NIGHT TO GO TO U.S. OPEN.
CHERYL, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
NEW DETAILS EMERGING ON THE
TIMELINE THAT LED UP TO
UNPRECEDENTED FBI RAID OF FORMER
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO
HOME.
WE ARE LEARNING THAT THE FBI
AGENTS WOULD NOT ALLOW TRUMP’S
LAWYERS TO WATCH AS THEY
SEARCHED HIS SOUTH FLORIDA
RESIDENCE.
SENATE MAJORITY MITCH MCCONNELL
CALLING ON MERRICK GARLAND AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO
PROVIDE ANSWERS AND MUST DO SO
IMMEDIATELY.
JOINING US MATT WHITAKER.
AG, GOOD TO SEE YOU, THANK YOU
VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE THIS
MORNING, MATT.
DO YOU EXPECT THE COMMENTS FROM
MERRICK GARLAND?
WOULD WE GET ANY ANSWERS?
>> I THINK IN THIS CASE HE OWES
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SOMETHING
BECAUSE THIS IS AN UNPRECEDENTED
STEP AND MANY PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT BUT WHAT I KNOW HAVING BEEN
THAT BUT WHAT I KNOW HAVING BEEN
IN THAT CHAIR IS, YOU KNOW, YOU
HAVE LEADERSHIP THAT YOU HAVE TO
EXERT.
IF SOMEONE COMES WE WILL HAVE TO
CONDUCT WARRANT ON THE
PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE, HAVE WE
DONE EVERYTHING TO RESOLVE THIS.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE
NEGOTIATIONS HAD NOT BEEN
EXHAUSTED, THAT THERE WERE OTHER
WAYS.
LESS INTRUSIVE WAYS LIKE A
SUBPOENA THAT COULD HAVE BEEN
ISSUED IF THEY REALLY BELIEVED
THE DOCUMENTS WERE SO IMPORTANT
THAT THEY HAD TO IMMEDIATELY BE
OBTAINED BY THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AND SO IT JUST SEEMS
TO ME THAT THIS IS A VERY
HEAVY-HANDED MOVE BY THE DOJ AND
INTENTIONAL TO SEND THE MIAMI
AND TO MAYBE EVEN PUT THEIR
THUMB ON THE SCALE AS TO, YOU
KNOW, SORT OF THE MIDTERMS AND
ULTIMATELY POSSIBLE TRUMP
CANDIDACY.
MARIA: SO WHAT’S THE MESSAGE.
THEY DON’T WANT HIM TO RUN
AGAIN?
>> WELL, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THERE
IS FACTION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE.
WE TALKED ABOUT IT MANY TIMES,
MARIA THAT ARE ANTI-TRUMP AND I
THINK THIS IS WHERE YOU
MENTIONED EARLIER ABOUT THE
WHITE HOUSE SAYING SOMETHING.
WE NEED TO BE ASSURED AND IT’S
VERY CONCERNING TO ME THAT
THEY’RE NOT ASSURING US THAT
THERE IS NO POLITICAL INFLUENCE
ON THIS INVESTIGATION BECAUSE,
YOU KNOW, I THINK THE WHITE
HOUSE AND JOE BIDEN TOGETHER
WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
AND MERRICKLAND HAVE MERRICK GAR
ENSURE THAT NOT A SINGLE
ILLEGITIMATE INFLUENCE WAS
PLACED ON THIS ON THE
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS BECAUSE
IF YOU THINK ABOUT CHUCK
GRASSLEY AND THE WHISTLEBLOWERS,
JIM JORDAN AND HIS
WHISTLEBLOWERS.
THEY ARE SAYING THAT THE FBI IS
POLITICALLY INFLUENCED AND THEIR
INVESTIGATIONS ARE PARTISAN AND
THAT’S VERY CONCERNING AND SO
THE LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO TAKE AND
OWNERSHIP OF THIS ISSUE.
MARIA: YEAH, IT’S NOT JUST THAT
THEY ARE SAYING IT.
WE HAVE WITNESSED, OKAY.
WE HAVE BEEN WITNESS TO ALL OF
THIS IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS.
WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS THIS
CONSTANT POINT UPSET AND
PUSHBACK ON DONALD TRUMP ALL
ALONG THE WAYS LIES ABOUT HIM
COLLUDINGCOLLUDING WITH THE RUSS
IT WAS ALL MADE UP BY POLITICAL
OPPONENT, HILLARY CLINTON, AND
NOW HE’S FACING QUESTIONING IN A CLOSED-DOOR DEPOSITION FOR THE
CLOSED-DOOR DEPOSITION FOR THE
NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL
LATICIA AND EARLIER THIS MORNING
HE SAID MY GREAT COMPANY AND
MYSELF ARE BEING ATTACKED BY ALL
SIDES AG WHITAKER.
I GUESS WE HAVE LARA TRUMP WITH
US THIS MORNING, LARA, MY
QUESTION IS, THEY HAVE NOT LEFT
HIM ALONE SINCE HE CAME ON TO
THE SCENE?
WHAT ARE THEY SO AFRAID OF?
WHY ARE THEY AFRAID OF DONALD
TRUMP?
>> HE’S NOT PART OF THEM.
DONALD TRUMP PAID FOR HIS ENTIRE
CAMPAIGN UNTIL HE BECAME, YOU
KNOW, THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE
FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
HE NEVER TOOK MONEY FROM
LOBBYISTS AND NEVER TOOK MONEY
FROM SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS.
DONALD TRUMP CANNOT BE BOUGHT.
HE’S WILLING TO LOSE AND DO
ANYTHING BECAUSE HE BELIEVES IN
THIS COUNTRY.
THEY DON’T LIKE THAT BECAUSE
THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN THIS COZY
GROUP IN WASHINGTON, D.C., KIND
OF ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE IF
WE ARE BEING HONEST.
DONALD TRUMP IS NOT ONE OF THEM
AND HE SHOOK A LOT OF PEOPLE UP
IN HIS FIRST TERM IN OFFICE.
THEY ARE TERRIFIED IF HE RUNS.
HE WILL WIN A SECOND TIME AND A
SECOND TERM IN OFFICE FOR DONALD
TRUMP, THESE PEOPLE KNOW THE JIG
IS UP, THEY ARE TERRIFIED OF
HIM.
IT’S BEEN CONSTANT HARASSMENT OF
OUR ENTIRE FAMILY.
ANYONE ASSOCIATED IN THE TRUMP
ORBFRIT THE DAY HE CAME DOWN THE
ESCALATOR.
MARIA: I TWEETED THE OTHER DAY,
JAMES, IF PRESIDENT TRUMP WERE
CONSIDERING OR QUESTIONING
WHETHER OR NOT TO RUN, HE JUST
GOT HIS ANSWER THE OTHER DAY
WITH THIS RACE.
HE -- BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE WE
ARE IN THIS COUNTRY, THINGS HAVE
GOT TO CHANGE.
JAMES: WELL, IF YOU WANT TO
THINK ABOUT POLITICIZATION WHICH
SEEMS TO BE A POLITICAL
MOTIVATION, WAS IT TO GET HIM IN
OR OUT OF THE RACE, I THINK
PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT
VIEWS.
MATT, CAN YOU HELP US OUT HERE?
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE
PRESIDENT’S AUTHORITY OVER
CLASSIFIED MATERIALS IS FROM
ARTICLE 2, HIS POWER AS
COMMANDER IN CHIEF, IF HE SAYS
THESE BOXES ARE FINE TO GO TO
MAR-A-LAGO WHILE HE’S STILL THE
PRESIDENT, ISN’T THAT AN
EXECUTIVE ORDER AND DOESN’T THAT
GOVERN THOSE DOCUMENTS?
>> YEAH, THE CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION IS OBVIOUSLY
ULTIMATELY FOR THE PRESIDENT.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT HOW AND WHY
WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, EVEN AN
INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS IS SO THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
CAN MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS POSSIBLE AND SO THE PRESIDENT
POSSIBLE AND SO THE PRESIDENT
WHILE IN OFFICE IS THE FINAL ARB
OF WHAT IS CLASSIFIED AND IF
THEY ARE GOING TO PURSUE A
CRIMINAL CASE IN THIS RECENT
RAID, THEN THEY ARE GOING TO
HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED ON
JANUARY 20TH, BEFORE JOE BIDEN
WAS SWORN IN AS THESE BOXES WERE
BEING PACKED AND MOVED, WAS THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED