AS EARLY AS TOMORROW. SO THERE IS A LOT GOING ON.
STAY BY YOUR TV.
WE’RE GOING TO START TONIGHT,
THOUGH, WITH THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
TODAY MAKING AN UNUSUAL
DECISION.
DECISION. TODAY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
DECIDED TO THROW A BIG CAN OF
GASOLINE ON TO THE ALWAYS
SMOLDERING FIRES OF TRUMP WORLD
CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT THE
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION AND ROBERT
MUELLER.
MUELLER. >> NEWS JUST BROKE TODAY THAT
YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TEAM LOOKING
INTO WHY THE FBI OPENED AN
INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIAN
INTERFERENCE IN THE 2016
ELECTIONS.
ELECTIONS. CAN YOU SHARE WITH US WHY YOU
FEEL A NEED TO DO THAT?
>> I THINK SPYING ON A POLITICAL
CAMPAIGN IS A BIG DEAL.
IT’S A BIG DEAL.
THE GENERATION I GREW UP IN,
WHICH IS THE VIETNAM WAR PERIOD,
PEOPLE WERE ALL CONCERNED ABOUT
SPYING ON ANTI-WAR PEOPLE AND SO
FORTH BY THE GOVERNMENT.
AND THERE WERE A LOT OF RULES
PUT IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT
THERE IS AN ADEQUATE BASIS
BEFORE OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES GET INVOLVED IN
POLITICAL SURVEILLANCE.
POLITICAL SURVEILLANCE. I’M NOT SUGGESTING THAT THOSE
RULES WERE VIOLATED, BUT I THINK
IT’S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THAT.
AND I’M NOT JUST -- I’M NOT
TALKING ABOUT THE FBI
NECESSARILY, BUT INTELLIGENCE
AGENCIES MORE BROADLY.
>> SO YOU’RE NOT -- YOU’RE NOT
SUGGESTING, THOUGH, THAT SPYING
OCCURRED?
OCCURRED? >> I DON’T -- WELL, I GUESS YOU
COULD -- I THINK THERE SPYING
DID OCCUR, YES.
I THINK SPYING DID OCCUR.
>> ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SAY
THAT?
THAT? DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU
MEAN TO SAY HERE?
DO YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT?
IT MAY BE THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL
WILLIAM BARR IS JUST, YOU KNOW,
HE IS CURIOUS.
HE IS A CURIOUS GUY.
HE WANTS TO ASK QUESTIONS.
HE IS RECENTLY APPOINTED.
HE HAS ONLY BEEN THERE SEVEN
WEEKS.
WEEKS. YOU TAKE A NEW JOB.
YOU WANT TO BE THOROUGH, RIGHT?
I’M NOT SUGGESTING ANY RULES
WERE VIOLATED, BUT SPYING ON A
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, THAT WOULD
BE A HUGE DEAL.
DID SPYING HAPPEN?
AH, WELL, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, DID
ANYTHING EVER COME OF THAT WHOLE
YEAR PLUS LONG EFFORT BY THE
PRESIDENT TO SAY THAT MAYBE THE
FBI INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIAN
INTERFERENCE IN THE ELECTIONS
WAS JUST ONE BIG HOAX?
IT WAS JUST MADE UP.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT CLAIM.
ARE WE STILL TRYING TO SAY THAT
WITH OBAMA TAPPING HIS WIRES AND
ALL THAT?
ALL THAT? ARE WE STILL SAYING THAT?
IS THAT STILL THE LINE WE’RE
WORKING?
WORKING? JUST CURIOUS.
JUST CURIOUS. SHOULD WE CHASE THAT DOWN?
I MEAN, WHEN THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
GOES BEFORE CONGRESS AND SAYS
THERE WAS SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN, THAT’S NOT A DOG
WHISTLE TO THE PRESIDENT AND HIS
ALLIES ABOUT THE THOROUGHLY
DEBUNKED CONSPIRACY THEORIES
ABOUT ROBERT MUELLER AND SPYING
AND PRESIDENT OBAMA HAVING
WIRETAPS.
WIRETAPS. THAT’S NOT A DOG WHISTLE.
THAT’S AN AIR HORN.
AND WHATEVER REASON ATTORNEY
GENERAL WILLIAM BARR DECIDED TO
BLOW THAT AIR HORN TODAY, IT’S
INTERESTING.
INTERESTING. IT COMES ON THE SAME DAY THAT WE
GOT FRESH EVIDENCE OF HOW AND
WHY THE INVESTIGATION INTO
RUSSIA AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
REALLY DID BEGIN IN 2016.
AND SPECIFICALLY, HOW ALARMED
THE COUNTRY’S TOP NATIONAL
SECURITY OFFICIALS WERE AT THE
INTELLIGENCE THEY WERE SEEING
AND THE EVIDENCE THEY WERE
SEEING AND HOW SERIOUSLY THEY
TOOK THEIR OBLIGATION TO LOOK
INTO IT.
INTO IT. BECAUSE ALL THIS HAPPENED TODAY
WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON THE
SAME DAY THAT WE GOT A NEW
TRANSCRIPT OF ANOTHER DAY OF
TESTIMONY THAT THE FBI’S GENERAL
COUNSEL GAVE TO CONGRESS BEHIND
CLOSED DOORS LAST OCTOBER.
THIS IS TESTIMONY THAT’S NEVER
BEFORE SEEN THE LIGHT OF DAY.
IT WAS -- NOT UNSEALED.
IT WAS RELEASED TODAY BY
REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE
COMMITTEE.
COMMITTEE. JAMES BAKER WAS THE FBI’S
GENERAL COUNSEL IN THE SUMMER OF
2016 WHEN THE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATION BEGAN INTO ANY
POTENTIAL LINKS BETWEEN THE
TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA
INTERFERING IN THE ELECTION.
HERE’S HOW JAMES BAKER DESCRIBES
THE BEGINNING OF THE
INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATION. AGAIN, THIS TRANSCRIPT JUST
RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE
FIRST TIME TODAY.
QUOTE, WE WERE CONCERNED THAT
THE RUSSIANS WERE ENGAGED IN AN
EFFORT TO TRY TO IMPACT OUR
ELECTIONS, THAT PARTICULAR
ELECTION.
ELECTION. AND WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND
HOW THEY WERE DOING IT.
QUESTION, WELL, WAS THE CASE A
PRIORITY FOR THE FBI?
JAMES BAKER, YES.
QUESTION, DID YOU THINK THAT WAS
THE RIGHT DECISION?
BAKER, YES.
BAKER, YES. QUESTION, WHY?
QUESTION, WHY? >>
>> BAKER, BECAUSE IF THE RUSSIANS
WERE TRYING TO INFLUENCE
SOMETHING AS FUNDAMENTAL AS A
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, I THOUGHT
THAT WOULD BE A PARTICULAR
THREAT TO THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE
SO MUCH OF OUR SYSTEM DEPENDS ON
THE INTEGRITY OF OUR ELECTIONS.
SO MUCH OF OUR CONSTITUTION
SYSTEM DEPENDS ON THE INTEGRITY
OF THE ELECTIONS.
QUESTION, WOULD THAT THREAT TO
THE NATIONAL SECURITY INCREASE
IF THE PRESIDENT WAS ELECT AND
THEREFORE OBTAINED CLASSIFIED
BRIEFINGS AND WAS EXPOSED TO THE
NATION’S MOST SECRETIVE SECRETS
IF THERE WAS SOMEONE -- IF HE OR
SOMEONE WITHIN HIS CAMPAIGN HAD
BEEN IN FACT WORKING WITH THE
RUSSIANS?
RUSSIANS? ANSWER, FROM JIM BAKER.
>> LET ME ANSWER THAT GENERALLY.
I THINK WE WOULD -- I THINK WE
WOULD -- I THINK WE WERE
CONCERNED ABOUT ANYONE WHO MIGHT
ENTER GOVERNMENT AND BE IN A
POSITION TO HAVE ACCESS TO
CLASSIFIED OR SENSITIVE
INFORMATION WHO MIGHT PROVIDE
THAT TO A FOREIGN POWER.
QUESTION, HOW SERIOUS WOULD THAT
CONCERN BE?
CONCERN BE? JAMES BAKER, EXTREMELY SERIOUS.
YOU KNOW, WITH REMARKABLE
CONSISTENCY EVERY TIME WE GET
ONE OF THESE TRANSCRIPTS FROM A
SENIOR FBI OFFICIAL, SENIOR
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL,
SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY
OFFICIAL WHO IS AT ALL INVOLVED
IN THIS INVESTIGATION, THEY
DESCRIBE THEIR WORK IN 2016 IN
THESE VERY SIMPLE TERMS.
THEY SAW SIGNS OF THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT INTERFERING TO TRY TO
INFLUENCE OUR ELECTION, AND THEY
SAW ALL THESE UNEXPLAINED
CONTACTS BETWEEN RUSSIANS AND
THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN, AND THEY
WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE
IMPLICATIONS OF THAT.
THEY WERE CONCERNED THAT THE
COUNTRY AND THEREFORE THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN ITSELF, THEY WERE
CONCERNED THAT THE CAMPAIGN
SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM
WHATEVER WAS GOING ON.
I MEAN, WEIRDLY, IT IS THE
REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO HAVE
BEEN UNILATERALLY RELEASING
THESE TRANSCRIPTS OVER THE PAST
FEW WEEKS.
FEW WEEKS. I DON’T KNOW WHAT SMOKING GUN
THEY EXPECT US TO FIND HERE.
I MEAN, NOBODY IN THESE
INTERVIEWS HAS EVEN HINTED AT
THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE WAS
ANY POLITICALLY MOTIVATED SPYING
ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?
MAYBE IT WASN’T THE FBI.
ONE OF THE ODD THINGS ABOUT THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S TESTIMONY
TODAY IS THAT EVEN AS HE SAID HE
BELIEVED SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN DID OCCUR, HE KEPT
GOING OUT OF HIS WAY TO SAY HE
WAS NOT NECESSARILY TALKING
ABOUT THE FBI DOING THAT SPYING.
HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY MORE
BROADLY.
BROADLY. OKAY.
OKAY. WHAT COULD HE MEAN?
IF HE IS TALKING ABOUT THE FBI
AND THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT,
HONESTLY, THE FBI AND THE
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ARE ON THE
RECORD OVER AND OVER AGAIN
SAYING NO, THEY DIDN’T DO ANY
SPYING ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN,
AND NOBODY HAS YET FOUND ANY
EVIDENCE TO CALL THAT INTO
QUESTION.
QUESTION. IF BARR IS TALKING ABOUT AS
ATTORNEY GENERAL HE IS GOING TO
INVESTIGATE THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY INSTEAD, THAT’S A
LITTLE WEIRD.
LITTLE WEIRD. IT’S A LITTLE OFF, BUT OKAY.
MAYBE THAT’S WHAT HE IS DOING.
THAT SAID, MARK WARNER WHO IS
THE RANKING MEMBER ON THE SENATE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, THE
COMMITTEE THAT OVERSEES THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, AND HE
HAS BEEN THAT FOR A LONG TIME,
MARK WARNER TODAY IN RESPONSE TO
THESE COMMENTS FROM THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL SAYS NOPE, HE WOULD KNOW
AS THE TOP DEMOCRAT ON THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE.
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE. AND IT WASN’T THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN EITHER.
CAMPAIGN EITHER. IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
>> I’M FLABBERGASTED BY THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S COMMENTS.
I DON’T GET IT.
IS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
QUESTIONING WHETHER RUSSIA
INTERVENED?
INTERVENED? IS HE QUESTIONING WHETHER RUSSIA
INTERVENED IN THE CAMPAIGN ON
BEHALF OF TRUMP AND AGAINST
CLINTON, THINGS THAT THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY HAS
UNANIMOUSLY GRID UPON?
IS HE SOMEHOW SAYING THAT THE
FBI AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE SHOULDN’T HAVE STARTED A
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATION?
INVESTIGATION? REMEMBER BACK IN THE SUMMER AND
FALL OF 2016, THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY BROUGHT THIS
INFORMATION TO THE FULL GANG OF
EIGHT IN AN EFFORT TO TRY TO
WARN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ABOUT
WHAT RUSSIA WAS DOING THIS.
HE IS SAYING THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY SHOULD HAVE SAT ON
THAT INFORMATION?
THAT INFORMATION? I THINK THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S
COMMENTS TODAY DO A GREAT
DISSERVICE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN
AT THE FBI AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE WHO I THINK BACK IN 2016
WERE JUST DOING THEIR JOB, BUT
WHAT I FEEL IS THIS MAN WITH
THIS MUCH EXPERIENCE WHO IS
USING THESE PARTISAN TALKING
POINTS FROM SOME OF THE FAR
RIGHT THAT HAD BEEN, FRANKLY,
INVESTIGATED AND LITIGATED A
HALF DOZEN TIMES ALREADY, I
DON’T GET IT.
>> HAVE YOU EVER SEEN -- YOU’VE
DELVED INTO THIS SUBJECT
PARTICULARLY.
PARTICULARLY. >> WE HAVE REVIEWED THIS
EXTENSIVELY.
EXTENSIVELY. THE WHOLE BASIS, THE FIRST PART
OF OUR BIPARTISAN SENATE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION WAS LOOKING AT
WHAT THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
DID IN TERMS OF MAKING THEIR
FINDINGS THAT RUSSIA INTERVENED,
AND THEY DID IT ON BEHALF OF ONE
CANDIDATE, DONALD TRUMP AGAINST
ANOTHER ONE, HILLARY CLINTON.
NOBODY HAS QUESTIONED THAT.
>> WE HAVE REVIEWED THIS
EXTENSIVELY.
EXTENSIVELY. THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY WAS
NOT SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. THEY WERE INVESTIGATING RUSSIAN
INTERFERENCE.
INTERFERENCE. THE FBI AND DOJ WERE NOT SPYING
ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN.
SO WHAT IS BILL BARR TALKING
ABOUT WHEN HE SAYS YEAH, I THINK
THERE WAS SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. I MEAN, I’M ASSUMING THAT HE
DIDN’T JUST, YOU KNOW, MAKE THAT
UP.
UP. LIKE I HEARD SOMEBODY TALKING
THAN ON "FOX & FRIENDS," DIDN’T
I?
I? YEAH, DIDN’T THAT HAPPEN?
I’M ASSUMING THIS IS BASED ON
SOMETHING.
SOMETHING. TO GIVE THEM THE BENEFIT OF THE
DOUBT, CONCEIVABLY MAYBE HE IS
TALKING ABOUT FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE SERVICES DOING THE
SPYING?
SPYING? I MEAN, WE DO KNOW IT HAS BEEN
REPORTED THAT THERE WAS
INTELLIGENCE THAT OUR FOREIGN
ALLIES SHARED WITH THEIR U.S.
COUNTERPARTS ONCE THEY
ENCOUNTERED CONTACTS BETWEEN THE
TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIANS.
THERE HAS BEEN PRETTY ROBUST
REPORTING THAT FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES PICKED UP
ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS TRUMP
ASSOCIATES ON THEIR INTELLIGENCE
INTERCEPTS IN 2015 AND 2016.
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT, AS FAR AS
THIS SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN THEORY GOES IS THAT
THOSE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE
AGENCIES WEREN’T LIKE RUNNING A
LONG-TIME SURVEILLANCE OPERATION
ON MICHAEL COHEN OR ON X OR Y
TRUMP ASSOCIATE.
TRUMP ASSOCIATE. AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL, THE
REASON THAT ALL THOSE TRUMP
ASSOCIATES TURNED UP ON FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE INTERCEPTS IS
BECAUSE THOSE FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES WERE
WATCHING THE RUSSIANS.
LIKE THEY DO.
THAT’S WHAT WESTERN INTELLIGENCE
AGENCIES DO.
AGENCIES DO. AND WHILE THEY’RE WATCHING THE
RUSSIANS, ALL THESE TRUMP
ASSOCIATES AND PEOPLE CLOSE TO
THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN KEPT WALKING
THROUGH THE FRAME.
REALLY, ANOTHER ONE?
THAT’S SORT OF -- THAT’S KIND OF
THE SCARY PART.
THAT’S HOW WE GOT THE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATIONS IN THE FIRST
PLACE.
PLACE. INFORMATION ABOUT RUSSIANS AND
ABOUT RUSSIAN BEHAVIOR THAT
WEIRDLY INTERSECTED WITH ALL
THESE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH ONE
OF THE TWO PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGNS.
CAMPAIGNS. SO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS
THEY’RE SPYING ON THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. HE TRIED TO SORT OF WALK IT BACK
A NUMBER OF TIMES IN HIS
TESTIMONY TODAY.
TESTIMONY TODAY. I’M NOT SURE ANYBODY KNOWS WHAT
HE MEANS, BUT I’M SURE IT’S
PLAYING WELL IN THE WHITE HOUSE,
AND MAYBE THAT’S THE ONLY THING
HE CARES ABOUT.
I WANT TO SAY, THOUGH, THERE IS
ONE OTHER PART OF THE --
ACTUALLY THE JAMES BAKER
TESTIMONY, THE FBI GENERAL
COUNSEL TESTIMONY THAT WE GOT
TODAY THAT I ALSO THINK IS WORTH
PAYING ATTENTION TO.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS QUESTIONING
OF JAMES BAKER BY CONGRESSIONAL
INVESTIGATORS.
INVESTIGATORS. JAMES BAKER, THEY’RE QUESTIONING
HIM AS HIS TIME OF THE FBI’S TOP
LAWYER.
LAWYER. QUOTE, QUESTION, YOU HAD SAID
THAT THE PRESIDENT’S FIRING OF
FBI DIRECTOR COMEY YOU
CONSIDERED TO BE A THREAT TO
NATIONAL SECURITY.
NATIONAL SECURITY. AND MY QUESTION WAS IN WHAT WAY
WAS IT A THREAT TO NATIONAL
SECURITY?
SECURITY? JAMES BAKER, SO THE
INVESTIGATION AT A HIGH LEVEL
WAS ABOUT RUSSIA, PERIOD, FULL
STOP.
STOP. AND IT WAS TRYING TO ASSESS IN
THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE WHAT
THE RUSSIANS WERE DOING OR HAD
DONE WITH RESPECT TO THE 2016
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. WE WERE TRYING TO INVESTIGATE
WHAT THE RUSSIANS DID AND WHAT
ANY -- WHETHER THERE WERE ANY
AMERICANS OR OTHERS WHO HAD DONE
THINGS IN SUPPORT OF THOSE
EFFORTS, EITHER KNOWINGLY OR
UNKNOWINGLY SO WE COULD
UNDERSTAND THE FULL NATURE AND
SCOPE OF WHAT THE RUSSIANS HAD
ATTEMPTED TO DO.
SO THE EXTENT THAT THIS ACTION
OF FIRING DIRECTOR COMEY MAY
HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY OR WAS A
RESULT OF A DECISION TO SHUT
DOWN THAT INVESTIGATION WHICH I
THOUGHT WAS A LEGITIMATE
INVESTIGATION, THEN THAT WOULD
FRUSTRATE OUR ABILITY TO SOME
DEGREE TO ASCERTAIN WHAT THE
RUSSIANS AS WELL AS ANY OTHER
AMERICANS OR OTHERS HAD DONE IN
FURTHERANCE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.
SO NOT ONLY -- I GUESS THE POINT
IS NOT ONLY WOULD IT BE AN ISSUE
ABOUT OBSTRUCTING AN
INVESTIGATION, BUT THE
OBSTRUCTION ITSELF WOULD HURT
OUR ABILITY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT
THE RUSSIANS HAD DONE, AND
THAT’S WHAT WOULD BE THE THREAT
TO NATIONAL SECURITY.
OUR INABILITY -- THE INABILITY
OR THE DELAYS, THE DIFFICULTIES
WE MIGHT HAVE HAD WITH RESPECT
TO TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE
RUSSIANS WERE DOING BECAUSE OUR
MAIN OBJECTIVE WAS TO THWART
THEM, WAS TO THWART THE
RUSSIANS.
RUSSIANS. WE ARE, OF COURSE, STILL WAITING
TO SEE THE MUELLER REPORT.
IT’S NEARLY THREE WEEKS NOW.
WILLIAM BARR, THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL SAYS HE WILL HAND IT
OVER -- YESTERDAY HE SAID IT
WOULD BE WITHIN A WEEK.
TODAY HE SAID IT WOULD BE SOME
TIME NEXT WEEK.
DEFINITELY SOME TIME REALLY
SOON.
SOON. SOMEBODY SHOULD ASK HIM TOMORROW
AND SEE WHEN HE IS PLANNING ON
RELEASING IT TOMORROW BECAUSE
PRESUMABLY IT WILL BE A
DIFFERENT ANSWER.
DIFFERENT ANSWER. THERE REMAINS THIS WEIRD THING
HANGING OUT THERE ABOUT THAT
REPORT WHICH IS THAT BILL BARR
QUOTES ROBERT MUELLER SAYING
THAT TRUMP WAS NOT EXONERATED ON
THE QUESTION OF OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. WE’VE NEVERTHELESS GOT WILLIAM
BARR SAYING HIMSELF THAT HE WAS
DECIDING THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS
EXONERATED ON OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. AND NOW WE’VE GOT SIMULTANEOUSLY
AND SORT OF COINCIDENTALLY NOW,
WE’VE GOT TWO DAYS OF
REVELATIONS FROM THE FICK’S
FORMER TOP LAWYER TALKING ABOUT
HOW SERIOUS THE OBSTRUCTION
WORRIES REALLY WERE, AND HOW
FREAKED OUT THE TOP NATIONAL
SECURITY OFFICIALS IN THE
COUNTRY WERE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT
THE OBSTRUCTION PROBLEM.
I MEAN, WE’VE GOT NO EXPLANATION
FROM WILLIAM BARR ABOUT HOW HE
LOOKED AT ALL THAT, SCANNED THE
400 PAGES OF MUELLER’S REPORT
AND IMMEDIATELY CONCLUDED OH,
DEFINITELY NOTHING HERE, AND I
DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.
NOTHING.
NOTHING. BELIEVE ME, I’M THE BOTTOM LINE,
IT’S FINE.
IT’S FINE. I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.
I DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU WHAT
MUELLER FOUND.
MUELLER FOUND. I KNOW MUELLER SAYS HE IS NOT
EXON CRATED, BUFF I SAY HE IS.
I WON’T TELL YOU HOW I ARRIVED
AT THIS CONCLUSION.
THAT’S JUST ME TALKING.
THAT IS STILL WHERE WE ARE
TODAY.
TODAY. AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS
STILL NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS
ABOUT IT STILL.
BUT SOMEBODY DID TRY TO PIN HIM
TO THE MAT ON IT TODAY, AND I
THINK BURST A FEW VEINS IN
FRUSTRATION IN THE PROCESS.
DID YOU ACTUALLY SEE WHAT
HAPPENED WHEN ATTORNEY GENERAL
WILLIAM BARR FINALLY GOT PRESSED
REPEATEDLY ON THAT TODAY BY
SOMEBODY WHO WOULD NOT TAKE NO
FOR AN ANSWER?
WE’VE GOT THAT FOR YOU NEXT, AND