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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Taps A Leader Of Retribution Tour As Acting Intel Chief; Polls In California Show a Crowded Governor's Race With A Clear Top 3; Maine Senate Hopeful Platner In DC Amid Campaign Controversies; Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Is Interviewed About Trump Taps A Leader Of Retribution Tour As Acting Intel Chief; Ex-FBI Officials Launch Support Group For Current Bureau Staff; Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO), Is Interviewed About Election Denier Tina Peters Released From Prison. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 02, 2026 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOSUE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: We've yet to see that leader enter the fray. The platners, you pick the people, they're none of those people. They just want to aggrandize themselves. And so this is a problem for us until we can make that crossover, Kasie. But I predict we will because it's a good country and we always have a way of reviving ourselves.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. God bless the USA. Anthony Scaramucci, thank you very much for your time today. Appreciate it.

SCARAMUCCI: Thanks for having me.

HUNT: Thanks very much to the panel as well. Don't go anywhere. The Lead with Jake Tapper starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: A promotion from the man who has pushed many of Trump's retribution cases. The Lead starts right now.

From a role in housing to the acting Director of National Intelligence. In what world, on what planet does this resume qualify for that job? Well, in Trump's world, on planet Trump, it works. And the reactions are pouring in.

Plus, breaking news. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying just moments ago that the Justice Department is scrapping plans for now to create a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund. How this bends to pressure from the president's own party as well as a court order.

And Florida becomes the very first state in the nation to sue OpenAI, claiming that the company deceptively hid the dangers of its chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for younger users. We're going to go inside the case with the man heading it up.

Everyone, welcome to The Lead. We begin with our politics lead in President Trump's surprise, if not shocking announcement, appointing a man considered to be one of his most controversial and frankly, vicious attack dogs. Federal housing official Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard at one of the most sensitive jobs in the U.S. government.

Set up during the traumatic aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Director of National Intelligence is supposed to oversee and bring together the work of all the various U.S. intelligence agencies, agencies that before 9/11 were stovepiped and didn't work together or effectively share information.

Now, the Director of National Intelligence, DNI for short, that's been a vital job for nearly a quarter century. The DNI has access to the nation's most sensitive, most closely guarded secrets. That person also has access to the most intrusive surveillance tools. And President Trump is handing this job to a man with absolutely zero experience in intelligence or national security who has used his position at the housing authority to get sensitive mortgage information of officials that are Democrats or opponents of Trump perceived to be at least, and take those documents and refer them to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.

Now, the job of defending this move today fell to Dr. Mehmet Oz. He's the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who was previously scheduled to brief the press earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you respond to any of the criticism from Republicans on President Trump's decision to tap Bill Pulte, who has no known intelligence experience, as acting DNI?

DR. MEHMET OZ, ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: Well, I think Bill is a great guy. I know him socially. I've not worked with him in his current job, but I do trust the president's judgment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What extensive national security expertise does he have?

OZ: Ma'am, you're asking me a question that's out of my lane. I'm so focused on making sure Americans are healthy that I have not been looking at what other agencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: While Bill Pulte seems to lack any intelligence experience, what he has not lacked is a penchant for being a very loyal foot soldier in President Trump's retribution tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): He's a fierce Trump loyalist and political attack dog who's quickly become one of the president's most trusted allies.

BILL PULTE, FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: What data is he looking at to keep up rates? He's looking at no data. He's looking at his own hate, in my opinion, for President Trump, which is disgusting. TAPPER (voice-over): And now Bill Pulte is taking on his most powerful role ever. President Trump is naming the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to be acting Director of National Intelligence, putting him in charge of the nation's intelligence community while he continues to run the agency overseeing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

PULTE: At Fannie Mae, we have $4.3 trillion, if you can believe that, on our balance sheet. At Freddie Mac, we have over 3 trillion.

TAPPER (voice-over): In just over a year in office, Pulte has transformed what is normally a low profile regulatory job into a highly political platform, repeatedly using his position to target figures viewed as adversaries of President Trump.

[17:05:02]

PULTE: I can be intimidated by the media, the politicians. They can say whatever they want.

TAPPER (voice-over): With access to confidential mortgage information, Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging mortgage fraud by a number of high profile Trump foes, including Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, former Congressman Eric Swalwell, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is not about me. This is about all of us, about a justice system which has been weaponized, a justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge.

TAPPER (voice-over): Pulte's influence has not always sat well inside the Trump administration. Last year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent almost came to blows with Pulte after Bessent accused Pulte of talking negatively about him to Trump in private.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: Treasury secretaries dating back to Alexander Hamilton have a history of doing turned out a little better for treasury side this time.

TAPPER (voice-over): And on the policy front, Pulte was one of the leading voices pushing Trump to embrace the controversial idea of 50- year mortgages.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not even a big deal. I mean, you know, you go from 40 to 50 years and what it means is you pay, you pay something less.

TAPPER (voice-over): But now, as acting Director of National Intelligence, Pulte will have access to some of the government's most closely guarded secrets, as well as some of the most intrusive surveillance technology in the world. A remarkable role and rise for a figure who not so long ago was known primarily in real estate and social media circles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TAPPER: Several Senate Republicans have already raised Pulte's complete lack of qualifications for the role as an issue for them. But even without their support, Pulte can serve as the acting director for up to 210 days. So will any Republicans try to stop President Trump from putting Pulte in charge of the country's national security apparatus? That remains to be seen.

Let's bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John, frankly, this seems like a slap in the face to the intelligence community and all the experienced individuals there are that could do this job. What's your reaction after talking to people in that community?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the phones have been buzzing today. It's hard to explain the reaction because people are asking, how do you put in someone who has zero background in this art as the leader of the intelligence community, where literally everyone from the lowest ranking person in the building probably knows more about it than the person in charge.

But we also have to factor in, Jake, President Trump's view of the intelligence community and the view of many of those around him is that it is the essential core of the deep state. It's where they collect the secrets, where they keep the secrets, and where they only share the secrets that they want to with the halls of power and elected officials.

So, putting in an outsider, in Trump's view, may be the way to start to either unearth what he thinks they're hiding or, you know, get a view of what's going on inside. It's just not going over very well with people who do this for a living.

TAPPER: Pulte, in theory, is a housing expert. Isn't there going to be some fallout from our counterparts, American counterparts in Europe and other intelligence agencies such as the CIA, with this choice?

MILLER: Oh, definitely. I mean, listen, one of the things when you are meeting with your peers across British intelligence, the Australians, New Zealand, Canada, places like Ukraine, you name it, Germany, France, is that those intelligence chiefs want to know that they are dealing with a peer, dealing with an equal. That's not going to be how this is read. They're scratching their heads.

TAPPER: The DNI theoretically has no operational responsibilities to run investigations, collect intelligence, look into surveillance. But does Pulte have the kind of access where he could theoretically use information in a political way, the way that. He did with mortgage information?

MILLER: The DNI, through the very fact that the DNI is in charge of preparing the President's daily briefing, has access to the intelligence from all 17 agencies, NSA, CIA, Space Force intelligence, Army Intelligence, Navy, Air Force. It goes on and on. That's a tremendous amount of material that they have access to.

And one of the concerns is if the individual who's going in to lead these organizations theoretically has a reputation of a political attack dog, what is he going to do with all that access and how will that information be used?

TAPPER: That is, in fact, the question, because he does have that reputation. John Miller, thanks so much.

[17:10:00]

Coming up next, we're going to get a reaction to Pulte's new assignment from a U.S. senator who served as a CIA analyst who also served in Iraq and in high level national security positions at the Pentagon.

Plus, that breaking news. The Justice Department backing off, at least for now, its plans for a billion dollar plus fund to compensate people who claim to have been victimized by the Biden administration. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: You know what that music means. It's our Politics Lead. It is primary day. Several major races across the country. The election jam is going on right now as I tell you that six states are holding primaries today. California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Here is what we will be watching for as results start to roll in tonight.

Starting in California, there is a big governor's race where the state's unusual primary system means that the top two candidates in the primary, whatever party they are, will both move on to the general election.

[17:15:00]

The latest polls show three candidates atop the field, two Democrats, former HHS Secretary Javier Becerra, Democratic businessman Tom Steyer, and then there is Republican Steve Hilton. He's a former Fox News host.

Also in California, the hotly contested Los Angeles mayor's race where conservatives are hoping that former reality TV star Spencer Pratt can prevail. His campaign is focused on widespread dissatisfaction over Democratic Mayor Karen Bass response to those devastating wildfires and the city's homelessness crisis.

Question is, can Pratt make the general election against either Bass or Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, a Democratic socialist? We're also watching a Senate primary in Montana where Republican Senator Steve Daines pulled some shenanigans announcing his retirement at the very last minute to prevent Democrats from fielding any sort of top recruit for the open seat with his hand-picked successor filing right afterwards.

As all the results come in, CNN will have live coverage of all of these races and much more. We're also looking ahead to next Tuesday's drama filled race, the main Senate Democratic primary today. Leading candidate Graham Platner is here in Washington, D.C. trying to convince and Senate Democrats to overlook his many scandals.

These include that since covered up tattoo which is recognized as a Nazi symbol, comments that Graham Platner posted years ago online disparaging police, saying that white rural Americans are racist and stupid and all sorts of other crazy things having to do with latrines and more. And now as of this weekend reports that he was sexting multiple women early in his marriage just a few years ago before his Senate run.

Those details shared in confidence with a former campaign staffer by Platner's wife who says that she is upset that someone she once considered a friend went public with the information. Now before the sexting revelation, Platner led incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins by nine points in a University of New Hampshire poll released last week. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill tracking Platner's meetings, fundraising events.

Manu, what are you hearing from Democrats about Platner and about this latest scandal?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have a lot of questions, Jake. And in fact, Graham Platner just left a closed door meeting with Democratic senators in the room in the offices behind me. That's the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters where he met for about 90 minutes with Democratic senators and was invited to all members if they wanted to come. We inspired by roughly a dozen or so members who came in there and they tried to meet quietly but reporters like myself found out about this.

We were camped out at the various entrances, there were hecklers. Republicans were out here heckling Platner as well. Ultimately, Platner slipped out a side door, did not answer any questions, and he left. As we are told that he has fundraisers this evening here in Washington, most Democrats right now are trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. They are siding with him. They say that this race is too important to lose.

They must win Maine in order to take back the United States Senate. And they are listening to what he is calling a private matter when he also says that these are controversies from the past, that he's moved on past these controversies, that he's a changed man and the like. They're OK with that, those explanations, except for one Democratic senator, that is Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who I caught up with about this controversy this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): What kind of a creeper has been on a decade on a platform like Kik and send a dozen explicit kinds of messages and who knows what else?

RAJU: Would it be better for Democrats if he was not the candidate here?

FETTERMAN: All I'm saying, it's like, you know, when I was growing up, if someone had a clear Nazi tattoo on them, you probably could conclude that there's a Nazi sympathizer. How, you know, at some point are you going to continue to defend that or dismiss that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, I asked Fetterman how he feels about Janet Mills, who is the Democratic governor who has suspended her campaign. He talked up her candidacy. Of course Mills has suspended her campaign, but she did make comments yesterday reminding voters that she is still on the ballot. And the person who recruited her in that race, Jake, of course, was Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader.

I asked Schumer today if he is still endorsing Graham Platner after Mills suspended his campaign. And he would only say that we are going to beat the Susan Collins in Maine and we're going to retake the Senate.

TAPPER: Manu Raju, thanks so much. We're going to talk more about President Trump's controversial move today, giving the job of acting Director of National Intelligence to Bill Pulte, a guy better known for his housing resume and a tack dog resume. We're going to talk about it with a former CIA analyst who's now in the Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:24:20]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your reaction to Bill Pulte's nomination for director of National Intelligence. The president just announced.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): My understanding is the Senate doesn't have a role in confirmation of an acting director. But --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like him?

CORNYN: I see no -- no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This administration continues to put people in places where they can't do a job and non-serious people up for serious jobs.

(END VIDEO CLI)

TAPPER: Rare instance of bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill tops our World Lead. Many Democrats and Republicans are criticizing President Trump's appointment of housing official Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

[17:25:00]

With us now, Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. He's a member of the Senate Armed Services and Homeland Security committees. And we should point out, Senator, that you're a former CIA analyst. You served three tours in Iraq alongside the U.S. military, then you worked in various national security roles at the Pentagon and in the White House under Presidents Bush and Obama.

So, theoretically, you would be qualified. What is your take on Bill Pulte serving as Acting Director of National Intelligence?

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Well, yes, in addition to those things, I actually helped start the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. I was one of the first 10 employees under the Bush administration when John Negroponte became the first DNI. And that legislation here in Congress was passed and established it.

I mean, my take is he's not qualified for the job. And, you know, we're not even sure he's ever had a security clearance, certainly never handled classified information, been in any national security role, which, you know, by the way, is in the legislation. Susan Collins was the one who ensured back in 2004 that whoever got this job had to have someone -- it had to be someone who had national security experience. Excuse me.

But I think the other piece of this is what we've seen him do in the job he does have, right? He's a Senate confirmed -- confirmed housing official. He has used his access to every American's mortgage information to launch bogus claims and lawsuits against many, many people. He has weaponized the government against Donald Trump's perceived enemies.

So if we do that and look up people's mortgage information and create fake claims and accusations in a housing department, what could he do at the top of the intelligence community and all the access to information and tools that he has there.

So, for those reasons, the lack of experience and the lack of judgment and morality in law, I think he's not qualified and he shouldn't even be there in an acting position.

TAPPER: So we pointed out in a previous segment in the show that he, as Housing Authority, as you note, launched investigations using this, you know, confidential mortgage information. Democratic former Congressman Eric Swalwell, Senator Adam Schiff, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, a Fed governor that he doesn't like, Lisa Cook, that Trump doesn't like, you know, this department, you know, DNI. Theoretically, if he were to weaponize his new office, what would that look like? What does he have access to? Could he order surveillance or get surveillance on, let's say you.

SLOTKIN: I mean, look, as someone, you know, who the President tried to criminally indict for a 90-second video, I think you have to start thinking, you know, really expansively about these agencies and departments that I've worked for and with my entire life.

One of the central tenets for the intelligence community since Watergate, since, you know, before I was born, is that you cannot use the intelligence community against American citizens. You cannot target American citizens. If there's a legal issue, it goes to the FBI and they do that investigation.

But the intelligence community should be focused on foreign threats, terrorism, nation states, et cetera. And I think, you know, it's almost unthinkable that -- that we would have people in power who would not, I think, have the judgment to push back if the President asked them to do something illegally.

And, you know, the President put out an executive order saying, hey, you know, I think it's time the intelligence community and others start looking at what's going on domestically, domestic terrorism and using all their tools to go after domestic terrorists. That certainly got my ears up, because what this man defines as domestic terrorist, I think it tends to be often things, people just expressing freedom of speech.

So I think it's just been -- if we just have to think, keep a creative mind about what someone like Mr. Pulte could do if the President pressed him to do something illegally.

TAPPER: Within the last hour, the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, told a House committee that the Justice Department is not moving forward with President Trump's $1.776 billion anti- weaponization fund. Here's what he said exactly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: There were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, were -- it remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We are not moving forward with the fund. There's a lot of wiggle room in the we are not. What's your reaction?

SLOTKIN: I mean, my reaction is, first of all, this is what happens when my Republican colleagues actually stand up on behalf of the American people and, you know, they push back against the President and said, we don't want to vote for a slush fund of American taxpayer dollars to go towards violent criminals who had been convicted. Right. That sounds like a bad stinker of a political issue. So, Mr. President, please don't do it. So they do have power.

[17:30:01]

And then I think secondly, I don't, like, it's nice that they're saying we're not going to do it. They also said the ballroom that the President's building in the East Wing was going to be completely free for taxpayers. They weren't going to pay a dollar. And now they're asking for a billion dollars.

So I just don't trust that because Todd Blanche says it today, it won't turn around and happen three days from now when Donald Trump changes his mind. So you know, a bunch of us have put out actually a piece of legislation that just says, no, you cannot use taxpayer dollars to set up your own private fund for just the people you want to get money, especially when those people have done things like tased and attacked police officers and been convicted of doing that. TAPPER: Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin from the great state of Michigan, thanks so much.

Coming up, the new support group set up to help people who once worked at the FBI and currently work at the FBI. Is the situation really that bad?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:19]

TAPPER: And we're back with our Law and Justice Lead. Former FBI agents are launching an FBI support network to assist current FBI employees amid FBI Director Kash Patel's crusade to eliminate what he deems weaponization inside the bureau.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN DRISCOLL, FORMER ACTING FBI DIRECTOR: Those facing these unprecedented times are not alone.

MIKE FEINBERG, FORMER FBI ASST. SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: When you need support, legal, emotional or professional, please contact us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here with me now is one of the former agents behind this effort, former FBI executive assistant director and special agent in charge, Jacqueline Maguire. So, Jackie, this group will offer legal services, mental health support, assistance with new jobs and more for those who are still inside the FBI. It's an offshoot of a similar service for current Justice Department workers. What was the impetus for you and this group of former FBI agents and officials to come together to start this?

JACQUELINE MAGUIRE, FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI: Sure. I think the impetus over the past year, you know, Justice Connection started right away in January of 25 when firings, when people were being forced out of the Department of Justice. We realized more recently that the FBI needs its own sort of organization within Justice Connection because the FBI has some unique needs. So these services are for those who've been forced out. The FBI has been disproportionately impacted by the actions of this administration over the past year.

People have been forced out for just doing their job. So we want to make sure that those people are supported, as well as people who are still in, who may have to be, you know, faced with hard choices and make some decisions. We want the resources to be there for them as well.

TAPPER: What's unique for FBI employees as opposed to Justice Department employees? Is it because FBI agents, you know, risk their lives more often?

MAGUIRE: Well, that is true. FBI agents, you know, they swear the same oath to the Constitution. But there are unique needs of FBI personnel, unique processes with their disciplinary programs. So the pro bono attorneys that are available through this network have been trained in those unique situations for those unique processes.

So I think the understanding that FBI employees, former employees who've come together to offer these services and to talk to the people who have been fired, who are getting forced out and who are still in, understand their roles, understand their jobs and understand the FBI.

TAPPER: Is the goal with some of these resources to help mitigate the high turnover rate that we're seeing at the FBI under Kash Patel among the most experienced employees?

MAGUIRE: We'd love to mitigate that turnover. I'm not sure, you know, that we have control of their unjustified firings and forcing people out. But again, we want to make sure when people are put into those situations that they understand and they realize that we are there for them. The FBI is a family, whether you're still in or whether you are out.

And we want to make sure not only the employees know about this, but that the American public know what's going on. We want to speak out in talking about the important mission of the FBI and its work. We want to also speak out against what is going on by this administration.

TAPPER: And you were pushed out, right? You were among the people pushed out. Why were you pushed out?

MAGUIRE: I was. I was an executive assistant director. So just a couple of weeks after Inauguration Day, my cohorts and I, the fellow executive assistant directors who were at the top level of the FBI, were told that we would be terminated if we did not resign or retire just days later. And the reason that was given was that we could not be trusted to carry out the president's agenda.

TAPPER: Shocking. All right. Former FBI executive director Jacqueline Maguire, thank you so much for being here and thanks for what you did for our country. We appreciate it.

Coming up, the name on the ballot that could shake up next week's primary in Maine, given all the drama around Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.

[17:39:18]

Plus, the primary right now in Montana, a retiring Republican senator tried to basically shut out any real competition for his handpicked successor. We told you 2026 would be a fight. We're going to talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our Politics Lead now, a chorus of criticism on the political left after election denier, Tina Peters, walked out of a Colorado prison yesterday, thanks to Democratic Governor Jared Polis granting her a controversial commutation and making her eligible for parole after years in prison. Peters, a Republican, is a former Mesa County, Colorado clerk. She was convicted in 2024 of state felonies for conspiring with fellow election deniers to breach her county's voting systems. In 2021, this is long after the election was over, the presumed hope was to provide proof of President Donald Trump's baseless 2020 voter fraud claims. Governor Polis joins us now.

Thanks, Governor. Appreciate you being here. So after Tina Peters was released yesterday, her first stop was Steve Bannon's war room. Here's part of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA PETERS, FORMER MESA COUNTY CLERK: I know that the Democrats are going to cheat. And no one's really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So two things, Governor. First, I'd love your reaction to what she said there about Colorado's voting machine flipping votes to help Democrats cheat. And second, I guess your decision to grant her clemency didn't rely on any sort of repentance as sometimes is required.

[17:45:13]

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Well, first of all, what she said is silly. I would call it a lie, but I think she actually believes it. So I don't think lie is the right word. It's just wildly inaccurate. Obviously, our -- Colorado is a gold standard for elections. We have all paper ballots that can be counted and recounted. There is no flaw that any of us have been notified or aware of, no reason to believe there's any issue in the counting.

We have a lot of checks in the system to avoid that. Here's the important thing, Jake. Saying things like that in our free country is absolutely not a crime. And that's where people are conflating things. Now, she committed an illegal act, to be clear, right, accessing a room and getting illegal access to the computers themselves because of her, presumably because of her various beliefs as a motive, incorrect beliefs. And the court -- the appeals court found, and I agree, that there was a disparate sentence for that.

Nine years, first-time offender, nonviolent, and of course she committed a crime. Had she gotten two years, had she gotten one year, three years, nobody would have blinked an eye. She got nine years. I cut that in half, which I think is still a very tough sentence for that. Does she still believe and say things that I think are completely wrong about her? She does. I hope she doesn't, but she does. That's her right as an American like anybody else.

TAPPER: We spoke with the Colorado Secretary of State yesterday, a fellow Democrat, and she obviously strongly disagrees with your decision to provide this early release for Tina Peters. Take a listen to what the Secretary of State had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENA GRISWOLD (D), COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: Granting clemency to her was a grave injustice to Colorado, our democracy, and election workers all across this country. It was a bad idea. And I am hoping for the best, but Tina Peters shows herself time and time again. She has no remorse. And if I would guess, she would do her actions again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: One of the arguments that Secretary of State Griswold is making is that this is not just people exercising free speech, people exercising their God-given right to say stupid and believe ridiculous things. The people have died because of these beliefs in light of Donald Trump's inciting of people who have been convinced that these lies about the election are true. What's your reaction?

POLIS: Well, first of all, I would say that, of course, the President has encouraged people to believe in inaccurate information. He still, to this date, tries to undermine the validity of the 2020 election with zero evidence, zero facts. This, you know, in terms of fair justice administered at the individual level, which is what we're talking about here with regards to this person, partisan politics should not enter that, right? Whether somebody believes in the left or right, a Republican or Democrat, somebody could say Democrats, or somebody could say Republicans are trying to steal elections. That doesn't mean they deserve a harsher sentence than they would get for the same crime as somebody who says, you know, birds aren't real or the earth is flat. I mean, these are all things people can believe.

I don't believe they happen to be accurate and objectively according to the evidence they're not. But we have to make sure that this sentence is a result of the actual crime committed. In this case, it was out of whack. She still got a harsh sentence. She's a convicted felon for the rest of her life. And I think, you know, did she learn her lesson to follow the law? I sure hope so. It certainly didn't change her mind on her crazy viewpoints, nor is that the goal. We don't have a re-education camp, right? We're not Maoist China. We don't re-educate people. But I hope that she certainly follows the law going forward.

TAPPER: Democratic Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, thanks so much for your time today. I appreciate it, sir.

POLIS: Always a pleasure.

TAPPER: Let's bring in the panel. Karen Finney, your reaction to Governor Polis and his reasoning for commuting the sentence of Tina Peters?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, obviously, I disagree. I'm with the Secretary of State Griswold on this one because it's not -- I hear his perspective. He's the governor. He gets to do what he wants. But remember that at the time she was sentenced, part of what was happening in this country was a feeling that the sentencing needed to reflect just the harshness of and the seriousness of what was happening across the country.

The damage that that did, and we're still living in the reverberations of the damage of what Donald Trump did denouncing the 2020 and from, you know, January 6th on, there's still people, as we heard from her, who don't believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election falsely. So I think you can say the damage was done. And certainly, I think part of the goal in the sentencing was to indicate how wrong that was. And so I just disagree with the governor.

TAPPER: What do you think? I mean, he made an argument that we shouldn't judge crazy beliefs based on whether they're of the left or of the right. A counter-argument might be, that I didn't offer because I wanted to get to you guys, was, well, what if they're, you know, that, you know, the silly campaign of that birds aren't real, right?

[17:50:09]

Nobody's dying because of that. No one's getting physically attacked because of that. It's kind of like a silly meme out there. Or the belief in aliens getting into our brains. No one's actually -- it's not a threat. But there are crazy things on the left and the right that do constitute, that have a way of ending up in actions, whether it's anti-Semitism on the left or racism on the right or whatever.

T.W. ARRIGHI, VICE PRESIDENT, PUSH DIGITAL GROUP REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I don't believe saying that there's allegations of voter fraud or that there's somebody flipping votes means automatically that there's going to be violence. Look, among Jared Polis' commutations and pardons, I had problems with a lot of them. But I think we're missing a few really key factors here.

During the sentencing, the judge said the reason for the harshness was because she was unrepentant in her belief in voter fraud and in the stealing of the election. Her words were the reason for more punishment. That's not acceptable. That's not acceptable to go above and beyond what the law dictates for sentencing. In fact, three Democrat-appointed judges just recently said she needs to be resentenced. This is not fair.

In Georgia, a similar case popped up and the woman was just paroled. So it's way out of whack done by an activist judge. And it's good on Jared Polis to call out judges of his persuasion to say, hey, look, this is over the line. I agree, she did bad stuff. She deserved jail time. But nine years at 70 years old is crazy.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, I will say, whether you think that the decision by Polis was a good one, it was a gutsy one because it does do something to piss off his own party, his own base. Let's turn to the Senate primary in Maine and the fallout over the latest story about Democratic candidate Graham Platner. We should point out that Maine Governor Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign months ago because she wasn't getting any money, she wasn't getting any traction in her race against Platner, she notes that she didn't drop out.

And she's reminding voters that she is still on the ballot. She is still an option ahead of the primary election in one week. She told the Portland Press Herald, "I'm still on the ballot." Now, a lot of supporters of Mills want her to revive her campaign and take on Platner over fears that he'll win. What about you? Do you want Mills to win next week? What do you think?

FINNEY: So I think we're missing the point on the Graham Platner piece. I think it's less about the texting and more, unless there is some violence that occurred or something attached to that.

TAPPER: Not just the sexting.

FINNEY: No. I'm getting there.

TAPPER: There's also the Nazi tattoo.

FINNEY: That's what I'm getting to.

TAPPER: Yes. Yes, yes.

FINNEY: And actually, it's deeper than that because the way he responded to those issues, he was very frank and open. I've listened to several of the interviews he gave and I really appreciated his conversation about what he was like in his 20s and the process he went through. It's that lack of candor around this, that's what I think is hurting him because people are saying, wait a second. What's going on here? You're not able to just say, hey, my wife and I went through a time. It's not your business. I think it's smart for Janet Mills to remind people that she could still be, you know, she's still on the ballot.

And by the way, Maine state law suggests that they could actually remove Platner up until July. So we'll see what happens next week. Look, I think they should keep her as a viable alternative. No question.

TAPPER: And T.W. I want to ask you about the Senate primary race in Montana today. In March, minutes before the filing deadline, Republican Senator Steve Daines, the incumbent, he abruptly announced that he was retiring. And then minutes later, before the deadline, Kurt Alme, his handpicked successor, Democrats did not have an opportunity to field a legitimate, serious contender.

And there are a lot of Republicans in Montana who are pissed off about this. We covered this when Congressman Chuy Garcia did it in Chicago. So now we're covering it when Steve Daines does it in Montana. What do you think?

ARRIGHI: Yes, it doesn't sound good, right? It doesn't look good on its face. I don't know the full details of why they did it, aside from trying to box everyone else.

TAPPER: That's pretty much it.

ARRIGHI: It might be, but I'll let Steve Daines talk on behalf of himself. But no, I don't think it was good when Chuy Garcia does. I don't think it looks good when Senator Daines does it. It's funny that Senator Daines does it right after the Chuy Garcia thing, as if there wasn't a lesson learned.

But look, Montana is a competitive state. The Democrats should have fielded a good candidate regardless of the fact that whether Daines ran or not. So that's just a lesson to everybody run everywhere.

TAPPER: Do you have any thoughts?

FINNEY: I agree. Run everywhere. Contest every race everywhere. I didn't love when Chuy Garcia did. I don't love that this is what's happening. I mean, can I also say, going back to Maine, this is why primaries matter, right? That is our opportunity as voters to vet these candidates, see what they're all about, kick the tires. You should allow the voters to have that opportunity.

TAPPER: We have a few seconds left. What do you think of the Graham Platner situation?

[17:54:59]

ARRIGHI: Well, I think a few things. First of all, the two wrongs don't make a right. Maxim still hold a lot of weight for people. So when they see people -- Democrats attacking Paxton but then turning a blind eye to Graham Platner, they're like, what the F is going on?

And also we're missing a part of this equation. Her name's Susan Collins and people don't think Susan Collins is the MAGA evil person that is made out to be in the press. And I feel like we're going through a moment here where it was the, where it was the binders where she convicted Trump. She worked across the aisle. She's approved a lot of judges. This reminds me a little bit of Christine O'Donnell in 2010. Graham Platner is going to be a Christine O'Donnell. TAPPER: All right. Thanks to both of you.

The Trump administration had the audacity to create this $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, so called Anti-Weaponization Fund. A lot of Republicans hated it. Courts ordered the plans to be paused and now the Justice Department is saying, just forget it. We're not going to do it. No more funds. So here's the question. Do you believe the Justice Department? This latest chapter in what's been a wild ride. That's next.

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