Put Whitaker News Today

President? we know that whitaker was someone who was on cnn who was able to reach the president that way and to get on his radar. and then very unusual pick to run the justice department. if he was good enough to run the justice department, would he be good enough to run another department within the government? >> there are a lot of openings. >> so does that put whitaker in an unusual spot where he has to try and prove something to the president? its different. >> it is that. joyce vance and mi...

Right? because this comes just a couple days, or shortly i should say after the president submitted his written questions -- his written answers to the special counsel. sources telling cnn, john, that the acting attorney general, matthew whitaker, has informed -- was informed ahead of time for this. if the president put whitaker in charge of the d.o.j. to help him with this russia investigation, he cant be really happy with him right now, can he? >> well, its not clear from the reporting which h...

Which were provided just recently. you know, im sure -- i think we know that this subject was among the subjects about which muellers operation provided questions to president trump. were going to see now whether those answers were consistent with what we learned today. >> yeah, i think the timing is important, right? because this comes just a couple days or shortly i should say after the president submitted his written questions, his written answers to the special counsel. sources telling cnn, ...

That he wasnt the sharpest knife in our drawer. he doubts that whitaker would derail the russia investigation. given that mueller seems to be plowing ahead, do you think comey is right? >> im not going to characterize particularly somebody i dont know. i have no idea what his capabilities are. >> but what about the second part of the question then? that given what mueller seems to -- what he knows he seems to be plowing ahead right now? >> mueller does? >> yeah. >> yeah, he is plowing ahead. and...

>> go on, jack. >> i think whitaker had to have been informed. he is in charge of the department. i cant imagine that rosenstein would jeopardize his standing, i mean particularly after that recent outrageous tweet depicting him and everyone else as being behind bars, i cant imagine that will rosenstein would have knowledge of this filing it happening the next dale and not have informed whitaker. i believe he did. and that whitaker in turn informed the president and my surmise is that whitaker o...

Whether or not rosenstein is still in charge of the russian investigation. it appears that he is. that he has not been removed from that position but the attorney general was informed and passed that information on. maybe hes not in a position to do anything. >> heres what our reporting is saying that attorney rosenstein is still in charge of the day-to-day handling of the russia investigation but whitaker is his boss. and he has been a critic of mueller. so what happens if they disagree on some...

Have a hard time. tell us whats going on today. >> asking a federal judge to declare the acting attorney general is rosenstein, not whitaker. the president put whitaker in under a federal law that allowed a president to choose a range of people, including somebody whos at the relevant agency for 90 days and makes a certain amount on the pay scale. maryland argues that law is trumped by a law that more specifically says whenever theres a vacancy in the office of the attorney general, the deputy a...