Well, good evening everyone, im laura coast. A week that began with merrick garland, one of the most powerful democrats in washington, d. C. Now being charged with corruption. Conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. Essentially using his official position to force someone to give him something of value. Tonight we are taking a deep dive into all of it from the investigation to the indictment and of course the political fallout and here are the Big Questions ive been asking all day after seeing all the reports thats cut through all of it. Here are the real yes, sir, number one, did he do it . Did he do it . Could a senator who left a hung jury in his last trial, led to personal favors really have been so imraizenbrabrazen a a second sometime around . Is corruption at its very finest, could the rules force him to step down there his position as chairman oar from the senate or maybe will the better question is will he actually do that . And technical, youve heard a lot about the two Tier Justice System right and witch hunts and beyond, will the very same republicans who have alleged those witch hunts come sprinting to this mans defense or would this be proof that lady justice will be well maybe independent, and will the people in the court of Public Opinion let the court of law, make another allegation of abuse of power by the very people we were told to trust. I want to bring in john miller, cnns law analyst, this is extraordinary right now. There is an extraordinary level of detail in this indictment. It goes back years. All the way to 2018. Full stop, there is a Presumption Of Innocence, we know this very, very well. Yet this is damning as its written so what is standing out to you most of all . Whats standing out to me is not just the socking allegations, or, laura, the factor that as you pointed out already, here is a member of congress and now a leader in the senate, who has literally been in the shadow of various investigations for more than 20 years but behind all of that is not just the basics of an allegation of businessmen giving alleged bribes to a significant public official. But the spectrum of Foreign Government being behind that. Just imagine the back end of this case, and this is not something we see charged, which is that a u. S. Ally, a significant player overseas in the middle east, within who has been a partner with us in the formulation of u. S. And mid east policy going back decades, that that country would be behind recruiting a autos senator, who is the a United States senator, who has been head of the Foreign Relations committee essentially as an operative through cutouts, business men supplying him with money and other goods, more shocking than your average bribery case, people acting as agents of a Foreign Government and a Foreign Government trying to recruit a u. S. Official is very important. I remember when i was a federal employee and just thinking about the cyclical times that you have to have, theyre running your credit, right, talking to friends, talking to neighbors, want too know all the things about whether or not you might be vulnerable to somebody looking at you, knocking on your door or contacting you and saying, this is someone i can work with here. Theres some vulnerability, this is something that is very, very important for a security clerns. And thats somebody who is a federal employee, i was doj, that was part of it. You were at the fbi during an investigation into the senator when he was actually in the house. So what has been your action now, given your particularized experience with this person, even years ago . Well, i remember that. That was back in 2006. And when you talk about, you know, how these various ships pass in the night, that was a federal investigation into alleged benefits he was receiving in the form of a house that he was renting there an organization he was also lobbying for at a time when he was in congress. Interestingly, laura back then in 2006, the prosecutor who was bringing that case, was Chris Christie, now a republican candidate for president. And that was a case that was investigated by the fbi, the bureau believed it was ready for Progression Accusation prosecution, so did the u. S. Attorney in newark. But it was sent across the street and the judgment of the Attorney General in the Public Corruption Section was to pass on it. After that of course you saw the other case that ended with a partial acquittal and a hung jury and now this case. So hes really been under the spotlight for a long time. But Something Else you pointed out. Hes entitleled as the head of e Foreign Relations committee and the Ranking Member at various times to extraordinarily classified, Sensitive Information. Members of congress dont get a secret clerns. Their clearance, their clearance when theyre on one of these committees is by virtue of the fact that they have been elected. What you went through as an assistant United States attorney, what i went through as an Assistant Director of the fbi, that thorough background investigation, that polygraph examination, having your first grade teacher interviewed, none of that happens for a member of congress. It is very true and, you know, i wonder what they would say, probably laura coats, she talks a lot but shes got good teeth. John miller thank you so much, nice to see you of course. Former federal prosecutor, gene rossi and a scott bolden, gentlemen here we are on a friday night. We began the week talking about Mehra Ick Garland and his weaponized, and the doj talking about just republicans what a fair shake they wanted to have for people. We have been combing through this indictment and looking through it and all the different charges. Weve all been talking about it behind the scenes. I want to know what your reactions are to this indictment. You say this is a problem. Its seedy, its sordid. Which part the indictment or the allegation . The indictment and the allegations. The indictment im not impressed. So from a critical stand, its all conspiracy under 371. This is like the governor Bob Mcconnell indictment. Its shiny its new in the press and what have you. Bus you have to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. You have to have an official act on bribery. I dare you to find in that indictment, What Official Act Menendez did in exchange for gold bars, money, cars, and by the way, hes got a wife too, and the wife were friends with these two individuals and all they were doing was talking to their senator about helping them. Whether it was unseemly or not and all he did was go to bat for them in each of these instances. I dont see one official act and by the way, can a legislator have an official act . He can release money for the egyptian egypt is an ally for us. That is a problem for the government. Ive interviewed mr. Mcconnell formerly as the grove of virginia about instances of this and what this looks like, he believed to this day he got a raw deal. The Supreme Court said, i dont know how to discern between the official acts, many people have been hearing time and time again gene, this is how the sausage is made, this is what congressmen do. You cant parse whats right or wrong. Ththe allegations, are much more serious than that. How do you see it . I love my partner here. We are 180 degrees apart. You are going to disagree with me. Yes, even though youre more house man. But i worked here, i worked in evva for 16, 17 years. S. I was there when they did the bob mcdonald case. I was there when they did the William Jefferson case in 2009. The congressman, low level congressman who had 90,000 in his freezer in packages of cereals and boca burgers, okay . The official acts that Congressman Jefferson did as a low level member of the congress pale in comparison to senator menendez allegedly. Let me give you one big whopper. Im absolutely offended if this allegation is true that he used his official position invading a u. S. Attorney and he has that u. S. Attorney come to his house, the nominee or candidate and that incident involved him talking about a pending federal case. That is disgusting in addition to being illegal. And the times important. Timings important. Bock mcdonald, let me finish. Bob mcdonald had tawdry things, got use of a car and a house but there there was no nexus. Here the timing is devastating allegedly. He meets with somebody, he gets a gold bar. Before he meets with somebody he gets cash. There is a clear nexus between what he is going to do or what he has done. And the official acts are very broad. The definition. It could be im trying to arrange a meeting. It could be, im taking a position on appropriation. Its very broad. And my colleagues respectfully disagrees. Thats just not true. An official act that is exactly what the Supreme Court struck down in the mcdonald case. It said, setting up a meeting as you would for any other constituent is not an official act. Advocating in mcconnells case in regard to a state fda approval is not a official act. He would do that for anyone. By the way, before we get caught up with the e egyptian case, wht did we do, youre upset because he sat down with a u. S. Attorney . Im not upset. Maybe i am because you dont agree with me. Sitting down with a u. S. Attorney candidate right and asking him if you become u. S. Attorney and if i recommend you its up to the if the by the way, it is not up to bob, that cant be an official act, i want to look into that case and give it scrutiny, and stuff. He didnt say if you dotten do it im not going to recommend you, he being menendez recommending someone else, that isnt an official act. The official act is the president appointing him. The president doesnt have to listen to that. I think the government happens got problems here rooted in official acts they are going to have to make out as circumstancely. First, in part of the Statement Today he issued, hes accusing the prosecutors in making false claims and quote misrepresenting the normal work of a congressional office, part of what were talking about today the official act capacity. I have to say though its not as if the prosecutors have never heard the governor of virginia case in the Supreme Court. One would have to presume, even though theres a presumption, i only give credit when its due given their knowledge what it takes to prove a official act, given the level of scrutiny on a case like this i certainly hope they have dotted their is and crossed their ts. But they have said the investigation is ongoing. Well fight it out. They need cooperators to connect the dots. There is no one linking these gold bars and money to these quote alleged official acts that dont exist. We have to see if thats the case but there are two Defense Attorneys who might be interested in the case. Thank you so much. Listen there are growing concerns and calls tonight for the senator to resign. But i mean what if he decides to ride it out . Wouldnt be the first time you saw this in politics. Were talking about the political aspect of this, next. She took Mucinex Instasoothe sore throat lozenges. Show your sore throat whos boss. Mucinex instasoothe. Works in seconds. Lasts for hours. How do i love thee . Let me count the ways. Love can get a little messy. Good thing theres resolve. Love the love. Resolve the mess. Only the new sleep number smart beds let you both sleep at your ideal level of comfort. Your sleep number setting. And now, all of our new next gen smart beds have temperature benefits. Save 400 on the new sleep number c4 smart bed. Now only 1,499. Sleep next level. Shop now only at sleep number well as one might expect there are calls growing tonight for senator bob menendez to resign. Calling the allegations deeply disturbing, the new jersey governor phil phi saying quote, the alleged facts to represent the people of our state. Therefore im calling for his immediate resignation. And governor murphy is not the only one calling on the senator to resign. Other new jersey Democratic Leaders, emphasis Democratic Leaders are calling for him to step down and they include the General Assembly speaker, but tonight senator menendez saying this in part, it is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a latino and push him out of his seat. Im not going anywhere. I want to bring chief ethics lawyer robert painter, so good to see you, and a minnesotaian in particular. Robert you know he is facing three federal conspiracy charges. Talk the me about how you view the seriousness of these. Because the allegations are far emotional your Garden Variety if there ever was one of kickbacks. I agree strongly with congressman Dean Phillips of mrches who was the first minnesota who was the first democrat in congress that senator menendez needs to resign. This is not about partisan politician, this is about corruption in government and our National Security. We have a senator who was indicted sixyearold ago. He had a trial, he had a hung jury so he got off. But then to make him chair of the senate Foreign Relations committee, and of course, Foreign Governments are going to be attracted to that situation. And he has the payments here in gold bars. And cash. The government of course does have to prove an official act under the Supreme CourtCase Law Bribery Cases are very, very hard to prove. But the United StatesAttorneys Office brought this case for a reason. They have overwhelming evidence. And once again this is very dangerous for our National Security. The chairman of the Foreign Relations committee appearing at least at this stage, the United StatesAttorneys Office has brought this case because he appears to be in the pay of a Foreign Government. And i dont care whether he just says they are an ally or any other country. It does not matter. We cannot tolerate this in the United States. This should not be a partisan issue and i believe the governor of new jersey also a democrat is correct in calling for senator menendezs resignation. And i believe more democrats will continue to call for his resignation over the weekend. You know, richard, just playing devils advocate to the point you just raised, he was in Fact Intreflting point you just raised he was named chairman of that very trove committee nonetheless in spite of his track record, we have this Presumption Of Innocence in this country. It is good that we have this Presumption Of Innocence, it sounds like you are saying that by virtue of the allegations alone that should be enough to have him step down. There would be a lot of politicians trying to ride out the scandal, waiving the flag of the Presumption Of Innocence but because it was a politician, because it was an electedd official, does that make the decision distinct for you . Well yes. This is a Position Of Trust. A very important Position Of Trust and thats why the founders put the monuments clause in the constitution, prohibiting any person from accepting any profits or benefits from a Foreign Government. I was on cnn and other networks, Timeless Over and over again talking about donald trump and his receipt of Foreign Government, his disregard of the eyemoluments clause, this is noa partisan political issue. Second we cannot have a Major PoliticalParty Running for the United States senate or for any other position, someone who was undercriminal indictment. And i know that was an issue for the republican father, if they do not find a Candidate Other than donald trump, i believe they will go down and lose in 2024 if they run donald trump but for The Democrats to have senator menendez under criminal indictment for taking bribes from Foreign Goments in the United States senate The Democrats will have absolutely no credibility if he is not out of the senate very, very soon. Richard painter so good to see you. Democratic strategist. What richard and i were conversing about, it sounds like the moral high ground that politicians like to have, hold on a second if we have this we are going to lose the right to play this card down the line. Senator al franken as one example in a very different context obvi