Page 1120 - Wrongdoing News Today

Hold wrongdoers accountable. the order appointing me special counsel authorized us to investigate actions that could obstruct the investigation. we conducted that investigation, and we kept the office of the acting attorney general apprised of the progress of our work. under long-standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. the departments written opinion explaining the policy makes several important points. the opinion explicitly permits ...

The narrative that had been advanced by the president, by the attorney general that there was total exoneration, that the only thing left to investigate were the organi gorigins of the investigation. there was a stark repudiation of his attorney general and president. second, in terms of content, i thought it was interesting what did he choose to highlight? he held up the report and could not charge a president under legal counsel guidance, congress is the only branch of government that can brin...

Sitting president of wrongdoing. >> and now were seeing more democratic lawmakers than ever before calling for the impeachment or an impeachment inquiry of trump. but is it enough? cnn politics reporter kriz silliza is with me now. give me the latest tally on who is in and who is out. >> it is important because it is changing. right before the show we had 40 and now we have 41. so we have 41 house democrats staying that they either think donald trump should be impeached and think impeachment inq...

Im curious what you thought of the bill barr rhetoric when he he said he thought mueller could have come to a conclusion and then he says, now, of course he couldnt indict. im trying to figure out what would the reaction have been from barr or others in the legal community had mueller said, look, i would have indicted him if i could have but i wasnt allowed to because that gets at what dan just brought up. youre accusing somebody of a crime with no ability to defend themselves. >> right. i dont ...

But going back to the state that mueller made. a >> bret: when he asked congress to do their job, is that part of the animus? >> yes. if there was no purpose except for two boil up the political waters and get democrats in the frenzy to call for impeachment. but the statement from mueller, it is almost idiotic. prosecutors prosecute. they do not exonerate people. what position does he have to clear somebody of wrongdoing? he cannot do that. he is a prosecutor. no. >> bret: and there is jussie sm...

Silence robert mueller made clear he and his team did not exonerate donald trump or charge him with the crime of obstruction saying he was constrained by existing regulations. >> long-standing policy, a present president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. that is unconstitutional. >> reporter: without using the word impeachment or naming congress mueller said regulations didnt allow his team to gather evidence for future action. >> the constitution requires a process o...

I think the unraveling of this shows its a mistake. putting a president on trial would be an undo interference with his executive powers, but indicting would clarify the circumstance. in defense of the policy of mueller, mueller wants you to know that whether something is technically a crime has little to do with whether it ought to be the kind of wrongdoing which should lead to impeachment, which is more profound. >> i thought his use of that word, its only congress that can formally accuse a p...

>> sphinx. >> to say in person things he already said in written form, but to say in person and that matters including contradicting the attorney general on evidence of the presidents wrongdoing. >> i dont think its about changing minds in the short run but he highlighted the key take a ways and the contradictions between what bill barr said about, for example, the office of legal counsel opinion, that the president was never going to be indicted because of their reading of justice department gu...

Impeachment proceedings immediately. what changed today that you felt compelled to issue that statement? >> well, it was more than just today. it was an evolution of me witnessing whats happening in the house. you have the house going in good faith trying to continue an investigation. nancy pelosi in a sober fashion talking about lets follow this evidence to the conclusions that it brings about. when you have a president that stonewalls congress, that refuses to allow people to testify, refuses ...

The opinion says that the constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing. >> back with us in the conversation john hileman and robert costa. the president relatively quiet tonight, ditto those around him i think given contemporary standards, will there be a strategy for first thing tomorrow morning perhaps? >> just spoke with rudy giuliani, the presidents lawyer and he said he spoke to the president and the presidents r...