THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA THAT DIDN’T ADD UP TO US AND
CONTINUES NOT TO ADD UP.
GLENN KIRSCHNER, I WANT TO ASK
YOU BECAUSE THIS ALL SORT OF
DOVETAILS ABOUT THE NEW ATTORNEY
GENERAL NOMINEE, WILLIAM BARR,
HEARINGS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN A
COUPLE HOURS, WITH A BIG FOCUS
ON ROBERT MUELLER’S RUSSIA
PROBE.
PROBE. AND HE’S SPOKED EXPECTED TO SAY
HE BELIEVES ROBERT MUELLER’S
INVESTIGATION SHOULD CONTINUE
UNIMPEDED.
UNIMPEDED. HE ALSO PLANS TO SAY THE PUBLIC
SHOULD BE INFORMED OF THE
RESULTS OF THAT INVESTIGATION,
WRITING "MY GOAL WILL BE TO
PROVIDE AS MUCH TRANSPARENCY AS
I CAN CONSISTENT WITH THE LAW."
HE CONTINUES "I CAN ASSURE YOU
THAT WHERE JUDGMENTS ARE TO BE
MADE BY ME, I WILL MAKE THOSE
JUDGMENTS BASED SOLELY ON THE
LAW AND LET NO PERSONAL,
POLITICAL OR OTHERS INFLUENCE MY
DECISION.
DECISION. BARR ADDED HE BELIEVES A
PRESIDENT CAN OBSTRUCT JUSTICE.
BUT DEMOCRATS ON THE COMMITTEE,
INCLUDING LEAST THREE POTENTIAL
2020 CONTENDS ARE AREERS ARE EXP
HAMMER BARR ON A MEMO LAST YEAR
IN WHICH HE CRITICIZED ROBERT
MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION.
MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION. HE WROTE "THE SPECIAL COUNSEL
SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO
DEMAND THE PRESIDENT SUBMIT TO
QUESTIONS ON OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. SO, GLEN, WILLIAM BARR CAN SAY
WHAT HE WANTS TO AND I’M GLAD
HE’S SAYING BUT HIS INITIAL
FEELINGS, HIS CORE FEELINGS
REMAIN TRUE AS PUBLISHED IN THAT
MEMO.
MEMO. >> WILLIE, IT WAS ALMOST A
SURPRISE, I THINK, WHEN THE
PRESIDENT FIRST ANNOUNCED HE
WOULD NOMINATE BILL BARR BECAUSE
BILL BARR WAS VIEWED AS
SOMETHING OF AN
INSTITUTIONALIST, A LAW AND
ORDER GUY, SOMEONE WHO BY ALL
ACCOUNTS SEEMED TO BE DEEPLY
CONCERNED WITH THE REPUTATION
AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
SO I THINK AFTER THE PRESIDENT
INSTALLED, YOU KNOW, WHITAKER,
WHO SEEMED ENTIRELY
INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE POSITION,
I THINK PEOPLE WERE PLEASANTLY
SURPRISED THAT HE APPOINTED A
BILL BARR.
BILL BARR. AND THAT WAS UNTIL PEOPLE
REALIZED THAT BILL BARR HAD
AUTHORED THIS LET’S CALL IT
CURIOUS MEMO, I BELIEVE IN JUNE,
AND WHO JUST SORT OF AS A
PRIVATE CITIZEN IT UP TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
WHAT I THINK IS MOST
ENLIGHTENING IS VERY FIRST
SENTENCE OR TWO THAT MEMO.
IT SAYS THAT, QUOTE, I REALIZE
THAT I AM IN THE DARK ABOUT MANY
OF THE FACTS, BUT I HOPE MY
VIEWS MIGHT BE USEFUL."
IT’S CURIOUS BILL BARR UNSOLICIT
$ WOULD SEND A MEMO TO THE DAUNL
ADD
ADD -- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ADMITTING HE IS IN THE DARK
ABOUT THE ROBERT MUELLER
INVESTIGATION AND GO ON FOR
19SONGLE-SPACED PAGES TO
CRITICIZE THE MUELLER PROBE AND
LAY OUT THIS BROAD -- BASICALLY
HE TOOK THE POSITION THAT IF THE
PRESIDENT DOES SOMETHING THAT IS
AUTHORIZED BY THE CONSTITUTION,
I.E., HIRE OR FIRE A CABINET
MEMBER OR DIRECTOR OF THE FBI,
IT SHOULD NOT BE INVESTIGATED.
THAT IS A CURIOUS POSITION TO
TAKE.
TAKE. WE’RE ALL BARTONED THAT BILL BAR
SAID THAT IN HIS OPENING
STATEMENT AND IT WAS AN OPENING
STATEMENT.
STATEMENT. LET’S SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY
TODAY AT HIS HEARING.
>> GLEN, IT IS CURIOUS AT BEST.
IT REMINDS ME OF WHITAKER WHO
ANNOUNCED HE WAS GOING ON CNN TO
APPLY FOR A JOB WITH DONALD
TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE PLAYING TO
THE CHEAP SEATS HERE.
IN BARR’S CASE, YOU CAN’T HELP
BUT LOOK BACK AT THE LAST
SUPREME COURT ADMIT.
HE WASN’T EVEN ON THE FIRST LIST
THAT THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY THAT
TWINE
TWINE -- NOW HERE OUT OF NOWHERE,
THIS BUSHIE, THIS ESTABLISHMENT
FIGURE, THIS SUPPOSED
LAW-AND-ORDER GUY MOVES TO THE
DROP OF THE LIST.
IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.
>> WHEN WE LOOK BACK FROM 1991
TO 1993, IT INTERESTING, I WENT
BACK AND LOOKED AT SOME OF THE
REPORTING AND HIS CONFIRMATION
HEARING BACK IN 1991 WAS, QUOTE,
UNUSUALLY PLACID, CLOSED QUOTE.
I SUSPECT THIS CONFIRMATION
HEARING WILL BE ANYTHING BUT
UNUSUAL NALLY -- GO AHEAD.
>> BUT, GO AHEAD.
LET’S ASK THAT.
LET’S SAY HE LETS THIS GO ALL
THE WAY TO THE END.
HOW COULD ATTORNEY GENERAL BARR
UNDERCUT MUELLER’S
UNDERCUT MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION, EVEN IF HE LET IT
IS CONCLUDE?
IS CONCLUDE? COULD HE NOT DECIDE HE’S GOING
TO HOLD ALL THE FINDINGS AND NOT
RELEASE IT, NOT LET IT GO
PUBLIC?
PUBLIC? ARE THERE OTHER THINGS HE CAN DO
TO UNDERMINE ROBERT MUELLER’S
WORK?
WORK? >> THERE ARE OR THINGS HE CAN
DO.
DO. SAY HE SEEKS APPROVAL FOR AN
INDICTMENT AGAINST ROGER STONE
AS PART OF THE WI KI LEAKS
SITUATION.
SITUATION. BILL BARR WOULD HAVE THE
AUTHORITY IN HIS CAPACITY AS THE
PERSON SUPERVISING THE MULEELLER
PROBE TO WITHHOLD THAT APPROVAL.
HE WOULD HAVE TO REPORT IT OUT
AT THE END OF THE DAY TO
CONGRESS BECAUSE THERE’S A
PROVISION THAT SAYS ANY DENIAL
OF A REQUEST ABOUT SPECIAL
COUNSEL ULTIMATELY HAS TO BE
REPORTED OUT TO CONGRESS.
BUT HE COULD TACK THOSE KIND OF
STEPS.
STEPS. WHEN I HEARD IN HIS OPENMENTS,
HE WORKED WITH BOB MUELLER,Y
RESPECTS BOB MUELLER, I WAS
ENCOURAGED AND HEARTENED BECAUSE
I LEARNED HOW TO TRY MURDER
CASES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. FROM
BOB MUELLER, MY DIRECT
SUPERVISOR IN THE LATE 90s.
SO BE IN WHO KNOWS BOB MUELLER
KNOWS THE MAN, KNOWS WHERE HIS
HEART AND HIS PRINCIPLES AND HIS
ETHICS A.
ETHICS A. THAT’S A VERY GOOD SIGN, I
THINK, FOR THE WAY BILL BARR
WILL APPROACH HIS RELATIONSHIP
WITH BOB MUELLER.
I’LL JUMP IN A FOXHOLE AND FIGHT
ET ENMITY WITH BOB MUELLER ANY
DAY KNOWING THE MAN HE.
>> I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE
WOULD.
WOULD. DAVID FRENCH ACTUALLY YESTERDAY
HAD A GREAT COLUMN TALKING ABOUT
HOW HE WAS A SHEEPDOG DEFENDING
THE REST OF US AGAINST THE
WOLVES.
WOLVES. GLENN KIRSCHNER, THANK YOU SO
MUCH.
MUCH. AN INTERESTING SIDE NOTE, A LOT
OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT ROBERT
MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION IS
WINDING DOWN.
WINDING DOWN. WE’VE NOW BEEN HEARING THAT FOR
14 MONTHS.
14 MONTHS. REMEMBER DONALD TRUMP’S LAWYER
TY COBB WAS CONSTANTLY SAYING,
OH, IT’S GOING TO BE OVER BY
THANKSGIVING.
THANKSGIVING. >> GIULIANI WAS PUSHING THEM TO
HURRY UP.
HURRY UP. >> WE DON’T KNOW WHEN THIS IS
GOING TO BE OVER.
WE COULD HAVER IN SIX MONTHS
AHEAD OF IT US.
ONLY ROBERT MUELLER KNOWS AND
PEOPLE SPECULATING RIGHT NOW ARE
ACTUALLY MAKING A BIG MISTAKE.
>> BUT WHAT WE’RE SEEING IS HOW
MANY DIFFERENT ANGLES THERE ARE,
HOW MUCH THERE IS.
WHEN YOU THINK OF LIKE ELIJAH
CUMMINGS ON OVERSIGHT TRYING TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT QUESTIONS TO
ASK.
ASK. THEY HAVE TO BE SO CAREFUL, SO