Transcripts For CNNW Inside 20240704

The campaign. Plus, iowa not so nice. Hecklers turn up the heat and grill mike pence serving up a side of jeers with their deepf deepfried oreos and calling the former Vice President a traitor for doing his job. And a former republican says he doesnt need to wait for evidence to find out if hunter biden reaped rewards. Im dana bash. Lets go behind the headlines and inside politics. A win, kind of, coupled with a warning. The federal judge presiding over the President Trump 2020 Election Trial sides with the defense and rules against an attempt to totally restrict what their client can do or say with evidence. But that judge did establish clear limits to how trump can use what he learns from the lawyers in public, and this is important. She issued a stern warning to the former president , one, that everything he says is now under scrutiny. Another, is that the campaign will take a backseat to what happens inside her courtroom. Cnns Katelyn Polance is outside the federal courthouse. It sounds like the judge is trying to make very clear she is in charge as she believes the rule of law. Reporter this is going to set the tone for the entire case going forward. Its not just that this judge is in control here. It is also that justice comes first. That is the thing to underline from this hearing that she reiterated over and over again to the lawyers on both sides here. Some of the quotes today really were astonishing with how much the judge was emphasizing that Bigger Picture idea that justice comes first. This isnt about politics. And there can be limits on a persons speech even if they are running for president and especially when they are a criminal defendant so that they may have a fair trial. One of the things judge chutkan said the fact that hes running a political campaign, he has to yield to the administration of justice. If that means he cant exactly say what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how its going to have to be. Shes saying that is not just about how much donald trump will be able to disclose evidence in this case that hes learning from the Justice Department, one of the decisions she made today was, yes, she can taylor things in the way that trumps team wants, that only sensitive evidence that they get will be protected and have a specific set of rules about how they can be handled and spoken about. But also, shes saying that anything that trump is learning that is sensitive, especially what hes learning from witness interviews, hes not going to be able to share more broadly. And hes under Bail Conditions and hes not going to be able to speak in a way that intimidates witnesses, period. So interesting. Thank you so much. Here to share their insights, former federal prosecutor and another former federal prosecutor. Nice to see you all. What a friday it is. First, ill start with the two of you who have been obviously in federal courts before. What do you make of two things. Lets start with the admonition from the judge and the first of all, its not just about that free speech is not limited and that he has to be careful, politics aside. Those are completely uncontroversial statements that are made controversial because you have a former president of the United States who is your defendant. But the idea that someones comments are public speech ought to bend the knee to the Criminal Justice something is something that isnt knew. If you have a defendant who is making public statements that might jeopardize Witness Safety or integrity of evidence, or the administration of justice, then you have to put restrictions on what they say. Yes, its donald trump, but this isnt that big a deal legally. No, legally. But, again, we dont live in fantasy lawyer land. We live in the real world. There are coincidencnsequences f this. And what they were in court for, on this protective order, she pretty much gave the trump team that they wanted, or at least the latest proposal they were giving to her. Its interesting, the whole defense is on the first amendment. The limitations that shes imposing here i think, its mostly, i think, agrees with what the trump team wants. Shes causing a fight over the definition of what will be sensitive and the obvious she says no big blanket order, only what is sensitive would be protected. The obvious solution so that is for the prosecution is just to designate very broadly whats sensitive. The downside for that is going to get a lot of litigation over that definition and you could end up going batch by batch over what is sensitive which could cause more delay as well. So its all sort of a doubleedge sword here. Here statement about the aspect of this is not going to be political, i find really intriguing. Garland has made such a big effort and never mentioned the word politics. In some senses i think now is trumps team is going to seize on that and say youre finally acknowledging that politics is a part of that. When we think about the rules of court as this goes back to the constitution as well. They really exist largely for the protection of the defendant and his ability to get a fair trial. And the kinds of things that can really screw up a conviction down the road are errors you make here and taking rights away from the defendant. Judges tend to be cautious about looking out for defendants, even ones that are political candidates and say a lot of nonsense. Thats an important point. The system we should reiterate this. The system is set up to protect defendants rights. And that includes when that defendant is a former president. Hes a citizen of the United States. I want to bring in the political calendar. And the ct that if you kind of okp on the screen, were talking today just about the the beginnings of th. The trial that this judge proposedas to start is to start on january 2nd, 2024. You see w close that is to the wa caucuses. Its not as if it will be done by january 15th which is the date that the iowa caucus is. What we donsee on the screen there, because we dont have the exact dates, thats just the first of the primary and caucus contest. You have new hampshire, south carolina, and then and then and then and then. The way this is set up right now, the trial and the deciding elections for the republican nominee are supposed to go hand in hand and be at the same time. Right. I mean, thats something that Donald Trumps team is very much leaning into. We saw the former president tweet about this yesterday, reeling against prosecutors, asking for that january 2nd trial start date. If the judge agrees to set it in early january, hes going to have to spend crucial time in the primary election season in court. And clearly it puts him on a Collision Course between his legal battles and his president ial campaign. One thing i found interesting from what the judge said today is that if donald trump or anyone in his team makes inflammatory statements, that will that will give her the motivation to want to have a trial even sooner. And so, of course, though, donald trump and his team want to delay this as much as possible as theyve done with the other with the classified documents case and other legal battles that hes facing. They want to try to delay any sort of trial until after the 2024 election. Of course, thats not what special prosecutors want. They want it to be speedy. But this is what were going to be seeing playing out over the next week or so, as donald trump responds to this yeah, their whole strategy . Each of these cases has been delay. Just in the way they have proceeded with some of the just basic rudimentary does the codefendant have a lawyer. In your experience being in these federal courts, how likely is it that this date that the judge proposed january 2nd, 2024, to start this Election Trial will slip. Im curious about chans view on this too. I think the thing that will be the hardest of all the deadlines set, they have ten working days to pick a jury. It seems to me that thats very aggressive and ambitious for what will be a controversial trial. Youre going to have to find 14 people who dont have views about donald trump or are certain that they can set them aside pro or con and thats aggressive. The rest of it seemed reasonable for a fast and aggressive trial. Im not that concerned about the ten days for the jury selection. I think it could done. Some judge like barrel through that. I do think i mean, generally trial dates tend to slip some anyway. I think what trumps team hasnt played yet is the specific scheduling issues. We talked about the iowa caucuses. Soon there will be other dates. Soon it wont be generally that hes busy. Hes a specific date he cant be here. So fascinating. And we have a lot more to go on all of this multiple cases that were looking at. Up next, were going to go to iowa, the state fair is happening there. And former Vice President mike pence just took the stage less than a day after an angry heckler accused of him of being a traitor. Subways slicing t their turkey fresh like on the titan turkey. Piled high with double the cheese and more meat. I proffer freshly sliced turkey. Its my favorite mouth ard flavor. Mmmm. Now available at subway. The sub, nothe mouth guard. Gives you access tevery game. But terry doesnt have directv. Come on. Work for dad here. Now, you can find the game easy. My barbecue is saved get in the redzone with sports pack. Call 1800directv my barbecue is ruined. What makes a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, like an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan from unitedhealthcare a good choice for people on medicare . 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Not all dangers come with warning labels. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor. About getting vaccinated against rsv today. Im sholeh, and i lost 75 pounds with golo. I went from a size 20 to a size 6. Before golo, nothing seemed to work. I was exercising for over an hour every day. It was really discouraging. But golos so easy, the weight just falls off. Now to iowa where minutes ago, mike pence wrapped up his fairside chat with the states governor, kim reynolds. For the first 24 minutes, the candidate spoke about his faith, immigration and parents rights. For me, for my family, faith is whats most important. I couldnt be more proud to have been part of an administration that made the largest increased investment in our National Defense since the days of ronald reagan. The crisis at our border is 100 manmade and that mans name is joe biden. We have got to make it clear that parents dont coparent with government. As president of the United States, were going to protect americas children from gender transition. It wasnt until literally the last minute that the former Vice President addressed the elephant at the fairgrounds. I was always loyal to President Donald Trump until the day came that my oath to the constitution required me to do otherwise. But ill always be proud of the record of the trump pence administration. Jeff zelensy is live in des moines. Before coming on, we were talking about mike pence and you were observing the kind of reception he was getting. Yes, he was heckled, but you said that it seems like theres a bit of a different dynamic. Explain. Dana, theres no doubt that many republicans who are interested in turning the page and moving forward are giving mike pence a shot. We talked to one voter after that who said she has it narrowed down to mike pence or Florida Governor ron desantis. Yes, he has many supporters, but thats half the party. As the former Vice President , mike pence, of course, from indiana, hes been working through these crowds, he has been getting a strong reception from at least that onehalf of the party. But as you said, Iowa Governor kim reynolds, shes been rolling out the welcome mat for all of the candidates here. Shes been holding these conversations with them. All have accepted the opportunity accept donald trump. They have been squaring off back and forth, trump has accused her of not supporting him. He said i supported you in your race. We sat down with her yesterday and shes been neutral in the race so far. But she left open the door to the possibility of offering her endorsement or recommendation later in this cycle. Lets watch. Its really important that they feel that they have kind of a fair shot and theyre welcome here in iowa and we i want iowans to have the chance to interact with them. Youre not ruling out potentially an endorsement at the end of the process. I dont think you should ever say nevernever. Well wait and see what happens. Im probably looking at neutral, especially at the beginning of this. And she went on to say that she believes there could be many surprises in this race. She said five months is a long time. Of course, i asked her about the indictments facing the former president and she said iowans will have to make up their own judgment on that. Tomorrow here at the fair, iowans and others visiting from across the country will get a chance to size up and see both former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor ron desantis and other candidates as well, several will be visiting the fair here and sort of dueling appearances. As we talk to voters, important to keep in mind, many are sizing up the field and keeping an open mind on this. So this race, five months to go and many open questions. Jeff, thank you so much for that Great Reporting as always. Here with me at the table is our guests. Interesting comments that we just heard from the Iowa Governor about the notion of the possibility that she might endorse, i think she likely will. Well see what happens. But also about how wide open it seems on the ground in iowa despite what the polls are showing. I guess it would seem that way if youre at the fair and youre seeing crowds come out to see mike pence or the other candidates who are there. And theres obviously a romance to the fair. Its a great opportunity for candidates to go out and meet with voters where they are and show more human side. But im a little sceptical that this is that some i was there when donald trump came in in his helicopter in 2015, landed. There was a time when if you only spent an hour at the fair and you showed up a suit, there would have been bad headlines stand by. Im going to go to im announcing the appointment of david weiss as a Special Counsel consistent with the department of justice regulations governing such matters. In keeping with those regulations, i have today notified the designated members of each House Of Congress of the appointment. In february 2018, after being nominated by the former president and confirmed by the senate, mr. Weiss was sfwworn i. He served previously in the office for more than a decade. Beginning in 2019, mr. Weiss and along with federal Law Enforcement partners, began investigating allegations of certain Criminal Conduct by among others, Robert Hunter biden. That investigation has been recently referenced In Federal Criminal Proceedings in the district of delaware and as noted in those proceedings, and other public statements by mm mr. Weisss office, that investigation remains ongoing. In february 2021, u. S. Attorney weiss was asked to remain as u. S. Attorney for the district of delaware and in that capacity to continue to lead the investigation. As i said before, mr. Weiss would be permitted to continue his investigation, take any investigative steps he wanted, and make the decision whether to prosecute in any district. Mr. Weiss has told congress that he has been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including the responsibility for deciding where, when, and wea whether to file charges and making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of any prosecution consistent with federal law, the principles of federal prosecution and departmental policies. In a july letter to congress, he said that he had not requested Special Counsel designation. On tuesday of this week, mr. Weiss advised me that in his judgment, his investigation had reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a Special Counsel. And he asked to be so appointed. Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, i have included that its in the publics interest to appointment him as Special Counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems probably independently based only on the facts and the law. Mr. Weiss will also continue to serve as u. S. Attorney for the district of delaware. As Special Counsel, he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has previously exercised to oversee the investigation and decide where, when and whether to file charges. The Special Counsel will not be subject to the daytoday supervision of any official of the department, but he must comply with the regulations, procedures, and policies of the department. Consistent with the Special Counsel regulations, at the conclusion of his work, he will provide me with a report explaining the Prosecution Decisions reached by him. As with each Special Counsel who has served since i have taken office, i am committed to making as much of his report public as possible consistent with legal requirements and department policy. Todays announcement affords the prosecutors, agents and analysts working on this manner the ability to proceed with their work expeditiously and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law. The men and women undertaking this investigation are Public Servants who have dedicated their careers to protecting the citizens of this country. The appointment of mr. Weiss reinforces the departments commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. I am confident that mr. Weiss will carry out his responsibility in an evenhanded and urgent manner and in accordance with the highest traditions of this department. Thank you. You just heard the Attorney General making a very significant announcement at the department of justice, that there will be now a Special Counsel looking into the hunter biden matter. It is the same individual the u. S. Attorney in delaware who has been investigating. What it means, though, is that david weiss, who is the again, u. S. Attorney in delaware who has been investigating, will now have more powers than a typical u. S. Attorney. It is important to also note that what the Attorney General said was that this is at the request of david weiss. He requested the powers of the Special Counsel. A lot to unpack here. I believe that we have kara senell to talk about what this means. Take it away. The Attorney General has appointed david weiss as a Special Counsel. He will be able to investigate this independently. It will allow him to investigate anywhere he needs to. There had been questions about venue in this case because he is a u. S. Attorney for delaware. And some of the conduct or alleged conduct had taken place in other jurisdictions. Its a bit of a reversal because both garland and david weiss has previously said he didnt ask for Special Counsel status and all the authority he needed in this case. But now according to garland, weiss asked for that status on tuesday and he was granted that. As garland said, it will also mean that david weiss will be providing a report with any Prosecution Decisions or declinations at the end of this and this is something that the House Republicans had been raising as a question here because there were irs whistleblowers saying that some of their investigative efforts were stymied during this multiyear investigation. So it is something that House Republicans have been scrutinizing and appointing a Special Counsel could i leavuate some of that scrutiny. But it raises a lot of questions about just what else they might be investigating. I noted that garland said they will be able to investigate Criminal Conduct among hunter biden and others. And remember, this investigation had spanned some five years and had looked at broad conduct including foreign lobbying, moneylaundering and it had narrowed into the guilty plea that they had reached last month that fell apart in the Court Hearing. And just now, im looking at a court filing, prosecutors asked the judge to vacant her order asking them to come back and work out their guilty plea because as they write this is the prosecutors writing in this motion to the judge, that order was set in place as they were continuing to work toward a guilty plea. They write but that is no longer the case. Following additional negotiations after the hearing held on july 26th, 2023, the parties are not on agreement of a Plea Agreement or a Diversion Agreement. They believe the order should be vacanted. The deal that they were working on on Tax Misdemeanor Charges is now being torn up and this investigation is now continuing with the appointment of a Special Counsel who has broad powers, dana. And that really is the key here. That was the turning point, kara. What happened in that courtroom, the federal courtroom in delaware where the Hunter Biden Legal Team thought they were walking in with hunter biden. David weiss and his team walked in, they had planned to just kind of get a stamp on this plea deal for a couple of misdemeanors and a tax charge that would be diverted down the road and it all blew up and fell apart for various reasons. Fair to say that it was because of that that we are where we are. Dana, it seems that way, both the prosecution and Hunter Bidens team, they walked in with a deal that they had signed and agreed upon. They shook hands in the courtroom at the start of the proceeding and they actually signed the paperwork then. It was the judge that was pushing and asking questions about it. And where that first hit the snag was about the scope of this tax agreement. Hunter bidens team believed it covered everything that the prosecutors were looking into, including foreign lobbying, including moneylaundering and prosecutors said that wasnt the case. It was narrowed to just taxes, to gun and to drug charges. In the live moments, though, Hunter Bidens team said, okay, fine, well agree to that and they were moving forward with what appeared to be the guilty plea, but then the Diversion Agreement on the Gun Possession Hit A Snag because the gun raised a question about whether it was constitution. She said you have 30 days to work this out. And the big question would be would they still agree to the initial charges, even the narrowed immunity deal, and apparently they are not able to do that. Yeah. Thank you so much for putting that in context. Appreciate it. Back here, i want to ask you about well, there are so many things here. But first just about what is going to happen now. Right. Lets start with david weiss himself. Hes a Special Counsel, as i mentioned, the well, the Attorney General says we have here in the supporting documents that this is happening, this Special Counsel idea of a Special Counsel is happening because david weiss who is now the Special Counsel, asked for it. Given what happened in that courtroom and frankly what a mess it was, does it surprise you that he is still in charge of this case . It does not. Look, anybody who has been an attorney or federal prosecutor has had something blow up with the defense where you thought you had an agreement going into ko court, everybody was fine and you get in there and you misunderstood each other. Thats not that alarming. Now, step back, why do you have a Special Counsel in the first place. And what the law says is that number one, when somebody has a conflict like, one of the attorneys owns stock or something, thats not the case here. Or, extraordinary circumstances exist. Thats what the law says. And i think it was a recognition or a finding by weiss, perhaps others, that the case was now so extraordinary on account of who the person being investigated is and some of the things surrounding it, it was wise to take out of the Chain Of Command at the Justice Department. And then the other very important point of this is that because this is a Special Counsel, this isnt just if somebody is charged, then you were going to know the scope of the charge and what they allegedly did wrong or didnt. This is going to be a fulsome report about what the investigation looked like. Which is important legally but also very important politically because theyre going to presumably have information in there that could answer with evidence some of the allegations without evidence mostly that republicans have out there. I think thats about the only good thing thats come out of this decision by garland. To me, this is a debacle by the Justice Department. Theyve had years to investigate this case and elliot is right, things go wrong in the courtroom. It shouldnt have gone wrong in this case. I mean, the defense had an interest in keeping it a little bit ambiguous because they want their deal. Prosecution had no interest in keeping it ambiguous. Garland looks like hes just so worried about looking political. He should have had better control over this to begin with. When weiss was not a Special Counsel, he was in the Chain Of Command at justice, he could have just said no. And this obviously implies, maybe he doesnt mean to imply it, that the conflict thats coming up now maybe extends to the president. The president s son, theres no conflict. You dont need a Special Counsel or independent council. So, again, i lay this at garlands feet. It wasnt well managed and his reaction now makes things even worse. We should say that certainly the republicans are going to say that it implies that this has to do with the president. I mean, you would agree, theres no evidence of that at all. The only thing that it says is that theyre investigating hunter biden and theyre going to let basically these are my words theyre going to let the evidence take that investigation where it goes even if it includes other people. Yeah, the problem is from a legal standpoint, what are the extraordinary circumstances . The fact that it blew up in court is not an extraordinary circumstance. Thats what the problem is. The question is, whats in there . Im going to go to paula reid, she was there at the Justice Department in the room for the Attorney Generals announcement. Paula . Reporter in addition to being there for the announcement, weve had the chance to speak to some sources and what we have learned is that doj is saying that on tuesday, david weiss requested Special Counsel status. No one here at the Justice Department can explain why suddenly on tuesday, after five years of this investigation, he was seeking this particular status. We now know from our colleagues that there are Court Filings that suggest that the Justice Department and attorneys general for hunter biden are at an impasse in terms of the plea deal that was supposed to be finalized a short time ago in court and fell through. So, again, its unclear on the timing here. Its also unclear how this new designation will impact weisss ability to testify before congress. We know there have been calls for him to testify, but here at doj they cannot tell us how this will impact it. They do point out to the fact point to the fact that previous Special Counsels, they did testify before congress but only after submitting their final report. Here theyre trying to emphasize that this requirement to submit a final report will add a layer of transparency to this obviously highly politically fraught investigation. They also answered our questions about whether the white house had been informed or Hunter Bidens lawyers and were told that the white house was not given a headsup about this and neither were Hunter Bidens attorneys. And so far, we have not been able to get bidens attorneys on the phone for a reaction to this development. Okay, thank you so much. Lets go to the white house where Priscilla Alvarez is there with her reporting. Priscilla, im guessing youre hearing the same thing from the people in the building behind you that we just heard from paula, that they had no headsup . Thats right. We have reached out to the white house. We havent heard back yet. What we have heard from this white house when the Justice Department has taken actions, including actions involving the pres president s son, is that they work independently and theres often not a notification ahead of time to the white house in terms of what they are going to do. And that is what happened to, according to a Justice Department official who told our colleagues. Now, i will also note that as these Legal Proceedings have played out, the White House Press secretary has repeatedly said that this is a matter for Hunter Bidens attorneys. Often saying that the president supports his son but directing all matters to them and the Justice Department. I want to read to you something that she said in late july as all of this was unfolding. She said at the time, hunter biden is a private citizen and this was a personal matter for him. As we have said, the president , the first lady, they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life. And i repeat that statement to you because that is likely what we would hear from the white house as they have faced questions about hunter biden and these Legal Proceedings. Again, they were not notified ahead of time of this action by the Justice Department. We have asked them for comment. They have not replied yet. This is a white house that is facing increasing pressure when it comes to the president s son, hunter biden, republicans have slammed the president over all of these Legal Proceedings and also so much as flirted with a potential Impeachment Inquiry. The white houses stance has been that its baseless. The focus should be in congress on the american people. But all of this to say that that criticism is ramping up. This will likely fuel republicans and what they have to say about hunter biden and these ongoing Legal Proceedings. Priscilla, thank you so much. She says it could fuel the republicans. But the other way to look at it is that it could keep republicans at bay because now that you do have a Special Counsel, which a lot of republicans were calling for, a, and b, i cant remember if it was paula or one of other reporters, while the Special Counsel was doing his work, hes hes unlikely to talk to congress. And its unlikely for them to get the information that theyre working on. And thats whats so interesting. Prior to this announcement, the Justice Department was saying that weiss was prepared to testify as early as september. As soon as they came back from their august research. They wanted to do that specifically because of the assertions that republican lawmakers were making about his authority to conduct his wide investigation into hunter biden and that he wanted to directly address that as soon as he could, assuming that they had a deal that would have gone forward with Hunter Bidens lawyers. That fell apart. But we were still expecting him to potentially testify to congress when they came back. Now, as you said, dana, thats probably not going to happen for quite some time as he has these new authorities. I mean, i think theres so much unknown here about how this is going to play out, how long its going to take. Obviously, are they expanding the investigation . Is this more of a formality . Is this something that will enable him to write a final report and keep this away from congress . Theres some chatter on the right about are they trying to keep this out of the House Oversight committee and keep this, you know, if not exactly at the doj, still not with the House Republicans running the show here. But remains to be sceen how lon this goes and whether its wrapped up in a couple of months and if this expands into something that were dealing with into next year, i know the white house is not going to talk about it. Theyre going to continue to refer people to hunters attorney, the Justice Department, the Special Counsels office, and joe biden is going to continue talking about bidenomics. If they want to keep making allegations that have not been substantiated with evidence, the white house says, okay, were going to talk about pocketbook issues that affect real americans and i think thats where theyre going. This is picking up on the folly of appointing Special Counsels to begin with, the whole enterprise is to take the stink of politics out of the legal system. When you put a Special Counsel in, youre taking it out of the Chain Of Command and politics goes away. Do you really think now that republicans or congress or whomever else are now going to say everything is perfect and everything is above board because david weiss has this new designation. Its going to be the arguments about Conspiracy Theories and the deep state fueling all of this. And i dont know with the when jack smith was appointed, it was the same thing. Its youre still going to get the criticisms and so im not quite sure whats gained by doing that. May as well just done it years ago. Lets go to capitol hill and to our lauren fox who is talking to republicans. And im guessing well confirm the suspicions of elliot that republicans arent just taking their ball and going home. Reporter well, we are still awaiting any official reaction, dana, up here on capitol hill. Its recess. Lawmakers are away from washington right now. But one thing is clear, the time line that republicans have laid out over the last several months for a potential Impeachment Inquiry has only intensified. And those calls are really likely to continue now even after this news. As your panel is pointing out, this doesnt quell the suspicion of republicans. It may intensify some of them. There is an open question of how this affects potential testimony of david weiss on capitol hill. The expectation was, he could come as soon as september, they were trying to work out a potential date for him to testify. Now theres a question of if you are a Special Counsel, would you testify before lawmakers on capitol hill. The likely answer would be no. So that will only intensify republicans who say theyre trying to get answers and they arent getting them. We should also just add some of the context of this. Back in the earlier parts of the summer, you had whistleblowers who were alleging that during an october 2022 meeting, david weiss said he tried to become a Special Counsel and he was denied that distinction. Now, he later pushed back on those allegations saying they were not true. Writing in a letter to Lindsey Graham back in july that he had never asked to be appointed a Special Counsel, but that is one of the questions that republicans are going to have, why is this coming now . And i just want to note that i think thats important context as we talk about how republicans on the hill are going to be thinking and responding to this given the fact that Impeachment Inquiry is looming large now. Such an important point and im glad you brought that bit of context in about those irs socalled whistleblowers saying that david weiss until just a few minutes ago the u. S. Attorney and now the Special Counsel in charges of this was saying that he wanted to be Special Counsel even though he denied it. Thank you so much, lauren. As we continue this discussion, i just want to go back and play some of what the Attorney General said in announcing this new Special Counsel and the hunter biden case. I have concluded that it is in the Public Interest to appoint him as Special Counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently based only on the facts and the law. And so going back to when this threehour Court Hearing last month ended blew up, to use your terms, when they thought they had a plea deal when they didnt, part of the reason actually, the reason why it blew up was because the judge didnt want to agree to something that the defense, Hunter Bidens defense team, thought that meant he was clear of every other charge on the planet. Because the prosecution said, no, thats not what were talking about. So now that this Special Counsel has these new powers, then the question is, are they going to go there on questions of alleged illegal lobbying for foreign sources and maybe anything else. I mean that is as you were saying always the political concern of having a Special Counsel because then they can just be unleashed. But in reality, we dont know how narrow its going to be. You wouldnt think that they are turning this into a Special Counsel investigation just to wrap it up. You would think that he has expanded powers, hes going to have more resources, that they would broaden this in some way and that has to be somewhat concerning, at least politically, but also for the president being concerned about his son and his wellbeing and where this is going legally. I mean, there was some relief when they thought this was all being wrapped up neatly, that he would plead guilty to the misdemeanors and it would be over. Obviously a misunderstanding there. That was not actually what the other side has agreed to. Where this goes, how long this plays out, its hard to say. In terms of the house side, you know, Kevin Mccarthy does not seem to have the support to go with a fullfledged Impeachment Inquiry. The rational was the same as Speaker Pelosi said when they opened the Impeachment Inquiry into donald trump, saying we need this ability to investigate and it allows us to pursue all the investigation. We just have to see where it leads. Kevin mccarthy right now does not have the support from the house moderate who is are going to determine control of the house next year to go ahead and launch this Impeachment Inquiry. Does this change that . Does this give more fuel to that or does this say, now the Special Counsel is handling it, so now we dont need to. And the question is, what is the it we speak of . When you talk about an Impeachment Inquiry, theyre not impeaching hunter biden. Its an inquiry to impeach the president of the United States and so far theres no evidence that the evidence has come out james comer, the head of this Committee Just told jake tapper yesterday, pretty much admitted that they dont have evidence to show that joe biden did anything wrong. Hes said that repeatedly, well, i hope we find evidence. But hasnt said they actually have the evidence. And so has Kevin Mccarthy. He has talked to his conference saying, well, we dont exactly have something here. I was talking to a republican consultant in a swing state who was on the politics of all of this and the fact that republicans may go down this Inquiry Route not necessarily an actual vote come the fall and that consultant said, this is not going to add any voters to our coalition. They arent hearing any voters talk about this. The voters that they lost that were moderate republicans or Middle Of The Road independents in 2020 that went over to biden, theyre not talking about hunter biden and theyre not interesting in this potential impeachment. I want to go back to the white house because we have a statement. Priscilla . Thats right, dana. Consistent with how they have approached this before, they are taking a nocomment strategy. The statement from the white house says, quote, we will refer you to doj or Hunter Bidens personal representatives. Again, theyre taking that nocomment strategy. They also a white house official confirms again that the white house did not have any special headsup before the Attorney General made the announcement about the Special Counsel. We should note that President Biden is here at the white house today. He has had no public events, but he will be heading to rthe beac today which will give reporters a chance to ask him questions about this, but no comment from the white house. We are getting comment now from capitol hill from republicans who run the house. Lauren fox, what are you hearing . Reporter were getting initial statements, dana, this one coming from a spokesperson on the House Judiciary Committee who works for jim jordan. And in the statement, its clear that this is not quelling any of those concerns that House Republicans have had. In the statement he says, david weiss cant be trusted and this is just a new way to whitewash the biden familys corruption. Weiss has signed off on a Sweetheart Plea Deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it. We will continue to pursue facts brought to light by brave whistleblowers as well as weisss inconsistent statements to congress. The statement coming from a spokesperson for the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Its important to note, dana, once again, that House Republicans are looking very seriously when they return in september at opening an Impeachment Inquiry into president joe biden. And based off this statement, obviously, it makes it clear, they are not slowing down their investigation. In fact, this is adding fuel to that fire. Very interesting. Maybe not surprising. Lauren, thank you so much. I want to go to kara scannell. You have the first statement from Hunter Bidens attorneys. What are they saying . We got a statement from chris clark, one of the lead criminal attorneys representing hunter biden and he says the Attorney General made clear what was always the case in terms of the office in this matter. Whether in delaware, washington, d. C. , or anywhere else, we expect a fair resolution on behalf of our client. This u. S. Attorney has been investigating my client for five years and he had proposed a resolution which we fully intend to pursue in court. It is hard to see why he would have proposed such a resolution if there were other o teffenses could have prosecuted and we are aware of none. In the end, my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully. So this statement here suggesting that they still expect that this prosecution will be limited to the tax offenses that hunter biden has of course, thats just their expectation, their guess, because they dont know where this investigation is going. Now, also in the court documents, the prosecutors laid out this timeline, where they had given bidens team until today. Bidens team had asked to monday, and they denied that. Its unclear. This statement suggests theyre hoping for a resolution and not expanding, even though that david weiss will be given Special Counsel status. That does allow him to bring a charge in any district, which theyre also flagging not necessarily in delaware where the judge had questioned is so fiercely. Thank you. One of the things in the statement is just a reminder that david weiss has been working on this for five years. Five years. Im not a lawyer, but ive covered enough of this to know that five years is a really long time. God forbid we bring humanity into this, but to be sort of stringing along and to be having a persons life in limbo . Were talking about hunter biden and were talking about his family, and frankly the president s family, taking politics aside. If you take the name from hunter biden to joe smith, you would say, you know what . Thats not really fair. Thats right. Those things do happen to p people, but it is a great stress on them. Thats why i believe that the Attorney General should have made a firmer decision a long time ago. Five years is enough time. Wrap it up. If you cant wrap it up, you need to tell me what the solution is. They a debacle in terms of managing this case. It is clearly something thats been extremely bumpy. Is it wishful thinking, elliott, that the Hunter Biden Legal Team thinks this special investigation will stay narrow on issues like the tax charge, not paying his taxes on time, and pretty much nothing else . Maybe the diverted gun charge . I guess the question is, and this is sort of what weve been talking about, what could they uncover that they didnt have ample opportunity to uncover in the last several years. By all accounts, the Justice Department was looking into whatever matters may have arich. Now theres a conspiracy to suppress evidence and so on, but ill be clear. The trump team has been making, well, you didnt prosecutor me over 2 1 2 year, it all must be. Investigations take time, they do, but its hard to see how they didnt bring something sooner if they had it. On that note, when you look at the statute or the rules surrounding the powers that the Special Counsel has, What Powers Will David Weiss Special Counsel have that david weiss u. S. Attorney didnt have . Other than the fact that he, by law, can extend into a new president ial administration, thats really the only thing. I guess more staff and budgets. And the report. He reports to congress. He also doesnt technically report to the Attorney General. He does in practice, but the Attorney General is not pulling strings in the same way he might with a normal prosecution. Its been very interesting to watch the way the white house has been sort of playing this. They want to stay as far away from the hunter biden defense, understandably. They want to make clear theres a giant red line theyre not going to cross, because they say that they theyre not interference, but at what point do you thing that will have to change not on the legal strategy, but on the political strategy. They brought in a spokesman to specifically handle these inquiries, and ian sams, they took that out of the press shop. He doesnt really say and hes not saying much at all right now. The president has said very little, i love my son, im proud of my son. But people close to the president will acknowledge he is concerned with his son. He has faced addiction and is worried about the impact this is having on him. I think his aides, at least, and im sure he is too, are concerned about the politics. And when you talk to people close to hunter biden, theres frustration that the white house has not done more to defend his son. They have gone through such pains to separate themselves out. Ian sams will engage with the press, but it was all, as eli said, to repair for this. And they will point out there has been no corroboration or that theres no evidence there. But beyond that, they are not comment that, whether its on hunter biden or any of the indictments against the former president. When you talk to the Campaign Side now, they also say theyre not touching. On the campaign politics, they dont want to go there at all, even when it is an official Campaign Event separated from the white house, they say to not expect the president to talk about this. Look, it is all extremely complicated. Theres a lot of layers of complexity here. So far, the biden white house, the president himself, has leaned on the fact that his son was an addict and did some things he shouldnt have done, or didnt do things he should have done, and did things he shouldnt have do with the Business Practices. Theyre very careful on that, but i presume were going to hear more about those alleged problems with Business Practices as the Special Counsels report comes out. And maybe there could be a situation where they just get all the evidence they have out there and let people decide if there isnt going to be any prosecution on any of it. Yeah. Thats exactly the good part of having that report. Public transparency, which you wouldnt have if you were not Special Counsel. Before they ever get to that, they have to get over this hump, accounts which is more like mt. Everest, which is what are they doing with Hunter Bidens plea deal. It sounds like Defense Counsel are begging to go forward with the plea, yet now weiss has been appointed as a Special Counsel. Maybe it signals theyre expanding it, or maybe he wants to write the report. They have to resolve that first they can sea the plea deal is off the table or whatever, but they have to make a decision. It seems like a plea deal is off the table, because thats why the Special Counsel you dont think so . It could be, being i dont think thats clear to us. My view of it is going back that ag garland has relied upon, but the plea deal not working out is not extraordinary. That doesnt justify appointing a Special Counsel. Thats an interesting point. When he says extraordinary circumstances, is that a catchall . If you go back to the case and what fell apart, it was he didnt pay taxes initially. They were paid. Right now, his taxes are fully paid. You know, this gun situation, which is diverted. Again, the bigger allegations not really allegations, but things in the szeit geist, we probably would have seen it. Its vague. It just says extraordinary circumstances. The kinds of things youre identifies are the things that might have been. Theres no guide for who constitutes extraordinary circumstances. Again, in practice if okay, fine, if he broke the law, he should go to law for it. But if they find he did not break any laws, thats not going to quell the kind of criticism that the Justice Department will still get. Youll still hear the drumbeat about all of the above. What do you think is going on inside the white house now . I think theyre having a lot of conversations trying to figure out if to respond or how, or what the liabilities are. The Special Counsel is a trump appointee. Hes been at it for five years. I mean, trump fought everything that was legal in the political realm, tried to inoculate himself that way. The white house, a complete opposite approach. There is a lot of frustration inside Hunter Bidens world. They dont feel theres anybody out there defending him as hes getting pummelled. A lot of news. Thank you for taking us through it. Thank you for joining inside politics. Cnn news central starts right now. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. We are following rea