One year ago tonight, the Trump White House started shedding its first highranking officials, just 24 days into the new administration. One year ago tonight, the departure of michael flynn, who has since fled plead guilty to lying to the fbi has has become a cooperating witness into the special counsel investigation into the russia attack. Tonight one year on we bookend that achievement with the news in the New York Times that the president s personal lawyer says when it came time to pay a porn star right before the election to say that she didnt have an affair with donald trump, he found 130,000 in his own pocket and he swears it didnt come out of the campaign or out of the Trump Organization. That does it for us tonight. Well see you again tomorrow. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. We have just stepped into john edwards territory. This is a third party making an expenditure for the benefit of the campaign to keep a woman quiet. About her relationship with the candidate. Yep. And there was a failed prosecution effort against john edwards for that. They tried to bring a federal prosecution of edwards around the corruption issues around that case. It did not result the case fell apart. The prosecution didnt work. But john edwards also is now no longer a political figure for a lot of the same reasons that they brought that prosecution against him. Whats remarkable here is that the Trump Organization and Trump Campaign may have felt such pressure that they had to make this public statement, trying to blame the whole thing on michael cohen. This feels like this reporter from the New York Times tonight feels like the start of a new chapter in this scandal. Certainly nothing that is going to put it to bed. Im sorry. I just said bed. Sorry. We have now an fec investigation. Fec must investigate this. The violation is of fec law. Thats where we are. Fec is such a toothless beast at this point. Exactly. Its just been completely, completely neutered. You know, in any other more normal time in american political history, no matter who was in charge of congress, this would at least lead to congressional hearings and a congressional investigation. And if they found anything, obviously referral to the Justice Department and all of that. With this Republicanled Congress in this Scandal Environment i dont know who picks this up and runs with it. I just dont. Well, the news media will, and the fec will do whatever it does. We will find out. Thats right. Thanks, lawrence. Thank you, rachel. A big fat liar. When is the last time you heard that . High school . It doesnt sound Like High School to me. That wasnt my high school. It sounds like elementary school. It sounds like first grade. Maybe kindergarten. So anyone who has been comparing the Trump White House to high school is way, way, way, way off. It is much more childish than that. The words a big fat liar appear in Quotation Marks in the Washington Post tonight describing white house Chief Of Staff john kelly and the person
doing that is a white house official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. And that same anonymous white house official said, quote, to put it in terms the general would understand, his handling of the Porter Scandal amounts to dereliction of duty. Anthony scaramucci may have left the building, but his childishness lives on in the white house. A childishness that john kelly was brought into change. He was supposed to change all that into a mature, well run professional white house. That same john kelly is now being called a big fat liar by a white house official who is clearly not afraid of having john kelly find out who leaked that, and one excellent candidate for that particular possible leak is gary cohn. He is a known Trump White House leaker and one of the president s economic advisers. And gary cohn has reported in the same Washington Postarticle tonight as being a possible replacement for john kelly as white house Chief Of Staff. And all the leaking about john kelly that is now pouring out of the white house these days makes it clear that no one, and i mean no one in that white house is afraid of john kelly. Not anymore. The inmates are once again clearly openly running the asylum after what was only a brief period when john kelly was apparently pretending to run the asylum. Two versions of what john kelly and the white house staff knew about rob porter were offered today in washington. One was offered under oath. What i can tell you is that the fbi submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in march. And then a completed Background Investigation in late july that soon thereafter we received
requests for followup inquiry. And we did the followup and provided that information in november. And then we administratively closed the file in january. And then earlier this month we received some additional information. And we passed that on as well. There is the director of the fbi, appointed by President Trump testifying under oath that the fbi submitted a partial Report On Rob Porter to the white house in march. And then the fbi completed the Background Investigation in late july. Here is the White House Press secretary giving her version of that story four hours after the fbi director told his story under oath. White House Press Secretary was not under oath. The White House Personnel Security Office staffed by Career Officials received
information last year. And what they considered fob the final Background Investigation report in november. But they had not made a final recommendation for adjudication to the white house because the process was still ongoing when rob porter resigned. In the view of personnel Security Office, the report required additional significant investigatory work before Personnel Office could begin to evaluate the information for adjudication. Notice the word that does not appear anywhere in that written white house statement that she was reading. March. The month of march. Never appears in anything the White House Press secretary said today, and the fbi director said this morning under oath that the fbi submitted a partial report in march. And we know that partial report included the accusations from rob porters two former wives of physical abuse and violence. We know that the fbi obtained the photograph of Rob Porters First Wifes Black Eye in
january, and that she says she got that black eye from one punch thrown by her then husband rob porter. The Washington Post has previously reported that White House Counsel Don Mcgahn knew all what the fbi was finding early last year. Don mcgahn obviously didnt care. He obviously did nothing about it. White house Chief Of Staff john kelly did nothing about it. The white house story that the fbi director destroyed today is that the white house has been patiently waiting for the completion of the Background Check for rob porters Security Clearance, the Security Clearance that was never granted. And they were still waiting for that when the Black Eye Photo was made public last week. As i said earlier, my understanding is any information would have gone to the personnel Security Office. That office had not completed their office in order to make a recommendation for adjudication
to the white house that was still ongoing and therefore recommendation had not been made. You said the specific papers regarding the completion of the Background Check had not been received. Thats part of that process that the White House Personnel Security Office plays, run by Career Officials. And we hadnt received a recommendation from that office. Thats the White House Press secretary trying to blur the answer of when the white house received the fbis final Background Investigation. The fbi says that was in july. The new part of the white house story today is that it was really the White House Personnel Security Office then that was slowing everything down after the fbi did their work. Nbcs Peter Alexander is reporting tonight that a former senior white house official has said that the White House Personnel Security Office, quote, they do not make decisions, end quote, adding that they dont do vetting. According to that source, once the fbi Background Checks are completed, the Security Office might make a recommendation. But its up to the white house political staff to determine how to proceed. Joining us now, peter nicholas, White House Reporter for the wall street journal. And betsy woodruff, a politics reporter for daily beast and an msnbc contributor. Peter, you were in the team that reported what john kelly had to say about this on monday where he said thats where he has issued the famous quote, it was all done right. Thats what john kelly said in your reporting. In the journals encounter with john kelly to even get that much out of him, what kind of confidence did he show in the way he dealt with this one when he was asked about it. . Well, it was brief interview that my colleague did. He was pretty clear he didnt think there was any fault on the white houses part. What is strange about that is its at odds with what Deputy Press Secretary ross shaw has said. Ross shaw told reporters last week the white house did make mistake. They could have done things better in this instance. So kellys Sunny Verdict on how the white house handled it is really at odds with the white houses own messaging. And betsy woodruff, what did the white house know . When did it know . It has all become more crucial, especially in march. What was it that the fbi brought to the white house in march, their preliminary findings . We know from other reporting, but by that time they had the photograph of the black eye. They had all of the reporting that the two former wives gave to the fbi. And they gave that reporting to the fbi under the possible penalties in effect of perjury, speaking of lying to the fbi as a crime. Problems have been caused by john kelly, however this mess, however this mess started, is it solved necessarily by replacing him with a new Chief Of Staff . Or does that just show there is really so much turnover in this white house it feeds perception of instability. And betsy we have reporting tonight that john kelly and others were considering promoting rob porter, and that is long after the fbi completed its investigation in july. Right. And thats why these questions about the way the information that the fbi had worked through the white house and who had access to that information are so vital. Now one piece of this thats really important to remember is that the story beneath the story, or a story adjacent to the story is the fact that the infighting in the white house is just extraordinarily ugly. A cold war has almost become a hot war in terms of different factions going after each other. We know that john kelly has made
journal reporter for an offtherecord session with rob porter himself who apparently offered some kind of defense for the black eye, saying it involved a struggle over something in a hotel in italy, and it was all an accident. Well, it does seem like the white house wanted to rally behind rob porter who was internally very well regarded, very well respected, a popular person inside the west wing. And their initial instinct despite the evidence was to see if they could weather this early on. Eventually that position just became unsustainable. They realize that this was a Public Relations nightmare that they could not handle, and that the only solution was to get his resignation which is what they did. But early on, there was definitely a sense that maybe they can talk to the press and they can portray this in a way that would make it possible for him to stay on. Peter nicholas and betsy woodruff, thank you both for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Sure. My dad says our insurance doesnt have that. Dont worry i know what a lug wrench is, dad. Is this a lug wrench . Maybe . You can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Sucthey read more. Have one thing in common. How do they find the time . With audible. Audible has the Worlds Largest selection of audiobooks. For just 14. 95 a month. You get a credit good for any audiobook. And you can roll your credits to the next month if you dont use them. Audible members get free no hassle exchanges. And use the mobile app to listen anytime, anywhere. Start a 30day trial and your first audiobook is free. Listening, is the new reading. Text audio22 to five hundred five hundred to start listening today. Worried about. How is this playing for him personally . Also tonight, cnn Is Reporting Trump has been phoning allies in recent days to get their advice on how to handle the fallout from rob porter. His two main questions, what do we do and when does it end . Well, you could try this, mr. President. You could try telling the truth and firing anyone and everyone who lied about it that would end it. But we know thats not going to happen. Not in the Trump White House. So tomorrows White House Press briefing will surely include more lies about this story. And at this hour tomorrow night, we will be dissecting tomorrows lies. And one of the big problems for the white house is that the fbi director Christopher Wray will be asked about all of this again the next time that he testifies to congress or perhaps sooner than that. The fbi director will be drawn back into even more specific
questions about what exactly the fbi told the white house about Rob Porter In March and then exactly what the fbi told the white house about rob porter in july when they delivered their completed Report On Rob Porter. And as of tonight it seems nothing fbi director Christopher Wray says about this is going to fit the lies being told by the Trump White House. Joining us now, William Yeomans who spent 26 years at the Justice Department and was the former Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary committee. Also with us matt miller, former spokesperson for attorney general eric holder and an msnbc contributor. And bill yeomans, what happens next, particularly with the fbi director . Surely the next time he is testifying at congress, he is going to be asked about this. Reporter mace have access to the director before the next time he testifies to congress. Were going to hear more from him. Well, i think we will. And i think what youve set up really indicates something thats been missing in this
whole affair which is serious congressional oversight. This is a situation when congress should really step up. And of course under republican leadership, that is not happening. So, yeah, the fbi director will appear before congress. But there need to be serious oversight hears regarding the Clearance Process and certainly looking into what exactly happened in this white house. Matt miller, what are the answers to the president s questions of what do we do and whats going to happen next . The best thing for him to do would be to come clean, to come out and say exactly when officials in the white house found out about the Domestic Abuse allegations against rob porter, who knew and what they did about it, and then take corrective action. And anyone that knew and didnt act would be fired and have to leave the white house. The problem for the president is there is no way to end this scandal without addressing this related issue of people having interim Security Clearances. And there is no way to address that issue without addressing
the interim Security Clearance for his soninlaw, Jared Kushner. In a lo