WITH A CASE OR CASES THAT DIRECTLY IMPINGED ON THE
PRESIDENT’S INTERESTS.
PRESIDENT’S INTERESTS. BUT OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE IN D.C., WHICH
OF COURSE IS THE SEAT OF OUR
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE ONE
FEDERAL U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE,
THE ONE FEDERAL PROSECUTOR’S
OFFICE WHERE CASES THAT AFFECT
THE PRESIDENT OR THE CASES THAT
HAVE REAL NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
TEND TO END UP IS IN NEW YORK
CITY IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF
NEW YORK, LARGEST U.S.
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE IN THE COUNTRY
OUTSIDE OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
IT’S THE OFFICE THAT HANDLES
LOTS OF MATTERS OF NATIONAL
SECURITY, ANY CRIMES HAVING TO
DO WITH ANYTHING FINANCIAL SINCE
NEW YORK IS THE FINANCIAL
CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY.
IN THE CASE OF THIS PRESIDENT,
S.D.N.Y. IS ALSO WHERE ANYTHING
WILL END UP THAT HAS TO DO WITH
HIS PERSONAL HOME BASE AS A
LIFELONG NEW YORKER WHO RAN HIS
FRAUDULENT CHARITY AND BUSINESS
HERE.
HERE. THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW
YORK HAS LONG HAD A REPUTATION
FOR FIERCE INDEPENDENCE, EVEN
ONERY LEVELS OF INDEPENDENCE,
WILLING TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES
FROM INFLUENCE AND MAIN JUSTICE.
THEY’RE THE SOVEREIGN DISTRICT
AND THEY DO WHATEVER THEY WANT.
BUT UNDER THIS ADMINISTRATION,
THE PRESSURE EVEN ON S.D.N.Y.
HAS BEEN REPORTEDLY PRETTY
INTENSE.
INTENSE. CNN HAD BEEN REPORTING THIS
WEEKEND ON ATTORNEY GENERAL
WILLIAM BARR ATTEMPTING TO,
QUOTE, MICRO MANAGE NUMEROUS
CASES AT S.D.N.Y. SINCE HE’S
BEEN ATTORNEY GENERAL.
AND REPORTING ON THIS SUBJECT
HAS BEEN COMING IN FROM MULTIPLE
SOURCES, COMING IN DRIBS AND
DRABS, BUT IT’S VERY WORRYING
THING TO LEARN ABOUT, EVEN IN
SMALL BITS GIVEN THE LIST OF
CASES S.D.N.Y. IS REPORTEDLY
HANDLING THAT ARE OF CONCERN TO
THE PRESIDENT.
THE PRESIDENT. I MEAN, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
TRYING TO MICRO MANAGE CASES AT
S.D.N.Y. IN PARTICULAR IS
POTENTIALLY A VERY BIG DEAL.
I MEAN, THERE’S BEEN SOLID
PUBLIC REPORTING FROM MULTIPLE
SOURCES ON BARR PERSONALLY
INTERVENING TO TRY TO STOP THE
PROSECUTION OF A TURKISH BANK.
S.D.N.Y. WAS GOING TO BRING
CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST A
TURKISH BANK.
TURKISH BANK. BUT BARR REPORTEDLY PERSONALLY
INTERVENED TO TRY TO STOP THOSE
CHARGES FROM BEING BROUGHT AFTER
PRESIDENT TRUMP TOLD THE TURKISH
PRESIDENT THAT HEED HAVE BILL
BARR FIX
BARR FIX HE’D HAVE BILL BARR FIX THAT
CASE FOR HIM.
THEY ARE INVESTIGATING THE TRUMP
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE.
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE. S.D.N.Y. IS INVESTIGATING THE
TRUMP’S FAMILY BUSINESS.
S.D.N.Y. IS INVESTIGATING
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OF PRESIDENT
TRUMP’S PERSONAL LAWYER RUDY
GIULIANI.
GIULIANI. WE’LL HAVE MORE ON THAT IN A
MOMENT.
MOMENT. S.D.N.Y. PUT MICHAEL COHEN IN
PRISON FOR HUSH MONEY PAID BY
THE PRESIDENT’S CAMPAIGN BEFORE
THE 2016 ELECTION.
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTED IN
THE LAST FEW DAYS AMONG THE
S.D.N.Y. CASES WHERE WILLIAM
BARR HAS PERSONALLY INSERTED
HIMSELF IS THAT HUSH MONEY CASE,
THE MICHAEL COHEN CASE, THAT
RESULTED IN CHARGES AGAINST NO
ONE ELSE.
ONE ELSE. QUOTE, WHILE MR. TRUMP’S
LONG-TIME FIXER MICHAEL COHEN
HAD ALREADY PLED GUILTY TO
CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS FOR
HIS ROLE IN THOSE PAYMENTS,
PROSECUTORS WERE STILL
INVESTIGATING WHETHER THE ROLE
OF TRUMP’S FAMILY BUSINESS HAD
OBSTRUCTED THE -- WHETHER THE
ROLE OF EXECUTIVES AT THE TRUMP
FAMILY BUSINESS HAD OBSTRUCTED
THE INVESTIGATION.
THE INVESTIGATION. QUOTE, AT ONE POINT DURING
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE SCOPE OF
CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS, ATTORNEY
GENERAL WILLIAM BARR QUESTIONED
THE LEGAL THEORY BEHIND COHEN’S
CASE.
CASE. HE ALSO QUESTIONED WHETHER SUCH
CASES COULD BE PROSECUTED
CIVILLY RATHER THAN CRIMINALLY.
ACCORDING TO "THE NEW YORK
TIMES," THIS INTERVENTION BY
BARR IN THE HUSH MONEY CASE TOOK
PLACE SHORTLY AFTER HE WAS SWORN
IN AS ATTORNEY GENERAL LAST
FEBRUARY.
FEBRUARY. WELL, HONESTLY, THAT MATCHES UP
IN THE TIME LINE WITH HOW THE
HUSH MONEY CASE FELL APART AND
WHY IT IS THAT MICHAEL COHEN
ENDED UP BEING THE ONLY PERSON
WHO GOT IN TROUBLE FOR THAT,
EVEN THOUGH HE CLEARLY WASN’T
THE ONE WHO DREAMED IT UP, AND
HE WASN’T EVEN THE ONE WHO
BENEFITED FROM THE SCHEME.
I MEAN, WITH THE BENEFIT OF THIS
NEW REPORTING ABOUT WHAT WILLIAM
BARR HAS BEEN DOING IN THE
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INFLUENCE
CASES THAT RELATE TO THE
PRESIDENT, WITH THE BENEFIT OF
THIS NEW REPORTING THAT BARR GOT
SWORN IN AS THE NEW ATTORNEY
GENERAL AND THEN IMMEDIATELY
WENT DOWN TO S.D.N.Y. TO SEE
WHAT HE COULD DO ABOUT THE
MICHAEL COHEN HUSH MONEY CASE
AND WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS ALSO
GOING TO RESULT IN CHARGES
AGAINST THE PRESIDENT’S
BUSINESS.
BUSINESS. I MEAN, LOOK BACK NOW AT THE
INITIAL REPORTING ABOUT HOW THAT
CASE GOT DROPPED.
IT WAS CNN WHO WAS FIRST TO
REPORT THIS SUMMER IN JULY, SAME
REPORTERS WHO ARE REPORTING ON
IT NOW.
IT NOW. THEY WERE FIRST TO REPORT LAST
JULY THAT PROSECUTORS INDICATED
MORE CHARGES MIGHT BE COMING IN
THAT CASE.
THAT CASE. DESPITE THE FACT PROSECUTORS HAD
SAID THIS WAS AN ONGOING LAW
ENFORCEMENT MATTER AND AN
ONGOING INVESTIGATION IN JULY.
PROSECUTORS TOLD THE JUDGE
QUIETLY IN THAT CASE THAT THERE
WOULD BE NO MORE CHARGES, THE
WHOLE THING WAS OVER, CASE
CLOSED.
CLOSED. WHAT CNN REPORTED AT THAT TIME
WHEN THEY WERE FIRST TO BREAK
THAT STORY IS THAT THE CASE HAD
APPEARED TO DROP OFF A CLIFF
SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER.
CNN REPORTED THAT AT THE
BEGINNING OF LAST YEAR,
BEGINNING OF 2019, PROSECUTORS
HAD REQUESTED INTERVIEWS WITH
EXECUTIVES AT THE TRUMP
ORGANIZATION.
ORGANIZATION. BUT DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY
HAD ASKED FOR THOSE INTERVIEWS,
THEY, QUOTE, NEVER FOLLOWED UP
ON THEIR INITIAL REQUEST AND THE
INTERVIEWS NEVER TOOK PLACE.
WHY WOULD PROSECUTORS ASK TRUMP
ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVES FOR
INTERVIEWS AND THEN NEVER BOTHER
TO FOLLOW-UP EVEN WHEN THEY
DIDN’T GET AN ANSWER?
OFFICIALS AT THE TRUMP
ORGANIZATION ALSO TOLD CNN THAT
ALTHOUGH PROSECUTORS HAD BEEN IN
CONTACT WITH THEM ABOUT THAT
CASE AT ITS OUTSET, THEIR
CONTACT WITH THOSE PROSECUTORS
SUDDENLY ENDED WITH NO
EXPLANATION AT THE TIME AS TO
WHY.
WHY. THIS WAS JULY REPORTING FROM
CNN.
CNN. CNN SAID, QUOTE, THERE HAS BEEN
NO CONTACT BETWEEN THAT
MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
AND OFFICIALS AT THE TRUMP
ORGANIZATION IN FIVE MONTHS.
FIVE MONTHS SINCE THE REPORTING
IN JULY IS WHEN THAT CASE
POTENTIALLY INVOLVING THE
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT PRESIDENT’S BUSINESSst IS WHEN I
FELL OFF THE CLIFF.
FIVE MONTHS BEFORE IS WHEN
WILLIAM BARR WAS SWORN IN AS
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED
STATES.
STATES. AS SOON AS HE WAS SWORN IN, HE
SET OFF TO GO TO S.D.N.Y. TO
MEET WITH PROSECUTORS TO TELL
THEM THE WHOLE HUSH MONEY CASE
WAS BASED ON A FLAWED LEGAL
PRZEMEK -- PREMISE AND IT MAY BE
SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BROUGHT AS A
CRIMINAL CASE AT ALL.
AND, YES, ALL INDICATIONS ARE
THAT THE TRUMP FAMILY BUSINESS
WAS IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF THAT
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION UNTIL
THAT POINT.
THAT POINT. BUT THEN SUDDENLY THE CASE WENT
OFF A CLIFF.
SUDDENLY THE OUTSTANDING
REQUESTS FOR TRUMP ORGANIZATION
EXECUTIVES TO DO INTERVIEWS WITH
PROSECUTORS, THEY JUST -- THEY
LET THEM GO.
THE ONGOING COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN PROSECUTORS AND THE
PRESIDENT’S BUSINESS, IT JUST
ENDED WITH NO EXPLANATION.
AROUND THE TIME THAT WILLIAM
BARR WENT TO S.D.N.Y. AND TOLD
THEM WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE
CASE AND QUIETLY THE CASE GOT
CLOSED.
CLOSED. AND WHEN THAT CASE GOT CLOSED,
THAT PROMPTED ME AT THE TIME --
I REMEMBER, A BUNCH OF OTHER
PEOPLE -- TO ASK PUBLICLY IN
THAT MOMENT, HEY, S.D.N.Y., ARE
YOU OKAY?
YOU OKAY? HEY, FAMOUSLY INDEPENDENT,
UNPUSH AROUNDABLE,
UNPUSH AROUNDABLE, UNINFLUENCEABLE, SOVEREIGN
UNINFLUENCEABLE, SOVEREIGN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, HEY
S.D.N.Y., ARE YOU OKAY?
COULD YOU LET US KNOW IF YOU’RE
NOT?
NOT? COULD YOU LET US KNOW IF YOU’RE
BEING IMPROPERLY PRESSURED BY
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO MAKE LAW
ENFORCEMENT DECISIONS IN A WAY
THAT BENEFITS THE PRESIDENT?