Administration and the president s christmas vacation under way at maralago in west palm, where he successfully beat the traffic today. Hes coming off a big legislative win, heading into his second year in office with midterm elections ahead, but the russia investigation, that traveled with him on vacation. We are now learning that investigators are now themselves focusing on some of the people closest to donald trump. Today his personal assistant, and this is going back decades, rona graph was questioned by staff from the House Intelligence Committee in an undisclosed location here in new york, not washington. This is a move democrats on the panel have objected to. They feel it should have been done in washington. Mike memely is the journalist who broke the news about rona graphs questioning and he spoke with our own Nicolle Wallace earlier today. Anybody who has spoken with trump, has met with trump, has called trump, has gone through her. One of the subjects they were going to bring up, don junior testified before the committee on december 6th. We know that rob goldstone, who arranged that meeting, in the emails between him and don junior setting it up, there was a reference to rona. Because if he wanted to get the incriminating information about Hillary Clinton to donald trump, it was through rona. That had to be one of the areas they focused on today. Also, were learning new details about the meeting with the embattled fbi director Andrew Mccabe who worked directly under james comey for a time. Wednesday mccabe spent nearly eight hours with the intel committee, and the very same mike memely of nbc news reports, quote, a source familiar with mccabes testimony before the committee, told nbc news that mccabe confirmed that then fbi director james comey told him that trump had asked for a loyalty pledge from him. For those who need it, heres a reminder of what comey said about that during his testimony, this is back before the Senate Intelligence panel this past june. He asked specifically of loyalty in the context of asking me to stay. My common sense told me, whats going on here is, hes looking to get something in exchange for granting my request to stay in the job. And a new report out today indicates house intelligence may soon question two other key trump associates. Bloomberg news is saying this, quote, President Trumps former chief strategist steve bannon and his former Campaign ManagerCory Lewandowski have been asked to testify to house lawmakers investigating russian interference in the 2016 election. Both men were sent alerts this week by the House Intelligence Committee, asking them to testify in early january, according to an official familiar with the panels schedule. Bloomberg adds, theyre not yet responded, but the invitation to testify was not a subpoena, it was a voluntary interview. Theres also news about jared kushner, the president s soninlaw, also a white house senior adviser. The New York Times says, federal prosecutors in brooklyn have sought bank records about entities associated with the Family Company of jared kushner. President trumps soninlaw and senior adviser, according to four people briefed on the matter. Theres no indication the subpoena is related to the Mueller Investigation, but were going to talk about that timing in just a moment. Also, the locale. So with that, let us turn to our leadoff panel on a friday night the New York Times says, federal prosecutors in brooklyn have sought bank records about entities associated with the Family Company of jared kushner. President trumps soninlaw and senior adviser, according to four people briefed on the matter. Theres no indication the subpoena is related to the Mueller Investigation, but were going to talk about that timing in just a moment. Also, the locale. So with that, let us turn to our leadoff panel on a friday night before christmas. Robert costa, National Political reporter for the Washington Post. Moderator of Washington Week on pbs and msnbc political analyst. Matthew noose balm, White House Reporter for politico. And Nick Ackerman is here with us, Watergate Special prosecutor. I think, robert, id like to begin with rona. Underscore what weve already established, what you already heard about her importance in all things donald trump. Shes a crucial person, brian. Ive known rona graph for years, as a reporter going up to trump tower. She was and has been for decades the gate keeper for donald trump. Shes so close with him personally as a friend. Not so much an adviser politically, but as a confidant and totally trusted by the president and then candidate businessman trump. The flip side of that, if youre an aggressive prosecutor and youre looking to hear who overheard what, were you on air force one, were you obviously she wasnt, but she could have been present at the creation of many a conversation. Not only was she probably present at many conversations, but President Trump does not use email and he relied upon rona graph for years to keep a record of emails that were coming in, letters that were coming in. She was what john kelly is now inside of the white house, the person who controls the paper flow, the door. So documents matter as much as her recollections. Nick, when someone is unable to travel to washington, i guess its not unheard of that investigators would come to you and ask the questions they want to ask, wherever you happen to live. It strikes a lot of us as unusual that this was, in effect, a field investigation, a field hearing, field questioning of rona graph in new york. Why was that courtesy extended and not to other witnesses . I dont think we really know the answer to that. But i dont think it really makes a difference. Because what were looking at here, if we start from the basic premise, there was a crime committed. The crime was the hacking into the Democratic National committee to steal emails. The only question here is whether or not anybody in the Trump Campaign conspired with the russians to release those emails. Rona graph is a key witness in this whole thing. I dont care where they interview her. They could interview her on the moon as far as im concerned. She has Key Information based on that email that was sent on june 3rd by Ron Goldstone, who offered to provide information that would incriminate Hillary Clinton to rona, to give to donald trump, but Ron Goldstone said maybe its better i bring it in person. Its pretty obvious to me that we know back in april of 2016, that the Trump Campaign knew that there were these stolen emails from the dnc. And its also pretty obvious that one could assume that what was being transported to the Trump Campaign at that point in time were these stolen emails. And that the person who would have received that, or who Ron Goldstone offered to provide them to was rona. She would be number one on my list. I dont care where she is. Id be ready to talk to her. Does it ever strike you, the irony that you just mentioned a breakin at the Democratic National committee. Youre talking about electronic thats right. But a breakin nonetheless. Thats right. Its a hightech breakin, just like happened in june of 1972 in may of 1972. Its the same thing. Except in this situation, they were able to take lots more documents, nobody was there to check the tape on the door or catch any of the burglars, and it wasnt until after the fact that we actually learned that the burglars were russian. And that there was a plot to take those emails and use them to throw the election to donald trump. Well putt. Matthew, about mr. Comey, comeys name is back in this because of mr. Mccabe, the former number two at fbi. In many areas of law, it matters after something happens to you, that you come home and mention it to friend or family, contemporaneously, right in the moment. And i guess the comey corroboration is the headline from mccabes hours and hours of testimony, correct . I think thats right. Not that many of us doubted mr. Comey to begin with, with his memos written contemporaneously, but to have Andrew Mccabe backing that up. And that instance of trump asking for loyalty is so incharacter. We know from the Washington Post reporting that he had concerns about gorsuch not being loyal enough. We know donald trump values loyalty above all else. But keep in mind the messenger here, Andrew Mccabe has become something of a punching bag for republicans, especially republicans in the house who are trying to muddy the waters, allege bias at the fbi. Theyve taken aim at mccabe and tried to make him a toxic figure. Im not sure if that will impact sort of the import of him corroborating mr. Comeys story. And mr. Costa, as is our role with you so often, first of all, if it was up to us, youd be chained here and get rid of those other jobs for the post and pbs. But what can investigators learn from lewandowski and bannon . You have to remember, there are many tracks right now. Theres the congressional tracks. What theyre really trying to do is bring in the key figures and paint a broader picture of what happened inside of the campaign. Lewandowski was part of the initial recruitment of some of these Foreign Policy advisers. Thats what carter page and other people like him come into the campaign circle. And bannon has avoided scrutiny on a lot of this russia probe so far. But he was the ceo of the Trump Campaign in the closing months, a close associate of the candidate. Theyre going to want to know on capitol hill, what did he know. But whats more important, what does Robert Mueller want to know from all these figures. Because the congressional investigations can only go so far. They help us learn more, but they dont come forward with indictments in the way that mueller could. And you agree with my iceberg theory of the Mueller Investigation, that at any given time, no more than 5 or 10 is visible to folks like us. Ive staked out the Mueller Investigation. We do not know whats happening with it. Thats yet congressional investigations are helpful. We can follow them and when they talk to people like rona graff or bannon or lewandowski. We went through a story at the top of the broadcast, and i got a legal pad full of news here on the friday night before christmas. Why would feds based in brooklyn be snooping around Jared Kushners finances . Because there are lots of crimes to investigate here. And there are crimes that relate to what occurred here in new york city with respect to possibly 666 fifth avenue, a building thats owned by the kushners. Its under water right now. There are lots of other deals theyve engaged in, that relates to bringing in foreigners as investors in the Eastern District of new york and the Southern District of new york. I think there are lots of potential crimes to be investigated, and theres no reason why its only going to be muellers investigative team. I mean, even during the watergate case, there was a separate case that was tried against the former attorney general mitchell right here in the Southern District of new york. So if you think wrongdoing was committed, its to your advantage to spread or hope that other localities bring their own charges . Oh, i think thats right. I think muellers also relying on state authorities too. Yeah. As a backup in case there are pardons. I think that some of the crimes that are being investigated, are being investigated by the new York State Attorney general. Some of the criminal matters and the crimes involved are probably better than some of the federal crimes that are out there. You see now, matthew, you hear the counsellor put it that way, thats why so many people are perspiring. Ive heard it said that the kinetic atmosphere in the air of the west wing changed so markedly when flynn flipped, that that was a big hike in the anxiety thermostat. And im guessing the west wing this president just vacated for 11 days away is just as filled with anxiety. Thats right. At this point, theres a lot of whispering and waiting and wondering whos next. And i think its going to be interesting to see what happens on new years day when the president and the white house have predicted, you know, this Mueller Investigation will be over. Hell be exonerated by the new year. People inside the white house, people outside the white house, legal observers know thats not so when 2018 rolls around and bob mueller is still investigating and we have some trials coming up, it will be interesting to see how the president reacts to having this investigation thats clouded year one of his presidency continue into year two. Washington is famous for eating its own young. Matthew mentioned the toxicity around mr. Mccabe at the fbi. The new head of the fbi, mr. Ray is trying to swim in his lane. Hes got a president whos described the fbi as being in tatters. Not the way you want to start a new job. Whats the chance that mr. Mccabe could be a sacrificial lamb toward something of a fresh start . Certainly a possibility that the president decides to make changes at the Justice Department. Because so many people within the west wing, they tell me privately that if he doesnt get the letter, that exoneration letter that hes been hoping for, the president could erupt. He has a lot of echoes now on capitol hill, among republicans on the rightwing of the Republican Party, on some conservative news outlets, who are saying, if you go after the fbi or shake up the Justice Department, well stick with you and well fight that fight in 2018. Because theyre already being told, and the president was briefed on this, this week, you could face a wave in 2018 with the democrats coming in, and their main target would be your fbi or shake up the Justice Department, well stick with you and well fight that fight in 2018. Because theyre already being told, and the president was briefed on this, this week, you could face a wave in 2018 with the democrats coming in, and their main target would be your impeachment early in 2019 if you lose the house. So amid that whole atmosphere, thats why you see this new clamor, an increased clamor on the right to fight against the fbi and the Justice Department and diminish their credibility. As we said, more news than we should have on a friday evening, but thanks to our leadoff panel, matthew, nick, and robert. Very much appreciate it. We learned a lot. Coming up after our first break, President Trump signs the tax bill, heads to florida for 11 days at maralago. Notably, his tenth visit as president. But in that city he left behind, back in washington, the city that does, in fact, eat its own young, there are warning signs. Robert just talked about them. Well get to more of those when we continue. And then when i watch the news, as you know, we had the largest tax cuts in our history just approved, and i was going to wait for a formal signing sometime in early january, but then i watched the news this morning and they were all saying, will he keep his promise, will he sign it by christmas. And i called downstairs, i said, get it ready, we have to sign it now. Couple of things here, not the largest tax cuts in history. But notably, President Trump, who remember, wants us to know that he doesnt watch that much television, hes also busy with documents, explaining his lastminute decision today to sign the crowning achievement of his presidency so far. Shortly therefore he departed the white house for his golf resort, maralago, in florida, for the holidays, his tenth visit there to that trump property as president. Hes continuing his tax cut victory lap while bemoaning the medias assessment of his success. Our countrys doing very well. Weve tremendously cut regulations, legislative approvals for which im given no credit in the mainstream media. We have, i believe its 88, which is number one in the history of our country. Second now is harry truman. Per an nbc news count, just in recent history, president s bill clinton, george w. Bush and barack obama have all signed more bills by now than has President Trump. Meanwhile, new reporting today offering further evidence the Republican Party will likely face a tough sled in the new year. Politico is reporting trump aides have openly expressed concern over the midterm elections and that the head of the republican National Committee threw up a red flag that the president is suffering with women voters. Quote, the warning, several people close to the chairwoman said, expressed it goes on to say, quote, the backstage talks provide a window into how those closest to trump are bracing for a possible bloodbath in the 2018 mid terms, which could obliterate the republican congressional majority and paralyze the president s