A look at Breaking News, politics and reports from around the world. A look at Breaking News, politics and reports from around the world. Campaign, the reelection in november, and apparently, wolf, does not want to say anything that could infuriate the president. Perhaps one reason he did not want to answer that question. But no doubt about it, wolf, republicans did not want to embrace these concerns today perhaps because the president is so about the mueller probe. Manu raju on capitol hill. Joining us now, republican congressman chris stewart. Hes a member of the house Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Good afternoon. The president has told his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to stop the Russia Investigation right away. Is that in your opinion Obstruction Of Justice . I think it would be very, very difficult as a prosecutor to make the case. Im not an attorney but common sense would tell me its going to take much more than that to prove any kind of case towards what youve indicated there. The president can voice his opinion. I dont deny him that ability. But in this case i wish he
wouldnt. I just dont think it helps him. I dont think it helps those of us who agree with him. The original intent of the special counsel is to investigate collusion. Theres been no evidence of that. And i wish he would just let the Special Counsel Finish his work and show the American People what he has found and if theres something that we need to deal with we will at that time. And the other thing, wolf, is it precludes you and i from talking about other matters. Theres an awful lot going on in the world and yet we spend a lot of time talking about this and many a times thats because the president has compelled us to talk about this because of some of his statements or some of his tweets. Well, the president keeps raising it almost on a daily basis. Hes the one who brings it up. Hes the one who tweeted this morning. And it was a very specific tweet. He said the Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now before it continues to stain our country any further. He says countless times, as you know, congressman, there was no collusion. So why should he be so worried about this Russia Investigationif there was no collusion, as he insists there was no collusion . Wont Robert Mueller exonerate him . And thats the argument ive been making. Once again, wolf, we havent seen evidence of collusion. And thats not a terribly partisan observation any longer. Many of the democrats, i would say most of the democrats, with only a few exceptions would agree with that. There isnt evidence of collusion at this point. Let him finish his work. And my point was you and i agree on this. Its because the president tweets and says things like this that we have to talk about it. And i dont think it helps his case. And it detracts us from other important work. But look, he is the president and he feels like hes been under siege now for going on two years. He feels like hes been unjustly accused and the people around him have been unjustly accused of very serious crimes, essentially of treason, for going on two years. I can understand why at some point he would begin to feel like isnt this long enough, how much longer do i have to have
this cloud hanging over me but congressman, We Dont Know WhatRobert Mueller has come up with in this investigation. We didnt know, for example, he was going to indict and charge all these russians, for example. He may have specific information that you dont know about, and youre a member of the Intelligence Committee, that we dont know about. Hes working his sources, as they say. Yeah. And he does have Additional Information that we didnt pursue. It wasnt the purview of the Intelligence Committee to look at some of these financial transactions, for example, that mr. Manafort and others have been indicted for. And we recognize that. But once again, no evidence of any u. S. Person but congressman, we dont know if he has evidence of collusion. We know that you may not have seen any evidence of collusion as a member of the Intelligence Committee but We Dont Know What he has. But wolf, you and i are saying the same thing. There is no evidence to this point. Maybe mr. Mueller has found something the rest of us havent seen. Ive got to tell you. I think thats extraordinarily unlikely. I think a and this sounds facetious but its actually true. A, if it had i think its very likely it would have been leaked or there would have been some indication of it. The second thing is many organizations, not just house intel but the senate and others have looked at this for a long, long time. I think if there had been evidence ive got to tell you, congressman, ive covered washington for a long time. The mueller team, they have avoided leaking anything. The leaks are coming from other sources, people who have testified before various investigators. But they have been very, very silent as far as leaking information. Theyve been much better at it than many other organizations. Theres no question about it. But wolf, i would come back to my second point, and i think thats Strong Enough to make this argument, and that is that others other than house intel the senate and others have been looking at this for a long time. We saw virtually no evidence of it. And i think its very unlikely that mr. Mueller finds something that we didnt see at all. But like i said, and ive said to you many times, let him finish his work. Well, let me ask you this, congressman. If the Russia Investigationended before Robert Mueller and his team finish up their work, what would you do about that . If, for example, they were forced to simply stop. Well, i think its extraordinarily unlikely that they would be forced to stop. I cant see any political way where that would happen. But if that were to happen, in that very unlikely event, i think that those of us would take up the investigation. If there were unanswered questions, we would feel compelled to take up that investigation. Were going to get to the bottom of this regardless of where it leads, one way or the other. And my expectation is what were going to find is what weve seen so far. There isnt evidence of collusion or conspiracy with u. S. Persons colluding with russian officials and committing treason. But if mr. Muellers investigation was cut short, i find that very unlikely, and if there were questions that were unanswered, there would be others that would take that to want to pursue it. The president was very specific today in that statement, in that tweet. He said he wants the investigation to stop right now. Right now. Those were his words. Exactly, wolf. But i think thats exactly the way the president feels. He does want the investigation stopped. He thinks it should be ended by now if he has nothing to hide, why is he so concerned . Well, wolf, i think its because, again, hes been under investigation, hes had this cloud over him for going on two years, and he believes that theres no evidence, there is nothing there. And he can state that. I would like this to end. There is nothing there thats hurting the american process and the american body politic. But that isnt obstruction. Thats very different from him ordering the Attorney General to do something which he has biekt already recused himself. I dont think he would have the authority because he has been recused of that. Thats very different than the president voicing an opinion, which he has done again and again and again on a fairly regular basis about his concerns with this investigation. The white house itself has said these tweets are official president ial statements. They sound like an opinion, they sound like tweets, but these are official president ial statements. Let me get your thoughts on another very sensitive issue, the Paul Manafort trial, as you know, is under way right now. The president is weighing in on this federal trial against Paul Manafort, saying in another separate tweet today that manafort is being treated badly, unfairly by the prosecutors. Whats your reaction to that . Well, ive got to tell you that you know, im again, im not an attorney and im not a prosecutor but ive lived a while and ive been active in just the body politic and conversations and i think its quite unusual for a person whos accuse of White Collar Crime to be treated the way he is. Midnight or these Early Morning bursts into his house. His family and his children there. It seemed like there were some parts of this were really quite heavyhanded. If there was an explanation, a necessity for that i will point out in day two the fbi testified today they had three knocks before they went into the house. He wasnt answering. But thats another matter. But hes the one who according to this judge and according to
the prosecutors, he was witness tampering. Thats why hes in jail right now as opposed to being out on bail. Well, and im not here to defend Paul Manafort. I dont know him at all. And i followed the case actually not very closely. Its outside of my purview in congress and the responsibilities i have. I think most americans would be uncomfortable if they feel like someone for political reasons was treated differently than someone else whos accused of very similar crimes. And i think thats what the president is saying. Lets let the prosecution go forward. Lets see the trial and what the jury decides. I will say its pretty unusual for a sitting president of the United States to be weighing in pro or con with opinions as far as a federal trial is under way right now, especially day two. But congressman, im grateful to you for joining us. Chris stewart of utah. Thanks very much. Thank you. Just ahead, is it an opinion or is it Obstruction Of Justice . Ill ask the former u. S. Attorney Preet Bharara to weigh in on the president s message to Jeff Sessions. And well have the latest on Paul Manaforts trial. Prosecutors raising serious questions about whether a potential star witness will testify. Thing i want to do with you. Its an emotional thing to watch your child grow up and especially get behind the wheel. I want to keep you know, stacking up the memories and the miles and the years. Hes gonna get mine but im gonna get a new one oh yeah hes gonna get mine but im gonna get a new one when its time for your old chevy truck to become their new chevy truck, theres truck month. Get 10 or 14 percent below msrp on 2018 Silverado Pickups when you finance with gm financial. Plus, during truck month make no Monthly Payments for 90 days. Find new roads at your local chevy dealer. Now . Watch me. joni think id give up showing these guys how its done . Please. Real people with active Psoriatic Arthritis are changing the way they fight it. Theyre moving forward with cosentyx. Its a different kind of targeted biologic. Its proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. Dont use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. Or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. If you have Inflammatory Bowel Disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Mitzi with less joint pain, watch me. For less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. Obstruction of justice. Were joined by cnns senior legal analyst, former u. S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Preet, the president tweeted, let me read specifically his words, he said, Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now. Is that Obstruction Of Justice . Well, i think no lawyer would tell you based on a particular tweet that that constitutes Obstruction Of Justice. But what you have is something more than the president has said before in a public forum on social media basically coming close to directing his Attorney General, who by the way happens to be recused from the Russia Investigation, to end it. And hes made clear over time, interview after interview and statement after statement, a lot of which maybe we dont even know about, that other people who have been interviewed by the mueller team do know about, that he wants the Russia Investigation to be over. So in order to prove obstruction in a court of law you have to show corrupt intent on the part of the person who is allegedly doing the obstructing. In that tweet the president seems to provide a neutral
reason saying that bob mueller has conflicts, which is rich given that the one person who does have a conflict in this matter is the Attorney General who hes asking to do that dirty work. But weve seen over time, especially in the case of the firing of jim comey, that the president of the United States comes up with pretextual reasons to you cover up the real reason he wants to do something. We saw that last year when he fired jim comey and he had Rod Rosenstein do a memo and he may have agreed with the memo or not, saying jim comey was fireable because he didnt treat Hillary Clinton well. That is ultimately not the reason donald trump fired jim comey. This is another piece in the puzzle to someone trying to put together a picture of attempted obstruction. The white house says the president was just expressing an opinion, his First Amendment rights. What do you say to that . Thats one of the sillier things that ive heard. Obviously everyone has a First Amendment right to say what they want but in certain contexts its not about expression, its
about direction, as you sit at the top of government and you have underneath you a Cabinet Secretary to whom who reports to. So for example, would it be First Amendment free speech if at a meeting he directed the Attorney General, that speech too, directed the Attorney General to prosecute an adversary or let go of someone whos an ally . The mere fact that someone is using their mouth and expressing themselves in english does not necessarily mean youre implicating First Amendment rights. Mueller is investigating if the president Is Obstructing justice or tampering with witnesses through his tweets. How do you think hes going to view this latest tweet . As i said before, i think its part of the picture. And over time a portrait is developing that the president wants the Russia Investigation to be ended. And by the way, the president doesnt distinguish between and among which parts of the Russia Investigation he wants to end. He says in blanket form stop all
of it, right . He doesnt say stop investigating the areas where we might have colluded, the Trump Campaign might have colluded with the russians or aided and abetted the russians in interfering with the election. We have a case going on right now. Its in the middle of trial, as weve been reporting. Another trial thats going to happen with respect to Paul Manafort in a few weeks to shut down the operations would essentially mean shutting down a legitimate Criminal Case in the middle of its being conducted at trial after a grand jury of americans has decided its a case thats worthy of going forward. You have other cases like that about which its not okay to cast aspersions with respect to 123 g. R. U. Intelligence officials from russia and a whole bunch of other things we probably dont know about yet. If you were prosecuting a case like this and a witness was saying and doing what the president is doing, what would you do . I would take notes. I would take very careful notes. And i would weave it into my argument. Look, i dont think anybody
knows yet whether or not a prosecutor like mueller would suggest because i dont think hes going to charge the president because the prevailing on the law is you that cant indict a sitting president. But whether or not he would make a referral or make a recommendation for what congress have do is dependent on a lot of facts, some of which we know, some of which we dont know. But this is not helpful to a defense that someone was acting innocently and wants to see the Investigation Go where it should. Let me ask you on a related issue