MILES AN HOUR. IN THAT CLIP SO HE HAD TO TRASH
HIS OWN U.S. INTEL AGENCIES.
BUT, BOY, HE WAS IN FULL PANIC
MODE.
MODE. >> PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS
ALLIES REACTED TO THE REPORT
THAT THE FBI BEGAN INVESTIGATING
WHETHER TRUMP HAD BEEN WORKING
AGAINST AMERICAN INTERESTS ON
BEHALF OF RUSSIA.
AFTER THE SPRING OF 2017 FIRING
OF DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY.
ACCORDING TO FORMER LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND OTHERS
FAMILIAR WITH THE PROBE,
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATORS HAD TO CONSIDER
WHETHER THE PRESIDENT’S ACTIONS
CONSTITUTED A POSSIBLE THREAT TO
NATIONAL SECURITY, UNPRECEDENTED
ON SO MANY LEVELS.
AGENTS AND SENIOR FBI OFFICIALS
HAD GROWN SUSPICIOUS OF
MR. TRUMP’S TIES TO RUSSIA
DURING THE 2016 CAMPAIGN BUT
HELD OFF ON OPENING AN
INVESTIGATION INTO HIM IN PART
BECAUSE THEY WERE UNSTERN HOW TO
PROCEED WITH AN INQUIRY OF SUCH
SENSITIVITY AND MAGNITUDE.
AGENTS ALSO SOUGHT TO DETERMINE
WHETHER MR. TRUMP WAS KNOWINGLY
WORKING FOR RUSSIA OR HAD
UNWITTINGLY FALLEN UNDER
MOSCOW’S INFLUENCE.
MOSCOW’S INFLUENCE. NO EVIDENCE HAS EMERGED THAT
MR. TRUMP WAS SECRETLY IN
CONTACT OR TOOK DIRECTION FROM
RUSSIAN OFFICIALS.
RUSSIAN OFFICIALS. THE PRESIDENT RESPONDED AS PART
OF THE 12 TWEETS, 12 TWEETS
SAYING THE INVESTIGATION WAS
OPENED WITH NO PROOF.
HE GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO FOBS
NEWS.
NEWS. >> ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER
WORKED FOR RUSSIA?
>> IT’S THE MOST INSULTING
QUESTION.
QUESTION. THE HEADLINE OF THE ARTARTICLE,
CALLED THE FAILING THE "NEW YORK
TIMES" FOR A REASON.
>> MICHAEL, WHY NOW?
TALK ABOUT DEVELOPING THIS STORY
AND WHY IS IT THAT HERE WE ARE
AT THE BEGINNING OF 2019 THAT
YOU FINALLY HAD ENOUGH TO GO
WITH THE STORY.
>> IN MANY WAYS IT’S SOMETHING
WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
FOR A YEAR AND A HALF, SINCE THE
INVESTIGATION WAS LAUNCHED IN
MAY OF 2017, TO SORT OF
UNDERSTAND THE CONTOURS OF IT.
WE WERE HELPED ALONG THE WAY BY
TESTIMONY THAT HAD BEEN PROVIDED
TO CONGRESS BY THE FBI’S GENERAL
COUNSEL AT THE TIME, WHO TALKED
ABOUT HOW THE FIRING OF COMEY SO
UNNERVED THE FBI.
THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS
GOING ON.
GOING ON. THEY KNEW THERE WAS THIS LARGER
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION, THEY KNEW
THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS TRYING TO
INTERFERE WITH IT AND IF HE WAS
TRYING TO INTERFERE WITH THE
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION, WHATst WAS
MOTIVATING THAT?
MOTIVATING THAT? WHAT WAS DRIVING THAT?
THAT THAT HIS CONNECTIONS TO
RUSSIA?
RUSSIA? THE FBI KNEW ABOUT HIS TRIP FOR
THE MISS UNIVERSE PAJGEANT TO
RUSSIA, THEY KNEW ABOUT THE
STEELE DOSSIER AND THEY TOOK THE
STEP TO OPEN THE INVESTIGATION
WHICH WAS TAKEN OVER JUST DAYS
LATER BY BOB MUELLER WHEN HE WAS
APPOINTED SPECIAL COUNSEL.
>> TOM NICHOLS WROTE FOR "USA
TODAY" THAT IT ACTUALLY WOULD
HAVE BEEN SURPRISING GIVEN ALL
OF THE STRANGE BEHAVIOR
EXHIBITED BY THE PRESIDENT
DURING HIS CAMPAIGN ON THIS SHOW
ACTUALLY IN DECEMBER OF 2015,
MOVING FORWARD, AND THROUGH THE
FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS OF HIS
PRESIDENCY HE ACTUALLY SAID THAT
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN STRANGE HAD
THE FBI NOT MADE AN INQUIRY INTO
WHETHER THERE WAS ANY CONNECTION
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND DONALD TRUMP
THAT MIGHT IMPACT AMERICA’S
NATIONAL SECURITY.
NATIONAL SECURITY. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT SORT OF
DIVISION THERE WAS INSIDE THE
BUREAU ON WHETHER THIS SHOULD BE
LAUNCHED OR NOT?
>> WELL, THE BUREAU IS SORT OF
LOOKING AT TWO QUESTIONS.
THEY’RE LOOKING AT A QUESTION OF
OBSTRUCTION
OBSTRUCTION OBSTRUCTION, SIMPLE CRIMINAL
OBSTRUCTION, WAS THE PRESIDENT
PRAEKING THE LAW BY TRYING TO
INTERFERE WITH THE INVESTIGATION
AND THEN THE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
QUESTION, THE NATIONAL SECURITY
QUESTION, SOMETHING THAT WOULD
NOT USUALLY RESULT IN A CRIMINAL
CHARGE BUT TRYING TO ANSWER WHAT
ARE HIS TIES AND WHY IS HE
ACTING THAT WAY?
IT’S TRUE EHETHAT HE WAS
SUSPICIOUS.
SUSPICIOUS. YOU BETTER HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE
AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE
DOING BEFORE YOU GO FORWARD WITH
THAT.
THAT. IT WAS THE FIRING OF COMEY THAT
LED THEM TO THAT POINT, THAT
MADE THEM FEEL COMFORTABLE TO
OPEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIM.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. BUT, MICHAEL, THE QUESTION IS
WAS THERE ANYTHING DISSENT
WITHIN THE FBI TO OPEN THE
INVESTIGATION, OR DID MOST OF
THE PEOPLE THAT HAD THAT
DECISION BASICALLY IN THEIR
HANDS, DID MOST OF THEM AGREE
THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT
THEY NEEDED TO LOOK INTO?
>> I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING
THEY THOUGHT FOR MUCH OF THE
SPRING OF ’17 THEY NEEDED TO
LOOK INTO.
LOOK INTO. I THINK THEY WERE IN AGREEMENT
AFTER THE THOME FIRING, THAT
THIS -- AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS
OPENED, THE FBI HAD GONE AHEAD
AND DONE THIS ON THEIR OWN.
WE SOMETIMES FORGET WHAT WAS
GOING ON IN THE LARGER CONTEXT
OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AT THE
TIME.
TIME. ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY
GENERAL, THE PERSON OVERSEEING
THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION, HAD
JUST PROVIDED THE PRESIDENT WITH
A RATIONAL FOR FIRING COMEY’S
THAT WAS NOT THE PRESIDENT’S
REAL REASON FOR GETTING RID OF
HIM.
HIM. SO THE FBI LOOKED AT.
>> DAVID IGNATIUS, I WANT TO
BACK UP A BIT AND GET SOME
PERSPECTIVE HERE.
PERSPECTIVE HERE. IS THERE ANY PRECEDENT FOR
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ATTEMPT TO
KEEP THE CONTENT OF HIS CANS.
>> I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY
INSTANCE LIKE THIS.
IT TYPICAL YOU HAVE MULTIPLE
AIDES SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT,
CERTAINLY YOU HAVE A TRANSLATOR
WHOSE NOTES ARE DISCUSSED,
DISSEMINATED.
DISSEMINATED. WHEN THIS NEWS BROKE OVER THE
WEEKEND THAT THERE HAD BEEN
SUPPRESSION OF NOTES FROM ONE OF
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MEETINGS WITH
PUTIN, I HAPPENED TO BE WITH A
FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF
STAFF.
STAFF. HE WAS DUMBFOUNDED.
HE SAID -- SO THE QUESTION IS
WHY, WHAT WAS SO SECRET ABOUT
THESE MEETINGS?
THESE MEETINGS? WHAT WAS SO PERSONAL AND
PRIVATE?
PRIVATE? IN THE FOOTAGE AT THE OPENING
SEGMENT, WE SAW DONALD TRUMP
CONFRONTED WITH A SHART QUESTION
ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH
SPOOTD DEFLECTION.
SPOOTD DEFLECTION. WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO ANSWER,
YOU DEFLECT.
YOU DEFLECT. WE SAW A PERFECT INSTANCE OF
THAT.
THAT. I’LL SAY FINALLY MICHAEL
SCHMIDT’S REPORTING ON THIS FBI
INVESTIGATION IS SO IMPORTANT
BECAUSE IT REMINDS US THAT THE
FBI’S VOB IN THE BEGINNING OF
THIS WAS ABOUT RUSSIA.
THIS WAS A COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
INVESTIGATION INTO ANOMALOUS,
STRANGE BEHAVIOR INVOLVING
PRESIDENT.
PRESIDENT. AND THE QUESTION THE REPORTING
RAISES IS WHETHER THE ALLEGED
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND
FIRING COMEY AND OTHER ACTIONS,
WHETHER THAT WAS THE COLLUSION,
THAT WAS THE EFFORT TO HELP
RUSSIA.
RUSSIA. >> THAT IS SOMETHING THAT MANY
LEGAL EXPERTS HAVE BEEN BRINGING
UP OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS,
THAT PERHAPS THE OBSTRUCTION WAS
THE COLLUSION.
THE COLLUSION. MAYBE IT WAS PART OF THE
COLLUSION.
COLLUSION. MAYBE WE DON’T HAVE TWO SEPARATE
LEGAL THEORIES AT THE SAME TIME.
MAYBE IT COMES TOGETHER.
THAT SAID, LET STEP BACK JUST
FOR ONE SECOND AND, DAVID, TELL
ME WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS THE
FIRST TIME YOU SAW THE HEADLINE,
MICHAEL SCHMIDT’S HEADLINE THAT
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, ANY PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES, WAS BEING
INVESTIGATED AS AN ASSET OF ONE
OF OUR FOREIGN ENEMIES?
>> JOE, I’M NOT SOMEBODY WHO
GOES FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIES.
I THINK USUALLY THE SIMPLER
EXPLANATION IS CORRECT SO I’VE
BEEN RELUCTANT TO SEE THIS AS A
STORY OF AN AMERICAN CANDIDATE
AND THEN PRESIDENT WHO WAS THE
TOOL OF A FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE
SERVICE.
SERVICE. YOU BEGIN TO HAVE TO LOOK AT
THAT MORE SERIOUSLY NOW AS YOU
PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
IN A SENSE THIS IS A CONSPIRACY
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.
YOU PUT TOGETHER EVERY KNOWN
FACT, EVERY PIECE OF VIDEO WITH
TRUMP AND PUTIN TOGETHER.
IT’S OUR FRIEND, BEN WITTIS,
THAT MADE THE POINT IT THE
OBSTRUCTION THAT IS THE
COLLUSION.
COLLUSION. SUDDENLY IT SO CLEAR.
WOO YOU CAN SEE THE PRESIDENT IS
ALREADY DESTABILIZED AS HE
THINKS ABOUT HOW HE’S GOING TO
HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.
>> GREG MILLER, YOU’RER REPORTIN
AT THE "WASHINGTON POST" BROUGHT
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE FACT
THAT THIS PRESIDENT, WHO HAD
ALREADY MADE A LOT OF AMERICANS
AND FOREIGN POLICY LEADERS
UNCOMFORTABLE WITH WANTING TO
MEET ALONE WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN,
EXCEPT WITH AN INTERPRETER,
AFTER THE MEETING SEIZED THE
INTERPRETERS NOTES SO EVEN TELL
US ABOUT THE STORY AND THE
POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS.
POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS. >> THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO
DOESN’T REALLY LISTEN TO HIS
AIDES GOING INTO THESE MEETINGS
AND THIS STORY IS ABOUT HOW HE
OFTEN CON SEALS WHAT TRANSPIRED
IN THESE MEETINGS TO THE SAME AN
BUT OF COURSE THE CONTEXT HERE
IS RUSSIA AND THE RUSSIA
INVESTIGATION AND THE ENORMOUS
CLOUD, WHICH IS A TERM THE
PRESIDENT HIMSELF USES, THE
CLOUD THAT HANGS OVER HIM, THE
SUSPICION THAT HANGS OVER HIM
PAUSE OF THESE BECAUSE OF PUTIN
AS MOTT DO WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE NOTES?
DO WE KNOW IF HE DESTROYED THE
NOTES, IF HE STORED THEM
SOMEWHERE?
SOMEWHERE? WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
>> I’M NOT SURE WHAT BECAME OF
THE NOTES.
THE NOTES. THE OTHER OFFICIALS IN THE
ADMINISTRATION ONLY LEARNED THAT
TRUMP HAD TAKEN THE NOTES LATER
WHEN THEY TRIED TO GO TO THIS
INTERPRETER JUST TO ASK
QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT HAD
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A READOUT
OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN THAT
MEETING.
MEETING. AND THE INTERPRETER IS THE ONE
WHO SAID, LOOK, I WAS TOLD NOT
TO TALK ABOUT IT, THE PRESIDENT
TOOK MY NOTES AND THIS WAS JUST
SORT OF ASTONISHING TO THESE
OTHER OFFICIALS.
OTHER OFFICIALS. THESE ARE OFFICIALS IN THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. THIS INCLUDED HIS TOP RUSSIA
ADVISER IN THE WHITE HOUSE, WHO
IS ON THIS TRIP BUT WAS
NEVERTHELESS EXCLUDED FROM THESE
MEETINGS WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN.
>> SO THIS INTERPRETER, IS IT
POSSIBLE THAT THIS INTERPRETER
MAY POSSIBLE AND QUESTIONED PI
THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IN?
>> OF COURSE THERE IS THAT
IMPULSE RIGHT NOW.
WE QUOTE THE CHAIR OF THE HOUSE
FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE SAYING
HE PLANS TO APPOINT AN
INVESTIGATIVE FOREIGN AFFAIRS
COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE
MEETINGS WITH PUTIN AND WHAT HAS
HAPPENED ON THOSE OCCASIONS.
IT’S A SENSITIVE THING.
INTERPRETERS ARE NOT THE
PRESIDENT’S GUIDES OR AIDES.
THEY’RE THERE FOR A FUNCTION.
THERE’S CONCERN ABOUT DRAGGING A
INTERPRETER IT SEEMS A BIT
RIDICULOUS TO EVEN ASKED SK BUT
WE NEED TO CHECK IT OFF YOUR
LIST AS WELL.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A
PRESIDENT HAVING A ONE-ON-ONE
MEETING WITHOUT ANY AIDES AND
ONLY HAVE AN INTERPRETER WITH
HIM AND THEN HAVING THAT
INTERPRETER DELIVER BACK TO HIM
THE NOTES WITH THE ORDER TO NOT
TALK ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WAS
MENTIONED IN THE MEETING?
>> NOT SURPRISINGLY, JOE, THE
ANSWER IS NO.
IN MY EXPERIENCE AND I’VE WORKED
IN FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, YOU
HAVE BOTH AN INTERPRETER WHEN
YOU NEED ONE AND YOU HAVE AN
OFFICIAL, USUALLY THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AIDE’S, TAKING NOTES.
SO IT’S TO BASICALLY KEEP UP
WITH THE CONVERSATION.
WHEN YOU HAVE A NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL AIDE SITTING
THERE, HE OR SHE ESSENTIALLY
RECONSTRUCTS THE ENTIRE
CONVERSATION.
CONVERSATION. THEY KNOW THE POLICY.
THEY KNOW THE SUBTLETY OF WHAT’S
BEHIND THIS OR THAT STATEMENT,
THE CONTEST OF IT.
THE FACT, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE
MEETING TOOK PLACE NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNSEL IN AND OF.
>> THAT IS BIZARRE BY ITSELF.
>> IT’S CRAZY.
>> IT’S BIZARRE BY ITSELF THAT
YOU WOULD MEET WITH VLADIMIR
PUTIN WITHOUT A FOREIGN POLICY
EXPERT FROM YOUR ADMINISTRATION.
THAT IN AND OF ITSELF SHOULD
RAISE SO MANY RED FLAGS.
BUT THEN TO DESTROY NOTES OR GET
NOTES FROM AN INTERPRETER AFTER,
MY GOOD, THAT CERTAINLY HAS TO
RAISE SO MANY FLAGS INSIDE THE
MUELLER INVESTIGATION.
MUELLER INVESTIGATION. >> YOU NEED THE NOTES IN ORDER
TO DO ALL KIND OF FOLLOW-UP AND
THINGS LIKE THAT.
THE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DOESN’T
KNOW WHAT HAPPENED SO IT CAN’T
FOLLOW UP, IT CAN’T CORRECT ON
IT.
IT. AND THIS JUST NEEDS THIS LARGER
STORY.
STORY. LET’S JUST PUT IT OUT THERE.
FROM DAY ONE OF THIS
ADMINISTRATION, NO ONE HAS BEEN
ABLE TO EXPLAIN IN THE LAND OF
DAVID IGNATIUS NOVELS WHAT IS
MOTIVATING THIS PRESIDENT ON
RUSSIA.
RUSSIA. THERE’S NO HAVE TEEJSTRATEGIC RA
FOR IT.
FOR IT. IT SHIFTS US ON TO ALL THE SORT
OF THINGS THAT ARE BEGINNING TO
COME OU
COME OU >> A MAN WHO HAS HAD CONTACT
WITH RUSSIA FOR YEARS AND CAME
ON OUR SHOW IN 2015, MEEKIAIKA,
DEFENDING VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING
HE WAS A STRONG LEADER.
WHEN WE BROUGHT UP HE
ASSASSINATED PEOPLE, IT WAS
BROUGHT UP THAT OUR SOLDIERS
HAVE KILLED A LOT OF PEOPLE,
TOO.
TOO. >> GREG, WOULDN’T THE FBI WANT
TO TALK TO THE INTERPRETER?
>> IT’S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
WHAT DOES MUELLER SEE WHEN HE
LOOKS AT THIS?
IS THIS SOMETHING HE HAS ALREADY
LOOKED AT OR IS THIS SOMETHING
THAT WOULD SLOW HIM DOWN HERE AT
THE END AND FORCE HIM TO GO BACK
AND SARK WELL -- IT’S SORT OF
THESE QUESTIONS THAT WE’RE
LOOKING AT.
LOOKING AT. WE DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT
MUELLER DID WITH THE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PART OF THIS
INVESTIGATION WHEN HE TOOK IT
OVER IN 2017.
WE DO KNOW THAT MULE HER A
SERIES OF QUESTIONS TO THE
PRESIDENT LAST YEAR AND A
CERTAIN SUBSET OF THEM RELATED
TO RUSSIA.
TO RUSSIA. WE DO KNOW IN NOVEMBER WHEN THE
PRESIDENT FINALLY RESPONDED TO
MUELLER, HE SPENT BACK AT THE
END OF THE DAY, THE PRESIDENT
HAS ANSWERED A LOT OF RUSSIA
QUESTIONS O MUELLER, QUESTIONS
HE STILL HAD AS REESE LENT ILY
AS WITH ALL THE BAD NEWS COMING
OUT ABOUT DONALD TRUMP AND
RUSSIA AND THE DESTROYING OF THE
NOTES OR AT LEAST THE HIDING OF
THE TRANSLATORS’ NET AND THEY
WOULD TALK ABOUT SANCTIONS,
SANCTIONS, BY THE WAY, THAT THE
UNITED STATES CONGRESS, THE
REPUBLICAN CONGRESS SAID THAT
THEY WERE GOING TO PASS
REGARDLESS.
REGARDLESS. AND THEY WEREN’T GOING TO ALLOW
THE PRESIDENT TO EASE SANCTIONS
WITH RUSSIA.
WITH RUSSIA. BUT ALSO YOU NOW OF COURSE HAVE
DRPT TRYING TO -- ANOTHER BIG
LIE THAT DONALD TRUMP IS SOMEHOW
BEING TOUGHER ON RUSSIA THAN
BARACK OBAMA WAS?
>> WELL, OBAMA DOESN’T WIN SUPER
HIGH MARKS FOR PB BUT IF YOU
LOOK AT HIS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR
TOWARD RUSSIA, WHAT YOU SEE IS A
DEGREE OF DEFERENCE.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE WRAPUP
OF OUR 2,000 SPECIAL FORCES WILL
BE TO ENHANCE RUSSIAN AND
IRANIAN POWER IN SYRIA.
TRUMP DOESN’T CARE.
IT DOESN’T REALLY REGISTER WITH
HIM.
HIM. IF YOU LOOK IN THE GULF, LOOK AT
SAUDI ARABIA, THE UAE, THE
COUNTRY THAT’S DOING THE ACTION
NOW, TRYING TO BE THE DEAL
MAKER, THE PLACE SETTER.
IT’S RUSSIA.
IT’S RUSSIA. MIKE POMPEO IS HAVING AN ODD
BUMP EACH TRIP OVER THE WEEKEND.
LESS TO WORK THAN THE RUSSIANS
HAVE BEEN GETTING.
>> THE TRUMP ARGUMENT I’M
TOUGHER ON RUSSIA, WHAT DO YOU
MEAN?
MEAN? >> ESPECIALLY AS SAVED SAID WHO.