ALL OF IT AS THE 11th HOUR GETS UNDERWAY ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
DAY 748 OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. THE PRESIDENT’S BATTLE TO FWEND
OFF THE INVESTIGATIONS
THREATENING HIS OFFICE HAVE
TAKEN A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF
URGENCY WHILE ROBERT MUELLER HAS
HAD TRUMP AND HIS ASSOCIATES
UNDER SCRUTINY FOR THE BETTER
PART OF TWO YEARS NOW.
DEMOCRATS IN THE HOUSE JUST
STARTED THEIR INVESTIGATION IN
THE MAIN TODAY.
>> AN ECONOMIC MIRACLE IS TAKING
PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND
THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP IT
ARE FOOLISH WARS, POLITICS, OR
RIDICULOUS PARTISAN
RIDICULOUS PARTISAN INVESTIGATIONS.
INVESTIGATIONS. [ APPLAUSE ]
>> IF THERE IS GOING TO BE PEACE
AND LEJSGISLATION, THERE CANNOT
WAR AND INVESTIGATION.
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY.
>> AARON BLAKE OF THE WASHINGTON
POST CAPTURES THE DEMS’ NEW
APPROACH TO DONALD TRUMP.
BLAKE WHO WILL JOIN US IN JUST A
MOMENT WRITES, "HOUSE DEMOCRATS
ARE CLEARLY NOT COWED.
IN FACT, QUITE THE OPPOSITE."
THAT CAME TO LIFE IN HIS COMMENT
FROM SPEAKER PELOSI WHO TOLD
REPORTERS, "THE PRESIDENT SHOULD
NOT BRING THREATS TO THE FLOOR
OF THE HOUSE."
THE CHAIRS OF THREE POWERFUL
HOUSE COMMITTEES NOW
INVESTIGATING TRUMP HAVE ALSO
WEIGHED IN INSISTING THEY HAVE
NO INTENTION OF BACKING OFF.
>> I WANT TO ADDRESS THE
PRESIDENT’S REMARKS LAST NIGHT.
HIS EFFORT TO DISCOURAGE ANY
MEANINGFUL OVERSIGHT OF THE
ADMINISTRATION, THAT’S A
NONSTARTER.
NONSTARTER. WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE
INTIMIDATED OR THREATENED BY THE
PRESIDENT.
PRESIDENT. >> WE ARE DOING WHAT IS DEMANDED
BY OUR CONSTITUTION.
THAT IS TO BE A CHECK AND
BALANCE ON THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE’RE SWORN
TO DO THAT, AND WE’RE GOING TO
DO THAT.
DO THAT. >> TO SAY THAT WE CAN’T DO THAT
IS TO SAY WE SHOULDN’T DO OUR
CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY.
CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY. IT’S TO ASSERT AN EXECUTIVE
PREEMINENCE THAT ONE WOULD THINK
HE MIGHT BE A DICTATOR.
HE CANNOT ESCAPE NOR SHOULD ANY
PRESIDENT ESCAPE CONGRESSIONAL
OVERSIGHT.
OVERSIGHT. >> WELL, HEARD HIM EARLIER, THE
NEW CHAIRMAN OF HOUSE INTEL ADAM
SCHIF MADE HIS BIG MOVE TODAY.
HE ANNOUNCED HE IS STARTING AND
BROADENING THE COMMITTEE’S
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION, WHICH HAD
BEEN EFFECTIVELY PUT TO BED BY
TRUMP-FRIENDLY REPUBLICAN DEVIN
NUNEZ OF CALIFORNIA.
SCHIFF LAID OUT FIVE KEY AREAS
OF INQUIRY.
OF INQUIRY. THESE ARE BIG AND BROAD.
ONE, THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT’S
ONGOING EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE THE
U.S. POLITICAL PROCESS.
TWO, ANY LINKS OR COORDINATION
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TRUMP WORLD.
THREE, WHETHER ANY FOREIGN ACTOR
HOLDS FINANCIAL OR OTHER
LEVERAGE OVER THE PRESIDENT IS
HAS SOUGHT TO COMPROMISE HIM.
FOUR, WHETHER THE PRESIDENT OR
ANYONE IN HIS ORBIT HAS BEEN
VULNERABLE TO FOREIGN PRESSURE
OR TRIED TO SHAPE U.S. POLICY IN
SERVICE OF FOREIGN INTERESTS,
AND, FIVE, WHETHER ANY ACTORS,
FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC, HAVE TRIED
TO INFLUENCE INVESTIGATIONS INTO
THESE MATTERS, INCLUDING THOSE
IN THE CONGRESS.
AGAIN, WHEN THE PRESIDENT WENT
AFTER INVESTIGATIONS IN HIS
SPEECH LAST NIGHT, AN
EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT.
EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING HE WAS
TALKING ABOUT.
TALKING ABOUT. TODAY HE WAS ASKED ABOUT ALL OF
IT.
IT. >> THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, ADAM
SCHIFF SAID HE WAS GOING TO
LAUNCH A DEEP INVESTIGATION.
>> DID YOU SAY ADAM SCHIFF?
NEVER HEARD OF HIM.
THAT WOULDN’T BE PARTISAN, WOULD
IT?
IT? ON WHAT BASIS WOULD HE DO THAT?
HE HAS NO BASIS TO DO THAT.
HE IS JUST A POLITICAL HACK WHO
IS TRYING TO BUILD A NAME FOR
HIMSELF.
HIMSELF. IT’S CALLED PRESIDENTIAL
HARASSMENT, AND IT’S
UNFORTUNATE, AND IT REALLY DOES
HURT OUR COUNTRY.
>> ALSO TODAY IN HIS FIRST ACT
IN THE NEW ERA OF DEMOCRATIC
CONTROL, THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE VOTED TO RELEASE
DOZENS OF TRANSCRIPTS FROM
WITNESS INTERVIEWS TO SPECIAL
COUNSEL ROBERT MUELLER.
AGAIN, ALL OF THIS OVERSEEN BY
SCHIFF.
SCHIFF. ALL IN ALL, OVER 7,000 PAGES OF
TRANSCRIPTS.
TRANSCRIPTS. THAT INCLUDES TESTIMONY FROM A
NUMBER OF BIG NAMES, KEY
WITNESSES, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO THE PRESIDENT’S SON,
SON-IN-LAW, HIS FIRST ATTORNEY
GENERAL, HIS FORMER
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, FORMER
SENIOR ADVISOR, AND THE MANAGER
OF HIS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN.
MUELLER HAS CHARGED TWO PEOPLE,
ROGER STONE AND MICHAEL KOEN,
WITH LYING DURING THEIR
CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY.
CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY. COHEN WAS SCHEDULED TO RETURN TO
THE COMMITTEE FOR A CLOSED DOOR
HEARING ON FRIDAY.
TODAY THAT WAS MOVED TO LATER IN
THE MONTH.
THE MONTH. MEANWHILE, ATTORNEY GENERAL
ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL MATT
WHITAKER IS SET TO APPEAR BEFORE
THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON
FRIDAY.
FRIDAY. CHAIRMAN OF THAT BODY, JERRY
NADLER IS PREPARING A SUBPOENA
JUST IN CASE WHITAKER DOESN’T
SHOW.
SHOW. NADLER SAYS HE WANTS TO ASK HIM
ABOUT HIS SUPERVISION OF THE
MUELLER INVESTIGATION AND HIS
DECISION NOT TO TAKE HIMSELF OUT
OF IT DESPITE HIS PREJUDGMENTS,
HIS CRITICISMS OF THE INQUIRY.
WELL, WITH THAT A LOT TO TALK
ABOUT.
ABOUT. LET’S BRING IN OUR LEAD-OFF
PANEL ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
MICA, FORMER STAFFER FOR THE
HOUSE INTELLIGENCE AND ARMED
SOUTHWESTS COMMITTEES.
SOUTHWESTS COMMITTEES. HARRY LIPMAN IS HERE WITH US.
A DOJ VETERAN WHO IS BOTH A
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY AND FORMER
DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY
GENERAL UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON.
AND THE AFOREMENTIONED AARON
BLAKE, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
AT THE WASHINGTON POST.
LET’S START WITH YOU.
GIVEN YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THE
HILL, BY HOW MUCH IS DONALD
TRUMP’S LIFE GOING TO CHANGE
AGAIN EFFECTIVE TODAY?
>> IT’S GOING TO CHANGE QUITE
DRAMATICALLY.
DRAMATICALLY. YOU HAVE MANY COMMITTEES WHO ARE
ARE -- THEIR POLICIES, BUT MORE
PARTICULARLY WITH THE PRESIDENT
AND HIS PERSONAL FINANCIAL
ENTANGLEMENTS.
ENTANGLEMENTS. THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE FINE
IF YOU ARE A PRIVATE CITIZEN OR
PRIVATE BUSINESSPERSON TO HAVE
OVERSEAS FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS.
THEY’RE NOT OKAY IF YOU ARE
RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT AND THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GIVE UP
THOSE CONNECTIONS, YOU SHOULD
NOT BE RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT,
AND HE WAS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP
THOSE CONNECTIONS, SO IT IS
COMPLETELY REASONABLE FOR
CONGRESS TO BE LOOKING INTO THE
LEVERAGE THAT FOREIGN COUNTRIES
MAY HAVE OVER THE MOST SENIOR
DECISION MAKER OUR COUNTRY HAS.
>> YOU, TOO, HARRY, ARE A MAN OF
THE LAW.
THE LAW. HELP US UNDERSTAND THIS.
FOLKS WHO WATCH US EVERY NIGHT
HEAR US TALKING ABOUT THE
MUELLER INVESTIGATION IN THE
MAIN.
MAIN. THEY ARE NOW ZEROING IN ON
SOMETHING CALLED THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, AND NOW
THIS THIRD FRONT, AND IT SEEMDS
FORMIDABLE.
FORMIDABLE. HOW DOES THIS CHANGE THE
PRESIDENT’S LEGAL EXPOSURE?
BY HOW MUCH SHOULD HE WORRY
ABOUT THIS BY PERCENTAGE
COMPARED TO ALL THE OTHERS?
>> WELL, SO CONGRESS -- THE
OPERATIVE WORD, AS YOU PUT IT,
REALLY IS BROADENING.
RELATIVE TO MUELLER, WHO,
REMEMBER, HAS HAD A SPECIFIC
COMMISSION OF WHAT HE HAD TO
PURSUE, THE SUBJECT MATTERS
ANNOUNCED BY SCHIFF TODAY ARE
BROADER CHRONOLOGICALLY.
BROADER CHRONOLOGICALLY. THEY GO BACK IN TIME, AND, ALSO,
BY -- THERE’S A WHOLE GEOGRAPHIC
ANGLE.
ANGLE. THERE COULD BE ANY KIND OF
FOREIGN COUNTRY AT ALL AND MAYBE
THE WHOLE KIND OF MESS IN THE
SEA SHELLS AND OTHER STUFF WE’VE
HEARD JUST TANNING HE SHALLGENTI
CONGRESS HAS POWER TO REALLY
WIELD GREAT PENALTIES AGAINST
HIM.
HIM. THAT LEAVES THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, WHICH BOTH
HAS THE BREADTH BECAUSE IT’S NOT
LIMITED, AND I WOULD SAY BOTH
THE POWER AND THE SORT OF
CULTURE OF AGGRESSIVENESS TO GO
AFTER HIM WITHOUT ANY HOLDS
BARRED.
BARRED. >> AND, AARON, INDEED, TO YOUR
POINTS, THIS COULD HAVE A DEPTH
TO IT.
TO IT. A REACH TO IT INTO PLACES THE
PRESIDENT REALLY DOESN’T WANT TO
HAVE EXAMINED -- FAMILY AND
BUSINESS.
BUSINESS. OFTEN LINKED TOGETHER AS THE
SAME THING.
SAME THING. THAT THESE OTHER INVESTIGATIONS
HAVE NOT AS OF YET.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. I THINK THAT’S ALWAYS BEEN THE
BIG QUESTION WITH SDNY IS HOW
MUCH WOULD THEY REALLY BE
PROBING NOT JUST THE TRUMP
CHARITY, NOT JUST THE TRUMP
FOUND, A NOT JUST TRUMP
UNIVERSITY OR COLLUSION OR THE
PEOPLE AROUND THE PRESIDENT, BUT
THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION ITSELF.
THERE HASN’T BEEN NECESSARILY AN
INVESTIGATION FOCUSED
INVESTIGATION FOCUSED DELIBERATELY ON THAT.
I THINK THAT THE HOUSE IS NOW
ALSO EXPANDING INTO THIS
TERRITORY.
TERRITORY. IF YOU LOOK AT THE VERBIAGE IN
ADAM SCHIFF’S RELEASE TODAY,
POINTS THREE AND FOUR POINTS TO
THE FACT THAT THE PRESIDENT
COULD BE COMPROMISED.
IT SPEAKS TO THE TRUMP ORGS, TO
TRUMP’S FAMILY.
TRUMP’S FAMILY. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE NOW FAIR
GAME, AND ALL OF THEM PLAY INTO
THESE FIVE POINTS THAT YOU LAID
OUT.
OUT. PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING THAT WE
ARE TALKING ABOUT AS FAR AS