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Infraction. either that matters or doesn't. >> but this is at a time when public trust of institutions is at a have i low point. this was a point for the biden administration to say, this is how it's down. search everything, take a look. this was inadvertent, then you can do show this is very different from saying, i can unclassify it with my mind, or defying federal authorities and say, no, i have a right to keep these things, they're mine. that is very different, and it was an opportunity to show that to the american public and they missed it. >> i know this is a classic case of lawyers bein...

Obstruct congress, right? to do all of these things requires a level of intent that is always difficult to prove. so, yes and no. yes, lots of people told him that he lost, any rational, thoughtful person would understand that and internalize it and process it. this guy seemed utterly incapable of doing that. so i think there's still a bit of an open question about his intent. by the way, the fact that we have an open question about intent doesn't mean it can be proved by some other means, and in a court of law. there's lots of ways to prove intent. we're only seeing some of it so far, stephan...

We made sure nato was focused on its mission. when we did that, vladimir putin had respect for us, he's a very talented statesman. >> well, let's head to moscow now where cnn's nic robertson is standing by. good to see you. of course, it is impossible to get inside the mind of vladimir putin, to figure out what exactly he plans to do in the end. but what's his likely intent, given what we know so far, and how might the withdrawal of nonessential u.s. embassy staff play into his plans, do you think? >> reporter: well, his stated intent is to draw ukraine back into russia's orbit of influence. t...

Criminal investigation is evidence of intent, and sometimes the evidence of intent doesn't come directly from the documents or communications because people are careful about that. but testimony from a long trusted employee of an organization combined with e-mails may suggest intent to engage in misconduct or break the law. that in combination is very powerful and that is what i suspect they're looking for. >> you mentioned alan weisselberg, the long time chief officer of the trump administration. could it encourage him to cooperate with these investigators? he's viewed by many as certainly a ...

That's a more questionable assertion. they're making the case to mueller that he shouldn't even try to bring that charge. that's what you would expect them to do here. >> there's no groundbreaking defense here. yes, he has that authority, but he stated this that interview with lester holt, ken, that he was thinking about the russia investigation. so even if he could hire and fire at will, is that a defense against obstruction? >> well, it may be a defense as regards to the particular firing of comey, but don't forget there's a whole fact pattern here. it's the private meeting that the presiden...