Former DOJ Employees Say Robert Mueller Good Choice To Lead Russia Probe | For The Record

FBI DIRECTOR, HE WORKED FOR FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY UNTIL 2014.
BOTH OF YOU KNOW BOB MULLER. MICHAEL, HOW DO YOU KNOW HIM,
AND YOUR THOUGHTS? >> WELL, SO, I WORKED FOR BOB IN
THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
BOB WAS THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE CRIMINAL
DIVISION, THE HIGHEST RANKING OFFICER IN THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT FOR CRIMINAL MATTERS AND I WAS HIS SPECIAL COUNSEL
FOR MONEY LAUNDERING MATTERS. WE WORKED IN THE PREVIOUS
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AS WELL. >> IS HE A TOUGHER WORKER, TOUGH
BOSS? >> HE IS A TOUGH BOSS.
THE ONLY EASY DAY WITH BOB MULLER WAS YESTERDAY, AND HE WAS
TOUGH. HE IS DRIVEN.
I THINK HE HAS GREAT TRUST OF CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
BECAUSE OF THE GROUND THAT HE HAD CROSSED.
SO, I THINK IT'S A GREAT SELECTION.
BOB MULLER KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE INVESTIGATIONS FORWARD WITH NO
NONSENSE GETTING THE JOB DONE. >> WE ALWAYS LOVE THEM IT SEEMS
LIKE DAY ONE. I THINK JAMES COMEY PROBABLY HAD
LOVE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE.
THIS IS JUST DAY ONE. CAN BOB MULLER WITHSTAND SORT OF
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE CITY, MICHAEL?
>> I THINK SO. HE'S WITH STOOD IT FOR A LONG
TIME. HE'S BEEN IN PUBLIC LIFE FOR A
VERY LONG TIME. >> AFTER 9/11 EVERYBODY WAS ON
THE SAME SIDE. THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENT, I THINK. >> HE'S A THICK SKINNED TOUGH
GUY. HE TAKES HIS JOB SERIOUSLY.
HE TAKES THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE SERIOUSLY.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT HE IS GOING TO BE DERAILED BY THE POLITICAL
SHENANIGANS THAT MAY BE ON THE SIDE LINES TRYING TO PRESSURE
HIM ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. I THINK BOB IS A TERRIFIC CHOICE
FOR THIS AND I DON'T THINK HE IS GOING TO BE DETERRED IN ANY WAY
FROM THE MISSION THAT HE'S BEEN GIVEN BY THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY
GENERAL. >> RON, A LOT OF THE FBI AGENTS
CURRENTLY AT THE DEPARTMENT, DID THEY WORK WITH MULL ERROR HAS HE
BEEN GONE -- >> NO, BOB MULLER HAS ONLY BEEN
GONE THE LENGTH OF TIME JIM COMEY HAS BEEN THERE.
HE'S WELL KNOWN IN THE BUILDING, WELL RESPECTED IN THE BUILDING,
WELL REGARDED. TO YOUR LAST POINT, THE STRUGGLE
THAT WE WILL ALL HAVE, BOB MULLER IS A TIGHT LIPPED GUY,
AND AS THIS DEVELOPS, YOU KNOW, COUNTER INTELLIGENCE PIECES OF
IT, PERHAPS WHITE COLLAR PIECES OF IT --
>> RELATIONSHIP EITHER OF YOU KNOW WITH JAMES COMEY?
>> BOTH WERE IN THE BUREAU, ESSENTIALLY OVERLAPPED
SUCCESSIVELY IN THAT JOB. >> ACTUALLY NOW AS I THINK OF
IT, DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, BOB MULLER WAS
THREATENING TO RESIGN OVER A WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING.
AND I THINK THAT AT THE TIME -- >> THEY WERE IN IT TOGETHER.
>> THAT'S RIGHT. >> THEY'RE CLOSE.
THEY SHOULD BE CLOSE. >> THAT'S RIGHT.
IT WAS THE ASH CROFT BEDSIDE, RENEW THE METTA DATA, COMEY HAD
ONE STORY, MULLER HAD ONE STORY, THEY CONFERRED AT THE HOSPITAL.
THEY KNOW EACH OTHER IN A SIMILAR SITUATION TO THIS IN A
SENSE. >> PETER BAKER OF THE "THE NEW
YORK TIMES" WROTE THAT STORY OR BROKE THAT NEWS.
PETER, TELL ME ABOUT THE BOB MULLER/JAMES COMEY RELATIONSHIP.
>> THEY ARE, IN FACT, OBVIOUSLY CLOSE.
THEY DID SERVE TOGETHER IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AS YOU GUYS
WERE JUST SAYING. THEY HAVE THIS FORMATIVE
EXPERIENCE IN STANDING UP TO A PRESIDENT, STANDING UP TO A
VICE-PRESIDENT. THEY BOTH THREATENED TO RESIGN
AND IT WAS WHEN BOB MULLER MADE CLEAR THAT HE WOULD RESIGN WITH
JAMES COMEY WHO WAS THEN THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OVER
THIS SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM THAT PRESIDENT BUSH REALIZED HOW
SERIOUS IT WAS. PRESIDENT BUSH REALIZED HE HAD
ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE ON HIS HANDS AND HE WANTED TO
AVOID EXACTLY THAT. HE BACKED OFF IN ORDER TO, YOU
KNOW, ADDRESS THEIR CONCERNS. SO, IT WAS BOB MULLER WHO
ORDERED THE FBI AGENTS AT THE HOSPITAL WHEN JIM COMEY WAS
RUSHING TO GET THERE, BUT TO SEE ASH CROFT, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BEFORE THE PRESIDENT'S EMISSARIES GOT THERE, IT WAS BOB
MULLER WHO ORDERED THE FBI AGENTS, DON'T LET JIM COMEY BE
THROWN OUT OF THAT ROOM NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.
THEY WERE ALLIES AND FRIENDS IN THIS SITUATION.
IT IS A VERY INTERESTING CHOICE IN THAT REGARD.
THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE WITH A DISINTERESTED RELATIONSHIP.
>> SO, WHEN BOB MULLER WAS NAMED FBI DIRECTOR, 98-0 UNANIMOUS.
AT LEAST THE CAPITOL HILL AT THAT TIME LIKED HIM ON BOTH
SIDES OF THE AISLE. THIS IS A CHOICE FROM ROSENSTEIN
WHO IS THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
THIS DOESN'T SOUND LIKE -- THIS ISN'T THE WHITE HOUSE CHOICE,
AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WHITE HOUSE IS THINKING ABOUT
THIS TONIGHT, KNOWING THAT COMEY AND MULLER HAVE WORKED TOGETHER
BEFORE AND QUITE CLOSELY AND ALIGNED ON A VERY, VERY
POLITICAL STORY THAT WAS HUGE BACK A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO?
>> WELL, IT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. I CAN'T IMAGINE THE WHITE HOUSE
IS VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS. THIS CAN'T BE THE CHOICE THEY
WOULD HAVE PREFERRED. BOB MULLER DOES HAVE BIPARTISAN
CREDENTIALS AS YOU POINT OUT. HE WAS A INT TOED BY PRESIDENT
BUSH. HE STARTED JUST AFTER 9/11
WITHIN DAYS OF 9/11 IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.
HE REORGANIZED THE FBI TO MAKE IT A TERRORISM FIGHTING
ORGANIZATION. BUT HE WAS AN INSTITUTIONALIST
AND WELL LIKED AMONG DEMOCRATS AS WELL.
SO, PRESIDENT OBAMA ASKED HIM TO STAY ON THREE YEARS BEYOND HIS
TEN YEAR TERM. HE'S THE ONLY FBI DIRECTOR SINCE
THEY PUT THAT TEN YEAR TERM TO GO BEYOND THAT TERM AND THAT WAS
APPROVED BY CONGRESS AND BOTH PARTIES.
HE DOES HAVE A GOOD REPUTATION IN THAT REGARD, AND HE HAS --
COMES AT THIS FROM AN INSTITUTIONALIST POINT OF VIEW,

Former DOJ Employees Say Robert Mueller Good Choice To Lead Russia Probe | For The Record | MSNBC

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