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Jane Coaston: It’s Thursday, February 12th. I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What A Day, the show that says R.I.P. to millennial heartthrob and the pride of the West Canaan Coyotes, James Van Der Beek, who passed away from cancer Wednesday at the age of 48. [music break] On today’s show, revised government data shows renowned businessman President Donald Trump’s first year in office wasn’t actually good for the job market. And Trump says he had a very good meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though from Trump’s own report, not much happened. Sounds like it could have been an email. But let’s start with the Department of Justice. It must be hard to be Attorney General Pam Bondi. All you wanted to do on Wednesday was celebrate the economic achievements of the Trump administration. But those mean Democrats just kept asking about some convicted sex offender named, what was it? Jeffrey Epstein? Oh well, talking points are talking points. 

[clip of Pam Bondi] The Dow is over $50,000. I don’t know why you’re laughing. You’re a great stock trader as I hear Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000 and the NASDAQ smashing records. Americans 401ks and retirement savings are booming. That’s what we should be talking about. 

Jane Coaston: Yes, that was Bondi crashing out in front of the House Judiciary Committee after being asked about the DOJ’s investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators. The effectiveness of Bondi’s DOJ has been, thankfully, questionable at best. Just Tuesday night, it fumbled yet another attempt to prosecute Trump’s enemies. This time, it failed to get an indictment of the six Democratic members of Congress who posted a video in November reminding members of the armed services that they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders. 

[clip of six Democratic members of congress video] Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. 

Jane Coaston: Unsurprisingly, Trump freaked out after seeing the video, writing on Truth Social that it constituted, quote, “seditious behavior punishable by death.” The Pentagon announced soon after that it was investigating Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly for appearing in the video. Then all six members of Congress who appeared in the video were notified by the FBI that they were being investigated. According to the New York Times, federal prosecutors wanted to indict the lawmakers for violating a statute. It threatens potential imprisonment or fines to anyone who might quote, “cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States.” But as has been increasingly true over the last year or so, the DOJ couldn’t get a grand jury to agree. Colorado Democratic Representative Jason Crow is one of the six lawmakers the DOG investigated. We spoke about the failed indictment, Pam Bondi’s congressional testimony, and how to protect US troops from being targeted by the government they serve. Representative Crow, welcome to What A Day. 

Jason Crow: Thanks for having me, Jane. 

Jane Coaston: Tuesday night, a grand jury refused to indict you and five of your colleagues for what was, according to President Trump, quote, “seditious behavior.” And I’m using air quotes to be clear. As in, you participated in a video reminding US troops that they can and should disobey illegal orders. What do you think it says that the DOJ was not able to secure an indictment? 

Jason Crow: Well, Donald Trump’s definition of sedition or treason is somebody not doing what he wants them to do. Right? He thinks he’s a king. He thinks that his word is law, that he is above the law. And anybody that would dare question his authority or speak up or stand out of line for him is committing a grave sin. We’re here to say that is not true, that nobody is above the law, that we are not going to be threatened, we’re not going be bullied, we are not going to be intimidated. And if he thinks that weaponizing the Justice Department against his political opponents is going to get us to back down from obligation, he is dead wrong and has another thing coming. 

Jane Coaston: I mean, to that point, the Trump administration has tried and failed to indict many of the president’s perceived enemies. Your lawyer sent a letter Wednesday asking the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to preserve whatever evidence was presented in the effort to indict you and your colleagues. Why? 

Jason Crow: Well, why is because there have to be costs imposed on them. I’m not willing to sit back and just let them throw grenade after grenade at us and keep our head down and respond to them and be on defense all the time. That’s not gonna work. But what they think is that they can bully and intimidate people and send a message to the country. My message to them is that not only is that not gonna to work, but we are gonna pursue justice and accountability against you. I’m taking names, I’m making lists, and people cannot outrun ultimate accountability. The tide is turning in this country. Americans are speaking up, they’re standing out, they’re retaking our democracy. We’re gonna stand with them, and we are not gonna back down. 

Jane Coaston: Do you expect the Department of Justice to continue to investigate you? I mean, I saw that Speaker Mike Johnson said basically that you were supposed to quote, “straighten up their act,” which we’re not even gonna get into the Mike Johnson of it all. But do you expect this to continue to happen to you? 

Jason Crow: Well, Mike Johnson is a very sad case, right? He has completely prostrated himself to the altar of Donald Trump, sold out a long time ago to Donald Trump. Which, uh, you know, is unfortunate. That’s his decision, but I can tell you what, and I went to war three times for this country as an army ranger and a paratrooper, I took oaths to this country starting when I was a teenager. You know I’ve known people who have given their life for this nation and if Speaker Johnson or Donald Trump or Pam Bondi or anybody else thinks that they’re gonna get me to back down from my obligation and my duty to the constitution, the oath that I swore, then yeah, they have something coming, right? So I’m not gonna back down from that, regardless of where it’s coming from. Because let’s be honest, this is about sending a larger message. They were trying to send a larger messages to Americans that, hey, if members of Congress can’t withstand the firestorm, if they can’t withstand the pressure, why would we possibly speak up? So we’re unwilling to allow them to send that message, which is why I’m going on the offensive here, and I will start doing everything possible to impose costs on people who are abusing process, violating the law, and turning their back on the Constitution. 

Jane Coaston: You referenced U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Pam Bondi testified on the Hill Wednesday about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files, the prosecutions of Minnesota protesters, and the failed indictments like yours. In one case, she responded to an actual question about the Epstein investigation by screaming about how the Dow is over 50,000. I know you’re not on the House Judiciary Committee, so you weren’t at that hearing, but what does that say about Pam Bondi’s and the DOJ’s priorities right now? That she’s screaming about the Dow in response to an investigation into a convicted sex trafficker. 

Jason Crow: Yeah, well, Pam Bondi’s place in history is going to be one of the greatest defenders of pedophiles and sexual abusers in the history of the world. That’s what Pam Bondi will be known for. Right, we have what is possibly one of the greatest sex abuse scandals in American history that goes to the very top of American power in industry, in business, and in government. And we need names. America deserves names and more important than anything, the victims deserve names and accountability and justice, the justice has been denied for far too long. And Pam Bondi is a part of the grand conspiracy to cover that up. And doing so because guess what? Donald Trump, her major patron, is listed in the Epstein files over a million times. Right, so there is rot that goes to the core of this administration, which is why we’re battling hard for the release of those full files and for transparency. 

Jane Coaston: A few Democratic House members have called for Bondi to step down, and one even mentioned impeachment. Will you support that? 

Jason Crow: Well, I certainly think she should step down. And if we retake the House majority, I’m gonna pursue accountability in all of its forms. Impeachment is one of the tools for accountability that we have. It’s an important tool in our toolkit and one that I won’t hesitate to use. And you know I know a lot about impeachment because I was a prosecutor in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in my first term in Congress. So I’ve impeached a president before. And I won’t hesitate to use that tool if that’s what’s necessary. But right now there are other tools that we have, but we’re in the minority that we’re gonna relentlessly use. 

Jane Coaston: As you mentioned, you were a US Army Ranger and paratrooper. You served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And I can’t stop thinking about the same time all of this is happening, we have US troops in Nigeria. We have US troops in the Middle East. We have troops who are being placed in harm’s way and they are being led by Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump. What are your concerns about the ways that the Trump administration is leading the US military? 

Jason Crow: Well, you know what I learned in my first days in the military, when I was in boot camp, is this idea of servant leadership. That the core of leadership is about being a servant of those that you lead. And it takes very simple forms, right? When I was a paratrooper, the leader of the unit jumps first because courage is contagious and then people will follow. When you’re out in the field, you’re training, it’s the middle of the night and warm chow gets delivered, your soldiers eat first. And only then, if there’s food left, do you eat. And then you don’t sleep until everybody else has slept and rested. That’s servant leadership. In the Trump administration, under Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump, that has been entirely turned on its head, right? They push us out of the plane first and then don’t jump at all. They eat first and leave nothing for us. This is a self-serving, corrupt administration, probably the most corrupt administration in the history of America. And I am gravely concerned about Pete Hegseth’s complete incompetence as the head of our military. And that’s why I am relentless about making sure that we protect our service members, that we don’t abuse them, that they understand what their obligations were, which is why we filmed that video in the first instance, to make sure they understand what the law and the constitution requires. And more than anything else also, one of the reasons I actually came to Congress is because I was sent to war three times, At least one of those to enrich oil executives. We spent 20 years, trillions of dollars, thousands of lives, decades of lost credibility on military adventurism. And working folks and working class Americans are done with it. I’m done with it. I’m over with the military adventurerism. This president doesn’t see a problem he doesn’t think he can bomb his way out of. So I’m gonna do everything possible to recapture congressional authority, to reinsert ourselves in matters of war, peace and to install guard rails to Donald Trump’s out of control use of our military. 

Jane Coaston: I want to go back to something you were just saying, which is talking about protecting our troops, both active and inactive. The government was not willing to protect you here. It literally tried to prosecute you for speaking the truth, a truth everybody knows. Like that was the thing that really got me about your video, is like that’s just basic information. 

Jason Crow: Right. 

Jane Coaston: And yet in the eyes of the Trump administration, it became sedition, which is punishable by death. So–

Jason Crow: Right. 

Jane Coaston: How can we, how can you protect our troops from the Trump administration, when it’s so clear that the only thing the Trump administration wants to do is protect Trump at all costs? 

Jason Crow: Yeah, this is about the American people, right? What’s so important here is actually less the story of what’s happening in Congress and what’s happening on Capitol Hill and more the story of what’s happening across America right now. So I’m I’m traveling the country and I’m recruiting and finding the next generation of servant leaders who are stepping up to run for office, run for races and to change the culture of Washington and to defeat the rot and the corruption of this administration. And what I’m seeing in cities and rural areas, red areas, blue areas, rich areas, poor areas. What I’m seeing is the American people are fed up with what this administration has served to them. They want change. And even in some of the deepest red areas of the country, they understand what’s happening here and they’re pushing back on it. So ultimately it’s the rising tide of Americans who are standing and at great personal costs in some instances, showing courage to take to the streets. To stand in the breach, to prevent abuses, to protect their neighbors. In the case of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, to give their life, to shed light on these abuses. It is an incredible story, a story of the courage of American people right now. And, you know, we’re gonna take our country back. 

Jane Coaston: Representative Crow, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. 

Jason Crow: Thank you. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Colorado Democratic Representative Jason Crow. Yes, there’s more news incoming. We can do this. But before we get there, please take a second to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify or Apple podcasts, check us out on YouTube, and share with your friends. Now, for some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Tariffs are very important. The money we’re taking, I’m taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff money. And we’re gonna start paying down debt. This country has never been so strong, militarily or any other way. 

Jane Coaston: That was Trump on Fox Business Tuesday night discussing his favorite thing, besides himself, tariffs. But on Wednesday, Trump’s tariff regime got a symbolic but important telling off. The House voted to rescind the tariffs Trump placed on Canada last year under the authority of a, quote, “national emergency.” And while Trump will almost certainly veto the measure, it indicates a real shift against Trump’s tariffs powers. And he knows it. Before the vote Wednesday, Trump posted on Truth Social, quote, “any Republican in the House or Senate that votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences come election time, and that includes primaries.” Still, six Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in supporting the measure. Want to hear even tougher news for Trump? For the last year, Speaker Mike Johnson has been blocking tariff disapproval measures. But on Tuesday, a group of House Republicans rebelled against Johnson, defeating a measure that would have kept the blockade going. According to CNN, that means Democrats can now go after all of Trump’s tariffs. Good news for those penguins near Antarctica. U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs in January, and the Labor Department said the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%. But the report on Wednesday included major revisions. According to the revised government data, the U. S. economy saw almost no employment growth during the first calendar year of Donald Trump’s presidency. Only 181,000s jobs were added in 2025, down from 1.46 million during the final year of President Joe Biden’s administration. Donald Trump, business genius strikes again. 

[clip of Veronica Escobar] As soon as I learned about this, I immediately got on the phone with a number of different leaders, including local leadership. And what I can tell you with absolute certainty is that the FAA did not notify anyone locally. 

Jane Coaston: In a news conference, Texas Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar said local officials were kept in the dark when the airspace over El Paso, Texas was closed on Wednesday. According to sources who spoke with the AP, the sudden airspace closure stemmed from the Pentagon allowing Customs and Border Protection to fire off an anti-drone laser earlier this week. The AP says that the move led the Federal Aviation Administration to clear the air space to ensure commercial air safety. The airspace reopened hours after it was shuttered and commercial flights resumed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on Twitter Wednesday that the airspace closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by cartel drones and that, quote, “the threat has been neutralized.” While drone incursions are not uncommon along the U.S.-Mexico border, maybe everyone should get on the same page about when they should shoot lasers. President Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Wednesday for what appears to have been an anti-climactic get-together. Netanyahu came and went without taking questions from reporters. His office said on Twitter that the pair talked about, quote, “negotiations with Iran, Gaza and regional developments.” And in a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, quote, “there is nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated.” Consummated? I don’t want to know. Trump also left us with this reminder. Quote, “last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a deal and they were hit with midnight hammer that did not work well for them.” Who doesn’t love a thinly veiled threat amid trigger happy countries? And that’s the news. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, shout out to the firefighters of Norwalk, Connecticut who rescued a swan from a frozen river on Tuesday and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how it took about 30 minutes to free the swan from the ice and bring it to shore, like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and according to the Associated Press, the swan appeared, quote, “grateful for the rescue,” which knowing swans means it was like 20% less violent than usual. [music break] What A Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Emily Fohr. Our producer is Caitlin Plummer. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Greg Walters and Matt Berg. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison. And our senior vice president of news and politics is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Kyle Murdock and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break]