I dont believe those calls. When all in starts right now. Good evening from new york. Im chris hayes. As the president takes the stage in florida to relaunch his 2020 Reelection Campaign, one of the people most directly responsible for getting him elected the first time around is sitting in federal prison. And for some reason, the number two person at Donald Trumps department of justice, actually, really our department of justice, you and me, american citizens, has gone to extraordinary lengths to look out for that man, paul manafort. You remember paul manafort. Paul manafort who served as Trumps Campaign chairman as russia offered and provided its assistance. Paul manafort was sentenced to 7 1 2 years in prison for a variety of crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud and witness tampering. Paul manafort, who reneged on his cooperation agreement, and who whos reneging impacted the special counsels ability to get to the truth. Paul manafort who faces state charges filed partly as a precaution against the president s pardon. Intended manafort to believe he could receive a pardon. Paul manafort who denied russian connections like this. So to be clear, mr. Trump has no Financial Relationships with any russian oligarchs . Thats what he said, thats what i say. Thats obviously what our position. That paul manafort. The New York Times first reported that Deputy Attorney general Jeffrey Rosen himself reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney informing him that manaforts lawyer opposed manafort going to Rikers Island for his state trial, something the manhattan d. A. Said he didnt request or control. According to the times, the foreign Justice Department and regulators who regularly handle the transfer of inmates to state custody said they were surprised that the second highest official in the Justice Department would take an interest in the case. Yeah, it is perplexing. The decision is usually made by the warden at the prison where the inmate is being held. Thats right. The guy looking out for convicted felon pall isnt even the president s personal lawyer or his buddy or new fixer to replace the last fixer who is also in prison. Its the Deputy Attorney general to these United States, the number two to Donald Trumps new fixer, apparently, who is the attorney general bill barr. And now we head into an election season in which this man, who in the minds of over a thousand form prosecutors committed obstruction of justice, now wields the machinery of the u. S. Department of justice and the u. S. State to help secure his reelection. Joining me now, democratic congressman dan kildee of wisconsin, one of the democrats calling for President Trump to be impeached. Congressman, you have recently tipped over. Youre not on the proimpeachment whip count. You said you were concerned about the president s behavior but thinking it over. What tipped you over . It was obviously a conclusion that i thought a lot about. I think everybody member is going to come to their own conclusion on their own timetable with this. But for me, it was a combination of things. One, actually going through the Mueller Report and reading it in more detail, trying to ignore the way it was rolled out in the first place, because those characterizations are clearly not accurate and dont comport with the facts that are presented in the case. But then thinking very carefully about how i want this moment to be remembered. I think the biggest mistake we could make is to think about the immediate politics of the moment. Many are advising that we should go down this path or shouldnt go down this path based on the impact it will have on the 2020 election. What it really came down to, chris, to be honest with you, is spending a weekend with my 7 and 4yearold grandchildren and asking myself how i want this moment to be remembered by them in 20 years. And while the current politics may seem complicated, the long view of history on this wont be so complicated. Why not . Because just looking at the facts. It is clear that this president continues to essentially ignore the rule of law. The fact that he is directing people who work for him and who used to work for him to not comply with congressional subpoenas, to not to attend congressional hearings to provide testimony. The framers of the constitution were pretty wise. Looking at what the Mueller Report says and the way its been characterized, its clear to me that in several instances, some say ten, i find at least four instances where there are clear efforts to obstruct justice, this false narrative that there has to be a conviction on the underlying crime in order for there to be obstruction of justice, it just is flatly untrue. Anybody who is a serious analyst who will tell you this. I didnt want to come here. I didnt want to get to this point. But the president is taking us to this point. And i dont see any other alternative at this juncture. When you come out and join this list of now 60 democrats, what is the reaction . Does leadership talk to you . Do other folks in the caucus talk to you . Is there an active conversation . Is there a message sent from anyone being not cool, dude . No, not really. Other members have talked to me about it. They want to know sort of what my thought process was. But i think there is this sense that there is a sort of topdown leadership position on this. You know, the speaker and others around here obviously have their own points of view. But on a subject of this nature, this magnitude, the position that ive seen her take in the past on things of this kind of seriousness, we have to she knows we have to come to our own conclusions. This is not a subject that you whip. This is a subject where members need to get information and come to their own judgments, and not be in a position where there is essentially a caucus view on something that is really going to be a legacy question for all of us. In terms of the president s relationships with the rule of law, youre also on the ways and means committee, which has pursuant to federal law requested the tax returns of the president , which have been denied by the treasury department, and that is now before the courts. What is the status of that . Well, its clear now that the chairman of the committee has the authority to pursue Legal Options when it comes to enforcing the subpoena that has been issued. I believe he will use every legal tool that he has to make sure that the section the enforced. It was written in a way that did not excuse anyone from that aspect of the law. It will inform the deliberations of the committee on this very specific question about whether or not the irs is properly auditing and enforcing the tax law on the president of the United States. So i think its a legitimate public question. Its a legitimate area of legislative inquiry, and i think the courts will ultimately find that. But whats the timeline . Whats your expectation . It feels like theyre the strategy of the white house obviously is to run the clock out on this. Yeah, and i think we have to be realistic about that. I think the white house will try to run the clock, and i think we ought to be careful to not somehow come to the expectation that in a week or two weeks or three weeks, a court will hear this case. Will issue a judgment, and it will all be over with. Its going to take some time. I think its important on two fronts. One, that we get to the facts, but more important now is the principle. The principle being that nobody is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States. So even if the answer to the question comes in a way thats not particularly timely, its timely in the sense that when that question is answered, it will set a precedent that says nobody, not even the president of the United States is above the law. All right. Michigan congressman dan kildee. Thank you very much. Thanks, chris. While nearly 70 House Democrats call for the president s impeachment, only one republican has joined in. Thats congressman justin amash of michigan. Here is what he told his constituents at a town hall last month. Im confident that if you read volume 2, you will be appalled at much of the conduct. And i was appalled by it. In the Mueller Report, he asked the white House Counsel to create a false record. Things like that to basically mislead people about a statement he had made. Things like that to me reflect incredible dishonesty and really harm the office of the presidency. To me the conduct was obviously impeachable. So then the question is do you then move forward with impeachment proceedings . Joining me now is republican congressman sean duffy of wisconsin. Congressman, thank you for joining me. I want to put aside for a moment the question of impeachment and talk about what justin amash, your colleague said about the conduct, the conduct reflected in the report. Is there anything in the report in the conduct of the president that you just think is not cool, not good, not the kind of thing that you would advise or endorse . What concerns me about the whole report is how this even began, chris. The fact that you had the Democrat National committee and Hillary Clinton started an investigation on donald trump that lasted for two years, and now whether its justin amash or democrats who say were upset that donald trump attempted to obstruct the fake russia investigation. There was no obstruction. Donald trump gave them all kinds of information. With respect i hear what your saying im sorry. I just want to answer the question. The president did the things he did. Theyre reflected in the report, and whether you think the origins of the report or dodgy or whatever. But just on that question, when you read the report, when youve gone through the conduct, there anything the president did, any conduct he took, any behavior that i dont say to yourself, look, im a former prosecutor. Thats not cool. Thats not a good thing. I wouldnt someone working for me to do that. Listen, the bottom line is donald trump complied. If donald trump had done something chris, he didnt obstruct the investigation. But congressman, thats not an answer to the question. Im not asking whether he complied or not. Im asking if there conduct reflected in the report. No. So you think it is appropriate . Im talking about the conduct. And the conduct was donald trump complied with the investigation that was fake that was started by democrats. He gave bob mueller all the investigation. What concerns me is that for two years, everyone said lets wait on bob muellers report. He is the Gold Standard of investigation, and we waited for it. We saw it. There was no and now you have dan kildee, a friend of mine who i think we should impeach donald trump. My question to you, chris, for what . What did donald trump do that we should impeach him . Bob mueller said im not going to refer any charges to the congress. He should have star referred 11 charges to the congress. Mueller didnt refer any. And youre going to impeach him for what crime . What did he do wrong that you should impeach him for . He has grown the economy. He has put my people back to work in wisconsin. Congressman. They have higher wages, lower unemployment. Were killing it in wisconsin. You want to impeach that guy . Congressman, first of all, those are distinct things as you would concede. The growth rate doesnt connect to whether the president commits high crimes and misdemeanors. Obviously those are distinct entities, as you would concede, correct . I would concede Donald Trumps policies congressman, just simply answer yes or no. It is the fact you understand as a man who took an oath to the constitution that the growth in the economy is totally independent from whether a president committed high crimes or misdemeanors, correct . There was a twoyear investigation. Congressman congressman ive asked you a question four times. I asked you a question. Im not in congress. Im the one who asks the questions. With but youre the one who reported for two years on a fake investigation and got it wrong. I didnt report on a fake investigation. There was no collusion with russia. Hillary clinton started it. The Democrat Party facilitated it and there was absolutely nothing to it. And youre reporting on it. Here is an example of the kind of conduct that was in the report. The president asked the white House Counsel to fabricate a document, a false document that would essentially create a fake record for a cover story that the president was using to lie to investigators about whether he had or had not asked to fire robert mueller. Is that acceptable behavior from the president . Im not asking you is it impeachable. Is i want accept to ask the white House Counsel to fabricate a document to further a duplicitous story in the face of investigators . I think that donald trump says a lot of things when he gets hot. The bottom line is be do you think it is okay . Im asking you is it okay . Ill answer your question. Ill answer your question. I promise ill answer your question. My point is in answering your question is if donald trump is the president , he is fire whoever he wants. If you dont fabricate a document that donald trump wants fab indicated, he can fire you and hire someone else to fabricate that document. You think thats okay . No, sir. He didnt say if you dont do this, youre gone there was no fabrication of documents. You think its okay to ask your lawyer to fabricate a document. There was no no fabrication. He asked him to do it. Im asking a character question. Is it okay to do that . Im asking you a basic question. As a human being. Do you think for two years to cover the story i asked and then come back and say i think we should impeach him any way, that there is any credibility in that . No, no, no, no, no. Im sorry. Im sorry. Congressman. Congressman, im not going to let this go. Congressman, youve come on the program. Ive asked you one question. I just want to get one answer. I am just asking you. Youre a congressman. Youve taken an oath to defend the constitution. Youre a lawyer. Youre a former prosecutor. I am. It is okay to ask a lawyer to fabricate a document to create a duplicitous cover story for investigators . Is that acceptable behavior . If youre serious and say if you dont fabricate this or youre gone, i wanted fabricated, its a problem. Donald trump didnt do it. Donald trump didnt do it. But do you understand how you sound . But do you understand how you sound . Chris, do you understand how you sound . You are defending behavior. Congressman, you would never im not asking for anything. You are. Youre driving there should be no impeachment here. The president actually complied with the law. Why is it can i ask you this question. Let me ask you this question. Should we look at the Democrat Party and say weve got a democrat i dont care about any of that. You should. But thats a problem. You dont care about it because you have a fake investigation that comes to a sitting american president , and it takes our time up for two years. And you dont care. Thats the problem. You should care. Let me just ask you this. Why do we look at Hillary Clinton . Why look at the dnc . Why look at any of these things . Because this shouldnt happen to any president , and you dont care about it. Thats the problem with the whole story in this interview, chris. Do you think the president s conduct was appropriate and do you endorse it . Wait a second. Please answer the question. Im asked this question six times. Do you approve of the conduct or not . Im going to tell you what. I dont love every tweet. I dont love every fight, i dont. Im a wisconsin guy. Im wisconsin nice. This president is from new york. We dont have the same personalities. But i love the policies that have had a huge impact on my people. And i think to impeach this president after this fake investigation is outrageous. And im going to make one prediction. If democrats do this, it is going to be bad for america, but it is going to be great for donald trump. Congressman sean duffy, thank you very much. Thanks for having me on. Good night. Next, chaos at the highest level of the Trump Administration as the nominee for secretary of defense withdraws from consideration. The sweeping implications of this leadership vacuum amidst escalations with iran, in two minutes. When crabe stronger. Strong, with new nicorette coated ice mint. Layered with flavor. Its the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. For an amazing taste. That outlasts your craving. New nicorette ice mint. But we all know were paying too much for it. Enter xfinity mobile. Americas best lte, with the most wifi hotspots combined for the first time. When youre near an xfinity hotspot youre connected to wifi, saving on data. When youre not, you pay for data one gig at a time. Use a little, pay a little. Use a lot, just switch to unlimited. Its a new kind of network. Call, visit or go to xfinitymobile. Com. Just a few hours after ordering one thousand more troops to the middle east in the midst of rising tension with iran, the president , who you see there standing at the podium for his reelection rally, were monitoring that, Patrick Shanahan who he ordered the troops to go to the middle east announced he is stepping down after allegations of Domestic Violence incidents involving his son and exwife more than seven years ago. Shanahans tenure as said a record for acting secretary of defense. And now with his withdrawal, the vacancy is likely to continue indefinitely at a time when the Trump Administration is blaming iran for attacks on middle east shipping and threatening to retaliate. The vacuum has left an opening for some of the president s most bellicose advisers who have been pushing action against iran foreyears. One of those advisers mi