Watergate Prosecutor: Well On Our Way To Donald Trump Impeachment | The 11th Hour

>>> IN FACT, WHEN I DECIDED TO JUST DO IT, I SAID TO MYSELF, I
SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS RUSSIA THING WITH TRUMP AND RUSSIA IS A
MADE-UP STORY, IT'S AN EXCUSE BY THE DEMOCRATS FOR HAVING LOST AN
ELECTION THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE WON.
>> WELCOME BACK TO "THE 11TH HOUR."
THAT WAS LAST WEEK'S BIG STORY, REMEMBER.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ADMITTING HE WAS THINKING
ABOUT THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION WHEN HE MADE THE DECISION TO
FIRE JAMES COMEY. IN THAT SAME INTERVIEW, HE ALSO
DENIED EVER ASKING JAMES COMEY TO STOP THE INVESTIGATION.
>> DID YOU ASK HIM TO DROP THE INVESTIGATION?
>> NO, NEVER. >> DID ANYONE FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE -- >> IN FACT, I WANT THE
INVESTIGATION SPEEDED UP. >> DID ANYONE FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE ASK HIM TO END THE INVESTIGATION?
>> NO, WHY WOULD WE DO THAT? >> ANY SURROGATES?
>> NOT THAT I KNOW OF. >> JOINING OUR CONVERSATION,
FORMER DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PROSECUTOR GEORGETOWN LAW
SCHOOL, AND JILL WINE BANKS, ONE OF THE SPECIAL PROSECUTORS
DURING THE WATERGATE SCANDAL AND FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL TO THE
UNITED STATES ARMY. COUNSELORS, WELCOME TO YOU BOTH.
PAUL, THE QUESTION FIRST GOES TO YOU, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE, ONE
OF THOSE TERMS VERY EASY TO USE. WE'VE READ ABOUT IT, WE'VE SEEN
IT IN MOVIES. DOES THIS BEGIN TO FIT HERE, TO
YOUR MIND? >> YOU BET, BRIAN.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE OR IMPEDE A
JUDICIAL OR CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION, CORRUPTLY, YOU
HAVE TO DO IT CORRUPTLY. THAT WORD IS DOING A LOT OF WORK
HERE. LAWYERS LOOK FOR SMOKING GUN
EVIDENCE. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THIS
CONVERSATION BETWEEN TRUMP AND COMEY?
BEFORE HE HAD THE CONVERSATION, HE ASKED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
AND THE VICE-PRESIDENT TO LEAVE THE ROOM.
SESSIONS, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, WAS THINKING TO HIMSELF, LOOK,
I'M COMEY'S BOSS, I NEED TO BE HERE.
HE HAS TO SAY -- TRUMP SAYS, NO, YOU NEED TO GET OUT.
THAT'S WHAT LAWYERS CALL CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT.
NOW, WE'RE A LONG WAY FROM A CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
WE'RE A LONG WAY AWAY FROM IMPEACHMENT.
BUT IS THERE DAMNING EVIDENCE AGAINST DONALD TRUMP TODAY, YES,
THERE IS. >> JILL, SAME QUESTION.
>> I GIVE THE SAME ANSWER. WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO
IMPEACHMENT BECAUSE I THINK THERE IS A CLEAR SET OF FACTS
THAT SHOW OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.
HAVING PROSECUTED THE WATERGATE CASE AND SEEN OBSTRUCTION UP
CLOSE, I COULD SAY THIS IS EXACTLY THE SAME THING.
FIRING COMEY IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU FIRE ARCHIBALD
COX, THE PROSECUTOR. YOU'RE TRYING TO GET THE
INVESTIGATION TO SHUT DOWN. NOW WE HAVE THE ADDED MEMO THAT
SHOWS THAT HE ASKED COMEY TO STOP INVESTIGATING FLYNN IN
ADDITION. SO, INSTEAD, HE'S PURSUING A
TOTALLY PHONY INVESTIGATION OF VOTER FRAUD OF WHICH THERE IS NO
EVIDENCE WHILE TRYING TO SHUT DOWN THE INVESTIGATION OF
RUSSIAN HACKING AND RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE WITH OUR DEMOCRACY.
THAT'S OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE. >> BECAUSE THAT'S A HECK OF A
THING YOU JUST SAID, TELL OUR GOOD VIEWERS WHAT THEY SHOULD
LOOK FOR IN TERMS OF THE MECHANISM AND HOW WHAT YOU'RE
DESCRIBING COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN WITH REPUBLICANS IN CONTROL OF
THE WHITE HOUSE, HOUSE AND SENATE.
>> WELL, I WAS ADDRESSING THE LEGAL ISSUE.
THERE IS A POLITICAL ISSUE. AND IN THIS TIME OF
GERRYMANDERED CONGRESS, WITH NO BIPARTISAN SHIP, I AM CONCERNED
THAT WE MIGHT NEVER GET THERE. WE NEED A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR.
THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MIGHT HELP TO UNRAVEL ALL OF THE
FACTS. WE NEED TO SUBPOENA THE TAPES.
WE NEED TO GET COMEY'S MEMO. THESE ARE PIECES OF CRITICAL
EVIDENCE THAT I THINK WILL SHOW, WITHOUT A DOUBT, WRO WRONGDOING
THE PRESIDENT, AND WE NEED TO DO THOSE.
SO, POLITICALLY, WHETHER THERE CAN BE AN IMPEACHMENT WILL TAKE
A PUBLIC OUTCRY MUCH LIKE WHAT HAPPENED ON THE SATURDAY NIGHT
MASSACRE. THE PRESIDENT AT THE TIME,
NIXON, REFUSED TO GIVE THE TAPES THAT HAD BEEN SUBPOENAED IN
WHICH THE COURTS HAD SAID, WE HAD A RIGHT TO.
HE FIRED THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR. THE PUBLIC OUTCRY WAS SO
ENORMOUS THAT THREE DAYS AFTER THE SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE, HE
WAS FORCED TO TAKE A U-TURN. HE HAD TO HIRE A NEW SPECIAL
PROSECUTOR. HE AGREED TO TURNOVER THE TAPES.
AND THEN MUCH LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW, THERE WAS A DRIP,
DRIP, DRIP OF BAD EVIDENCE. HE REVEALED THAT THREE OF THE
TAPES WERE MISSING, EVEN THOUGH HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO GIVE
THEM TO US. AND THEN A MONTH AFTER WE HAD A
HEARING ON THOSE THREE MISSING TAPES, WE HAD AN ANNOUNCEMENT
THAT THERE WAS AN 18-MINUTE GAP IN THE FOURTH TAPE.
SO, WE HAVE AN 18-MINUTE GAP AND AN 18-DAY DELAY IN FIRING THE
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR. >> WHICH IS WHY EVERYONE OVER 50
KNOWS THE NAME ROSEMARY WOODS TO THIS DAY.
>> YES. >> THE SECRETARY WHO GOT BLAMED
FOR THAT. PAUL, I SEE YOU SHAKING YOUR
HEAD. MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH RON
ROSENSTEIN. YOU WORKED WITH HIM AT JUSTICE.
THINK ABOUT WHY THERE ARE PEOPLE WALKING AROUND IN THIS COUNTRY
KNOWING HIS NAME TODAY, BECAUSE IT'S HIS MEMO, THE THREE-PAGE
UNDERPINNING, THAT THE WORLD SPENT, WHAT, 36 HOURS BELIEVING
WAS THE CAUSE FOR THE FIRING, PERHAPS, OF COMEY, THAT HE HAD
BEEN MEAN TO HILLARY IN HER E-MAILS.
IN EFFECT, WE THEN HEAR THE BOSS SAY, OH, NO, COMEY WAS A GONER
FROM THE BEGINNING. THINK OF THE WEIGHT THAT RESTS
NOW WITH THE ACTING HEAD -- THE ACTING A.G. BECAUSE OF THE
RECUSAL OF SESSIONS. >> SO, IT'S PARTLY PERSONAL,
BRIAN. HE GOT PLAYED BY PRESIDENT
TRUMP, AND I'M SURE THAT HE DOESN'T APPRECIATE THAT.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT'S ABOUT FAITH AND THE INTEGRITY OF OUR
GOVERNMENT AND OUR ELECTED LEADERS.
LOOK, NOW TRUMP'S POSITION IS I DIDN'T HAVE THAT CONVERSATION
WITH COMEY. SO, COMEY, AS THE ROSENSTEIN
MEMO SAID, EXERCISE CREDIBLY BAD JUDGMENT WHEN HE MADE ALL THOSE
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON, HE DISREGARDED THE
CHAIN OF COMMAND. WELL, THIS IS NOT A GUY WHO IS A
LIAR. HE TELLS THE TRUTH.
IF ANYTHING, HE'S TOO FORTHCOMING.
IF THE MOST TRUMP CAN SAY IS THIS CONVERSATION DIDN'T HAPPEN,
YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT COMEY HAS EVIDENCE THAT IT DID.
ONE REASON WHY LAWYERS TAKE CONTEMPORANEOUS NOTES IS YOU
DON'T WANT TO RELY ON YOUR MEMORY FOR SOMETHING THIS
IMPORTANT. SO, HE WROTE IT DOWN AS IT
HAPPENED. CONGRESS WILL GET THAT AND AT
SOME POINT A PROSECUTOR WILL GET THAT SAME MEMO AND THEN THERE
WILL BE CONSEQUENCE. >> FORGIVE ME, I CALLED HIM RON
AND NOT ROD. JILL, FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING
TO HEAR ABOUT THIS STORY AND WONDERING HOW ANYONE, EVEN JAMES
COMEY, CAN RELY ON A CONTEMPORANEOUS MEMORIALIZING
MEMORANDUM TO FILE COMING OUT OF A CONVERSATION, WHICH WAS NOT TO
OUR KNOWLEDGE, AT LEAST, RECORDED, TALK ABOUT THE
PRACTICE, THE STANDARD, AND WHAT A JAMES COMEY WITH HIS WORK
HABITS WOULD BE ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER THAT WOULD BE FAITHFUL
TO QUOTES HE HAD JUST HEARD IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
>> I WOULD SAY MUCH LIKE HR HALDEMAN KEPT VOLUMINOUS NOTES
OF EVERY CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT, CRITICAL IN THE
WATERGATE CASE. FROM EVERYTHING I'VE HEARD,
COMEY HAD A HABIT, A PRACTICE OF RECORDING THINGS.
AND, OF COURSE, AS AN FBI AGENT, ALL FBI AGENTS ARE TRAINED TO
RECORD CONTEMPORANEOUSLY EVERYTHING THEY HEAR AND TO
WRITE IT DOWN AS EXACTLY AS THEY CAN.
SO, I TRULY BELIEVE THAT IF WE GET A COPY OF THIS MEMO, I'M
ASSUMING THAT IT'S TRUE THAT THERE IS ONE, I THINK IT WILL BE
VERY IMPORTANT EVIDENCE TO BE USED AS, OF COURSE, THE
PRESIDENT THREATENED THAT THERE WERE TAPES.
IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE INTERESTING, I'D LOVE TO HEAR
THOSE TAPES, AND I HOPE THAT THEY WILL BE SUBPOENAED AND WILL
BE PROVIDED IF THEY

Watergate Prosecutor: Well On Our Way To Donald Trump Impeachment | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

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