he feels aggrieved by. And whether it's Attorney General James or James Comey, the former FBI director, that's not the way our Justice Department is supposed to work. And it's certainly not the way it worked. when I served both Republican and Democratic presidents

when I was in the Department of Justice myself for almost 15 years. What are you hearing from fellow attorneys general about this case? When the president directed the Department of Justice to go after Attorney General James, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which was the US Attorney's Office looking at the case

at the president's direction, when he wouldn't do it, the president fired that US attorney. And then when the career prosecutors in the office wouldn't do it, the president then went out and plucked an interim or acting U.S. attorney off the street and had her do it, his former personal attorney who has no prosecutorial experience. The whole thing is outrageous. Not only as a colleague of Attorney General James as an attorney general now, but as someone who served in the Justice Department, I can't tell you how outrageous the whole thing is. It just flies in the face of how the department is supposed to and is always operated for hundreds of years, and it's not the way to do justice.

It's alarming, frankly. Yeah, you've mentioned your experience. You were a federal prosecutor under the Obama administration, and this strikes me as another example of lawfare. We're seeing the prosecutions of Letitia James, former FBI director James Comey, as you mentioned, and other opponents of Trump for political reasons. Trump was in office in 2017, and I'm sure he had a host of people who he would have wanted to go after or he would want it to direct people to go after, and perhaps with regard to the Russian investigation. I mean, that's kind of where the Comey thing comes in. Right. What changed so that this became a horrifying new normal? Yeah, what changed is he has enablers around him. And so Pam Bondi, Attorney General Bondi, is a far. cry from former Attorney General William Barr, who, look, from some perspectives, was no great shakes himself, but there are things he wouldn't do. And this is the kind of thing he wouldn't do. I met Attorney General Barr during President Trump's first term. And, you know,

he was a conservative guy, no question. Very different from Attorney General Bondi, who has, first of all, has never been in the Justice Department before. She was the Attorney General of Florida. That doesn't mean she has any federal experience, and she doesn't. But beyond that, she's willing to use the Department of Justice as a tool of the administration. And look, I served President George Bush, too. And it wasn't like that under him either. So this is a sea change in the way the Department of Justice is being run. And any notion that Pam Bondi was surprised by this indictment is just ludicrous.

I mean, the Department of Justice policy is you push things to the front office. What that means is the Attorney General herself. She's as responsible as anyone else, including the president. You've been working with a lot of other states' attorneys general to fight against Trump policies on a lot of fronts from Doge spending cuts to education funding clawbacks, research grant restrictions, freezes on wind energy development. And in a lot of cases, you've either initiated or joined multi-state lawsuits. What have been some of your wins so far? Yeah, it could be filed, I think, 12 lawsuits in the District of Rhode Island alone. of the 40 or so. So my district, my office has been very active here along with my colleagues.

And so in Rhode Island, for example, we have saved for Rhode Islanders, a state of a million people, $650 million, at least that the president was trying to take away from us in congressionally authorized funds, from everything from education to infrastructure, bridge building, highway building, health care, and beyond. So it's, in many instances, this has been about money, and we've won every single case we've brought in the district of Rhode Island, both at the district court level and at the First Circuit level. There are a couple of cases that are still pending, but we expect to be successful in those two. And the reason is, is because we are right on the law and the president is wrong on the law. And so where we have

an opportunity to fight for our citizens, we're doing that, and we're winning. But in a lot of those multi-state cases against Trump's policies, you're getting, say, maybe half of the U.S. States Attorneys General to join you because of the political divides that we have. So what good do these coalitions do when it's reflecting the divides we already see in Congress, where it just is like Republicans say he can do whatever he wants and Democrats stand up? Yeah, look, I think it's putting pressure on attorneys general in those non-democratic attorneys general states. So in the red states, let's use that as opposed to blue states, which are the Democratic states, they're not hanging on to that funding that I just mentioned.

So compare New Hampshire to Rhode Island, public a state just in New England. Another state of about a million people, maybe a little bit more. That's $650 million that we save for Rhode Islanders. Their attorney general didn't save for the people of New Hampshire. And that has been a pressure point for him and the governor there. And that's been going to be a pressure point for Americans in those red states

as they lose the health care funding, the research funding, the infrastructure funding, that the president has taken from them, and their Republican attorneys general haven't fought for on their behalf. So that's money that the Congress has allocated them for disaster relief, for example. And, you know, winter is coming, but I'm not just referring to, you know, the game of thrones here. Winter's coming across the United States. They're going to be natural disasters. And the president has cut that money for red states as well as blue states. The difference is by going to court as a coalition of blue states,

many times in Rhode Island, that's what we filed these cases. We've been successful for all of the blue states. So the blue states have come up winners. The red states have come up losers. And as that continues to play itself out, I believe, over the course of the Trump administration, people in those states are going to wake up and realize, I hope at least, that they elected the wrong guy. And they elected members of Congress and attorneys general that won't stand up for attorney general nirona thank you so much for joining me oh it's been great thank you for having me on that was my conversation with rhode island attorney general peter nerona we'll get to more of the news in the moment but if you like the show make sure to subscribe leave a five-star review on up a podcast

watch us on youtube and share with your friends more to come after some ads This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. October 10th was World Mental Health Day, and this year, we're saying thank you therapists. BetterHelp therapists have helped over 5 million people worldwide on their mental health journeys. That's millions of stories, millions of journeys, and behind everyone is a therapist who showed up, listened, and helped someone take a step forward. Moments in therapy, like the right question, a safe space to cry, or a small win can change lives. This World Mental Health Day, BetterHelp is honoring those connections and the therapist who make them possible, while showing how easy it is to get guidance from a licensed therapist

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betterhelp.com slash wad. That's BetterHelp, help.com slash wad. Here's what else we're following today. Head of lines. Yes, I believe that we are on the cusp of peace in Gaza for the first time, not just in a couple of years, but really in a very long time because the President of the United States has done something that no other world leader has been able to do. Vice President J.D. Vance went on Meet the Press Sunday morning to discuss the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But he also made clear everybody knows this is all thanks to our fearless and totally competent leader, President Donald J. Trump. At the time of this recording

Sunday evening, all 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas are expected to be released soon. So you can't say exactly the moment they will be released, but we have every expectation. That's why the president is going, that he will be greeting the hostages early next week. After the hostages are freed, Israel will be ready to receive the remains of 28 dead hostages. The country will also release about 2,000 Palestinian detainees. The timing of the release for the Palestinian prisoners has not been announced, but the group includes 1,700 people taken from Gaza during the war and held without charge. After the prisoner exchange, Israel will allow more humanitarian aid into famine-stricken Gaza,

which the UN has called, quote, a wasteland. Aerial footage shows much of the territory reduced to rubble. Trump plans to greet the hostages in Israel upon the release Monday. The historic ceasefire deal marks the end of two years of war, with tens of thousands killed and nearly 90% of Gaza's population displaced. The next phase of the deal, which would determine Gaza's post-war government, remains shaky as negotiations continue. Trump announced via Truth Social Saturday that during the ongoing government shutdown,

Secretary of Defense Pete Heggseth can, quote, use all available funds to get our troops paid on October 15th. The funds will be taken from the Pentagon's Research and Development Budget, which is not legal. Will that stop them? Who knows? Should the troops not get paid, it would be the first time in modern U.S. history

that military members outside the Coast Guard would miss a paycheck due to a government shutdown. Meanwhile, as the government shutdown approaches its third week, the Smithsonian Institute's 19 museums and the National Zoo have temporarily closed their doors, and the congressional stalemate is as bitter as ever. Democrats are holding their ground. Here's Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday. J.D. Vance and Donald Trump's number one priority is protecting billionaires, protecting corporations, and raising premiums, raising health care costs by 75% on American citizens. So yes, I think that Democrats should say, votes for a budget, it can't be a corrupt budget. It can't be a budget that is going to

devastate the lives of middle-class families in this country in order to protect and reward billionaires. That's a pretty reasonable request. For his part, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham would have none of it. On Sunday, he told NBC's meet the press that he's so sorry that thousands of Americans are going to suffer, but there's nothing to be done when Democrats insist on unreasonably affordable health care. I don't want anybody to lose their job because of a shutdown. I hate it when people get furloughed. I hate it. The military can't get paid. The FBI, I hate all that. I'm willing to vote to open the government up tomorrow to my Democratic friends. I am not going to vote to extend these subsidies.

The government shutdown is expected to hit the economy this week as agencies begin to withhold billions in federal paychecks and government services. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the same approach to public health on Friday that he once took to a dead whale in 1994, which is to say he made a huge mess by severing over a thousand centers for disease control and prevention staffers from their jobs. The dismissals were among the more than 4,000

the Trump administration issued in response to the ongoing shutdown. The initial cuts even targeted leaders of the CDC's measles response in the middle of a measles outbreak, along with officials who have managed Ebola and Mpox outbreaks abroad. After details about the firings became public,

a federal health official said Saturday that some layoff notices had been sent in air and would be reversed. Now the administration is quietly walking a lot of this back, scrambling to rehire many of the same experts that let go after realizing the cuts had crippled outbreak surveillance and response

efforts. The mistakes rocked an agency already entummeled. The CDC lost about a third of its staff in April, when Elon Musk's Doge took its proverbial chainslaw to the agency only for many to be rehired weeks later. The former director of the CDC's National Center on Immunization of Respiratory Diseases,

Dr. Dimitri Daskalossis, said, quote, the CDC is over. It was killed. This administration only knows how to break things. They have made America at risk for outbreaks and attacks by nefarious players. People should be scared. I, for one, am following doctors' orders. We do not want a tariff war, but we are not afraid of one. That's from a statement China's Commerce Ministry issued Sunday in response to Trump's 100

percent tariff threat. Trump threatened Friday in a true social post, of course, to jack up the tax on imports from China by November 1st. Why? Because of new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, which are vital to a wide range of consumer and military products. Mind you, after Trump's threat, the broad S&P 500 stock market index plunged 2.7 percent, its worst day in about six months. In its post Sunday, China's commerce ministry said, quote, frequently resorting to the threat of high tariffs is not the correct way to get along with China. Trump took to truth social again, saying, quote, don't worry about China. It will all be fine. Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn't want depression for his country and neither do I. The USA wants to help China,

not hurt it. The back and forth threatens to derail a planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month and upend the fragile truce in a trade war that reached New Heights in April. Vice President J.D. Vance on Sunday spoke to Fox News, Maria Bart Romo, calling it a quote, delicate dance. And a lot of it is going to depend on how the Chinese respond. If they respond in a highly aggressive manner, I guarantee you that President of the United States has far more cards than the People's Republic of China. If, however, they're willing to be reasonable, then Donald Trump is always willing to be a reasonable negotiator. We're going to find out a lot

in the weeks to come about whether China wants to start a trade. war with us or whether they actually want to be reasonable. I hope they choose the path of reason. You know, reasonable. Like Trump. Trump has raised taxes on imports from many U.S. trading partners since taking office in January seeking to win concessions. But China has been one of the few countries that hasn't backed down, relying on its economic clout. And that's the news. Before we go, in today's attention economy, the only thing worse than being hated is being boring. That's the world reality TV built in all its messy glory. And it's probably one of the best ways to escape after mainlining the news every day. It's becoming clear how

reality TV hasn't just changed TV. It's changed culture, fame, everything, including politics. In a special Lovett or Leave It series, Bravo America, John Lovett dives into the reality TV universe, interviewing icons of the genre to explore how these shows blur the line between authenticity and performance. Be cool. Don't be all like. Uncool. You can find this series every Tuesday on the Love It or Leave It Feed and on YouTube. That's all for today.

If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, enjoy another episode of the continuing series. the friends of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sure were enthusiastic about Jeffrey Epstein and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just about how on Sunday, the Daily Mail published an email sent by Prince Andrew to Epstein in 2011

after Epstein had pled guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor, which reads, quote, it would seem we are in this together and we'll have to rise above it. Otherwise, keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon. Like me, what a day, also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and the worst part of that email is the word play, right? Like, worse than

we are in this together? Like, yeah. What a day is a production of Crooked Media. It's and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Emily Four and Chris Allport. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Sean Ali, Gina Pollock, and Caitlin Plummer. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of news and politics is Adrian Hill. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. I'm going to be able to be.