>>> FEDERAL JUDGE REGGIE WALTON ISSUED AN ORDER FROM THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT TO SUBMIT THE
UN-REDACTED VERSION OF THE
MUELLER REPORT TO HIM SO THE
JUDGE CAN READ IT AND DECIDE
WHETHER THE REDACTIONS IN THE
MUELLER REPORT WERE MADE FOR
LEGITIMATE REASONS.
LEGITIMATE REASONS. THE JUDGE’S WRITTEN ORDER SAYS
THE SPEED BY WHICH ATTORNEY
GENERAL BARR RELEASED TO THE
PUBLIC THE SUMMARY OF SPECIAL
COUNSEL MUELLER’S PRINCIPAL
CONCLUSIONS COUPLED WITH THE
FACT THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL BARR
FAILED TO PROVIDE A THOROUGH
REPRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS
SET FORTH IN THE MUELLER REPORT.
CAUSES THE COURT TO QUESTION
WHETHER ATTORNEY GENERAL BARR’S
INTENT WAS TO CREATE A ONE-SIDED
NARRATIVE ABOUT THE MUELLER
REPORT-A NARRATIVE THAT IS
CLEARLY IN SOME RESPECTS
SUBSTANTIVELY AT ODDS WITH THE
REDACTED VERSION OF THE MUELLER
REPORT.
REPORT. THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ISSUED A
PUBLIC STATEMENT TODAY IN
RESPONSE TO THE JUDGE’S ORDER
SAYING THAT THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL, QUOTE, PLAYED NO ROLE.
THAT WAS THEIR WORDS, PLAYED NO
ROLE IN DECIDING WHAT WOULD BE
REDACTED IN THE MUELLER REPORT.
THE STATEMENT ADDED THE
DEPARTMENT STANDS BY THEIR WORK
AS WELL AS THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL’S STATEMENTS AND EFFORTS
TO PROVIDE AS MUCH TRANSPARENCY
AS POSSIBLE IN CONNECTION WITH
THE SPECIAL COUNSEL’S
CONFIDENTIAL REPORT.
CONFIDENTIAL REPORT. JOINING US NOW IS NEAL KATYAL,
FORMER ACTING U.S. SOLICITOR
GENERAL AND AN MSNBC LEGAL
CONTRIBUTOR.
CONTRIBUTOR. NEAL, THIS IS SUCH AN
EXTRAORDINARY OPINION TO READ.
HERE’S A FEDERAL COURT JUDGE
SAYING I CAN’T TRUST THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL.
ATTORNEY GENERAL. >> YEAH, LAWRENCE.
I THINK THE WORD YOU USED WAS
EXTRAORDINARY.
EXTRAORDINARY. THE WORD I HAD USED IS IT’S
NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.
THERE ISN’T AN OPINION BY ANY
FEDERAL JUDGE CALLING OUT THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND SAYING
YOU’VE LOST YOUR CREDIBILITY AND
I CAN’T TRUST YOU ANYMORE.
AND ANY ATTORNEY, EVEN A
NONGOVERNMENT ATTORNEY REALLY
WHAT THEY HAVE, THEIR BOND IS
THEIR CREDIBILITY WITH THE
COURT, THEIR ABILITY TO TELL THE
TRUTH AND BE SEEN AS TELLING THE
TRUTH BECAUSE LAWS, AFTER ALL,
JUST A BUNCH OF WORD.
AND AS A HIGH-RANKING JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT ATTORNEY, I SPENT
EVERY NIGHT WORRYING ABOUT IS
SOME GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL,
SOMEWHERE SOME DOJ ATTORNEY
SOMEWHERE IN THE FIELD MIGHT NOT
BE TELLING THE TRUTH TO A COURT.
HERE YOU GOT THE REVERSE.
YOU’VE GOT THE LAWYERS IN THE
FIELD WORRIED AND TAGGED BY THE
FACT THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
HAS BEEN MISREPRESENTING THINGS
AND HAS LOST HIS CREDIBILITY AND
THEREFORE THE DEPARTMENT’S
CREDIBILITY.
CREDIBILITY. BECAUSE WHAT JUDGE WALTON SAYS.
AND JUDGE WALTON IS KIND OF A
VERY MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD
VERY MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD REPUBLICAN APPOINTED JUDGE, NOT
SOMEONE TO USE THIS KIND OF
LANGUAGE.
LANGUAGE. BUT WHAT HE SAID IS WHAT BARR
DID, DIDN’T JUST DESTROY BARR’S
CREDIBILITY.
CREDIBILITY. IT DESTROYED THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE’S CREDIBILITY.
JUSTICE’S CREDIBILITY. >> YOU WENT STRAIGHT TO MY
SECOND QUESTION WHICH IS HAVE WE
SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.
I KNOW I HAVEN’T.
AND TO HAVE IT BE THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL BY NAME IS WHAT’S SO
EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT THIS.
THERE ARE FEDERAL JUDGES HERE
AND THERE AND CASES HERE AND
THERE THAT QUESTION THE WAY THE
PROSECUTION IN A CASE, THE WAY
THEY ARE HANDLING CERTAIN
THINGS.
THINGS. WE’VE SEEN SOME OF THAT BEFORE.
BUT NEVER SPECIFICALLY THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL.
ATTORNEY GENERAL. ISN’T THAT WHAT’S SO PECULIAR
ABOUT THIS?
ABOUT THIS? >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. WELL, I THINK IT’S BOTH
ACTUALLY, LAWRENCE.
ACTUALLY, LAWRENCE. WHEN YOU’RE THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL, THE SOLICITOR GENERAL,
YOU ARE KIND OF SUPERVISING AS
MANY AS 100,000 ATTORNEYS OUT IN
THE FIELD.
THE FIELD. AND MAYBE ONCE A YEAR OR TWICE A
YEAR YOU’LL GET A JUDGE WHO SAYS
SOMETHING ABOUT AN ATTORNEY’S
CREDIBILITY OR SOMETHING LIKE
THAT.
THAT. BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS EVEN ABOUT
A LINE ATTORNEY, LET ALONE ABOUT
THE TOP ATTORNEY, A CABINET
OFFICIAL, THE HEAD OF THE
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.
AND IT’S SUCH A SAD DAY,
LAWRENCE.
LAWRENCE. AND I’M TELLING YOU JUST IN THE
LAST 24 HOURS I’VE GOTTEN CALLS
FROM A NUMBER OF DOJ LINE
ATTORNEYS JUST REALLY SICKENED
TO THEIR HEART ABOUT WHAT THIS
IS.
IS. AND, LOOK, I THINK EVERYONE KNEW
LAST YEAR WHEN THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL FALSELY SUMMARIZED THE
MUELLER REPORT JUST HOW
TANGENTIOUS AND HOW WRONG IT IS.