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She did not stop there. Rice directly suggested that political consequences are coming.
“They’re going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box,” she warned.
Rice then delivered what many critics are calling a clear threat to corporate America.
“And I can tell you, Preet, as I talk to leaders in Washington, leaders in our party, leaders in the states, if these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are gonna play by the old rules and say, ‘oh, never mind, we’ll forgive you for all the people you’ve fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all the laws you’ve skirted,’ I think they’ve got another thing coming.”
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She compared the moment to redistricting battles under Trump and suggested Democrats will respond aggressively.
“Because just like when Trump thought, ‘okay, I’ll redistrict, and the Democrats won’t have the guts to play hardball,’ they’re going to be surprised.”
Rice insisted Democrats would not break the law, but she emphasized a harder posture going forward.
“Democrats have had a belly full and we’re not going to play by the old set of rules when these guys are playing by a very different set of rules. We’re going to play by the rules of the game. Play by the law, but that’s, we’re not going to violate the law the way they do, but we’re not going to be suckers.”
She then made what may be the most striking comment of the interview.
“And so I think, you know, whether you’re a law firm, whether you’re university, whether you’re media entity, whether you’re a big corporation, whether you’re big tech, you need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental.”
“There will be an accountability agenda. You know, companies already are starting to hear they better preserve their documents. They better be ready for subpoenas if they’ve done something wrong. They’ll be held accountable.”
“And if they haven’t broken the law, good for them. If they’ve done the right things, good for them. That also will be noted and remembered.”
“But this is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget..”
“The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest.”
The host of the podcast, Bharara, is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions. As U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he pursued conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza over campaign finance violations tied to the release of his film 2016: Obama’s America. D’Souza has long argued that the prosecution was politically motivated, noting that federal resources were heavily deployed in the case.
Critics see Rice’s remarks as confirmation of what they describe as a looming “accountability machine” aimed squarely at Trump allies and institutions that refused to oppose him. Supporters, meanwhile, argue that enforcing the law is not retaliation but responsibility.
Either way, Rice’s message was unmistakable. Democrats, she says, are done playing defense. And according to her own words, corporations and institutions that chose what she views as short-term alignment with Trump “better preserve their documents” and “better be ready for subpoenas.”
If Democrats retake power, Rice made it clear: this will not be business as usual.
