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Guy whitaker whos the acting attorney general whos supervising the mueller investigation. he says hes going to consult the ethics office of doj about recusal and maryland is saying hes not the real ag. two pope situation. how serious a challenge is that? >> its very game of thrones. its very serious, incredibly difficult legal question and theres merit to that lawsuit. he is in charge of the justice department, the acting attorney general now, but hes working and living under a cloud. he can rea...

Theres a real question about -- were in this -- youve got this guy whitaker whos the acting attorney general whos supervising the mueller investigation. he says hes going to consult the ethics office of doj about recusal and maryland is saying hes not the real ag. two pope situation. how serious a challenge is that? >> its very game of thrones. its very serious, incredibly difficult legal question and theres merit to that lawsuit. he is in charge of the justice department, the acting attorney ge...

Ive done with colleague, the answers will pertain to only matters relating to the russian interference in the 2016 election, not obstruction of justice. joining me now, joyce vance. glad to have you because i want you to break down what this doj legal opinion means. department of justice says they told the president prior to the appointment of whitaker is that his appointment is valid. is that your perspective? >> i dont think it is all that surprising that the white house would get doj to bless...

Attorney general without senate confirmation. theres only one problem with that. hes not being appointed attorney general. hes being appointed acting attorney general which is an interim post with a 210 day time limit. its a different animal. next, there is a statute called, youve heard this, the reform act of 1998, vacancy reform act and it says the president can appoint either the deputy ag who is next in line, someone else in the department has been confirmed like the solicitor general or, an...

Matt whittaker the acting attorney general. can you explain what you see as the significance or not of that court request. >> im going to get a little nerdy on you. >> get nerdy. thats why we like you. >> lets see how you feel at the end of this. in order to bring a lawsuit you have to be able to show that you would be harmed in some way. if you wanted to sue me you have to show that i had harmed you either financially or physically, something bad happened to you -- >> the state of maryland has ...

Money and things like that. does it affect his ability to oversea the investigation? >> can i add, he sits on the board of a company being investigated by the fbi. >> absolutely, it affects it. theyll go through an ethics review as to whether he should withdraw. in san francisco, its this question of of whether he was properly appointed. the question is whether he should have been appointed in the first place. you have questions now that hes there hes not fit to serve because of the fact he has ...

An entirely different situation. thats part of the calculation nobody knows because nobody know whats the president is thinking at this point about exactly who or the timetable for filling that vacancy. >> or it could go 210 days. thats a long limit when you think about this investigation. >> great points all around. pete williams, thank you so much. really appreciate your insight as always. panel, stay with us. still ahead, the sunbelt strikes a new democratic cord with its rhapsody in blue. we...

Wouldnt serve him well or the president well either. >> so many political watchers think that whitaker was chosen by design because he does not think necessarily that the mueller investigation is valid or that its at least overly broad and thats why he was chosen and thats why he will stay through his 210-day -- whatever that is, how long a interim can stay. >> his view of the mueller probe, something that is of great concern is him not believing in marbury versus mad sin. these are things that ...

If he was put before guess, i doubt he would have been confirmed before the senate. now theres all eyes on him because he is overseeing an important investigation for the next 210 days. >> jim, do you know anything about whitaker? let me ask real quick if you know anything about whitaker being considered at one point to join trumps legal team. >> i dont know anything about that. thats up to the presidents private lawyers to the extent those discussions were taking place. i represented the white ...

Investigation is invalid, that contrary to the findings there was no russian interference and when he has expressed ridiculous legal opinions he is totally unqualified and his only qualifications seem to be that he wants to be -- that the president wants him to be to destroy the mueller investigation. >> be that as it may, you know, you called his appointment illegal. the law in this case, its the federal vacancy to replace the attorney general with any senior official serving in the same depart...