Page 719 - Processes News Today

The facts support this. i think the challenge for the country going forward and shan was touching on this a little bit in his answer just now is that most of our systems and most of our laws are not written to deal with a national security threat if the national security threat is the president of the united states and that we sort of see these systems and processes sort of struggling to respond to a president who is willing to prioritize his own politics and his own election above the national ...

They know that barr and maguire and the olc lawyers are stopping the processes because they are protecting the political person, namely donald trump. so this is why were in a new era about sort of how do we protect our democracy. lets be clear here, from intervention by a foreign government in 2020. you know, read the report, right. 2016 and now 2020. this is deja vu just in plain sight. but lets not be blinded by the fact that its in plain sight. its happening. >> okay. we could be talking abou...

My political rival. what the core of the story are these phone calls. i think it will recede into the backdrop. and also the story about whether or not there was a quid pro quo. none of it matters, did he pick up phone, say something that the ukrainians said to mean find something on biden. it is not an investigation, it is find something, make something up. and until we can just sort of focus on that one issue, all of the other stories are going to allow the white house to muddy the waters of t...

Cover in the intelligence committee community. >> and not get arrested for disclosure of information that might be classified. this is why i think we are at a new moment. the whistleblower followed processes that assumes that the president would not be the, you know, the person threatening our national security. would not be the focus of concerns about whether, you know, someone was undermining our safety and security. so the problem here is that you have an entire process thats built rightfully...

Acts on behalf of president trump, whether its to his ukrainian counterpart or even to other foreign leaders that they do the sort of business that our intelligence community is there to protect. and that is to ensure our elections free from foreign interference, to ensure the sanctity of your democratic processes. this episode suggests trump is so desperately trying to subvert. >> ellen, before you go, i want to check something with you that i know the audience is wondering about. i have read t...

Just a few days later and thats a pattern of behavior. but i cant escape the idea that this may be the tip of the iceberg, that it may involve other foreign leaders and other acts on behalf of president trump, whether its to his ukrainian counterpart or even to other foreign leaders that they do the sort of business that our intelligence community is there to protect. and that is to ensure our elections free from foreign interference, to ensure the sanctity of your democratic processes. >> ellen...

If we were trying to write that statute for a criminal administration or one that will violate laws willfully, you would have to write a very different statute. it seems like everything that surrounds this issue, it turns out to be weaker than we thought it was because the trump approach to this has no concern whatsoever, no concern at all for how the manipulation of these processes looks publicly. >> indeed. the president has no respect for the institutions of our government. he works every day...

Like one of those things written by honorable members of congress who presumed that everyone dealing with that statute or living under that statute would also be behaving in an honorable way. if we were trying to write that statute for a criminal administration or one that will violate laws willfully, you would have to write a very different statute. it seems like everything that surrounds this issue, it turns out to be weaker than we thought it was because the trump approach to this has no conc...

Democratic processes around that govern corruption. we send fbi agents or dea agents overseas to help train police officers. thats the way we deal with other country looking into corruption issues. we typically dont hold them hostage with foreign aid. and im not familiar with any other president that got on the phone and requested that a foreign government initiate an investigation into a united states citizen. that is -- that is strange and te deeply concerning. >> you say strange and deeply co...

United states. giuliani is his personal attorney. he has no he doesnt represent me. he has no confirmed position. hes not even in the staff of the white house. hes sort of this weird free agent. but people know he speaks for the president. if giuliani says something, everyone is going to know its going to know that is the same if don jr. said something. president wants it. when youre the president you dont get alternative processes. thats the benefit a privilege to be president. but you dont get...