1 00:00:19,208 --> 00:00:20,917 Excuse my breath. 2 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,458 I just ran out here to, bring you this news. 3 00:00:23,542 --> 00:00:24,959 The President of the United States 4 00:00:25,041 --> 00:00:27,417 has terminated the director of the FBI, 5 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:29,125 James Comey. 6 00:00:29,208 --> 00:00:32,291 As we get more here, we'll bring it to you, 7 00:00:32,375 --> 00:00:34,583 but at this point, a bombshell at the White House. 8 00:00:34,667 --> 00:00:36,125 James Comey is out. 9 00:00:38,375 --> 00:00:39,875 Well, we've been watching as James Comey 10 00:00:39,959 --> 00:00:41,458 got off with his motorcade, making his way 11 00:00:41,542 --> 00:00:43,917 from the Westwood offices of the FBI. 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:45,917 He got the information this afternoon 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,500 that he has been relieved of his duties. 14 00:00:47,583 --> 00:00:51,500 Comey would become only the second FBI director 15 00:00:51,583 --> 00:00:53,458 in the history of the bureau to be fired. 16 00:00:53,542 --> 00:00:55,750 I just spoke to a senior official a short time ago 17 00:00:55,834 --> 00:00:58,208 who said they had no idea this was happening. 18 00:00:58,291 --> 00:01:00,291 The other major complicating factor here 19 00:01:00,375 --> 00:01:02,166 is the fact that the FBI 20 00:01:02,250 --> 00:01:04,750 is investigating any possible collusion 21 00:01:04,834 --> 00:01:07,000 between members of the Trump campaign team 22 00:01:07,083 --> 00:01:10,333 and Russia, and now the head of the FBI has been fired. 23 00:01:10,417 --> 00:01:12,625 I found out through The New York Times, 24 00:01:12,709 --> 00:01:14,166 getting an alert on my phone. 25 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:15,959 I remember thinking, 26 00:01:16,041 --> 00:01:17,125 you know, "Has my phone been hacked? 27 00:01:17,208 --> 00:01:18,625 Is this a joke?" 28 00:01:18,709 --> 00:01:20,417 James. 29 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:22,208 The idea that the president would fire 30 00:01:22,291 --> 00:01:23,959 an FBI director, 31 00:01:24,041 --> 00:01:25,542 middle of the Russia investigation, 32 00:01:25,625 --> 00:01:27,208 is unthinkable. 33 00:01:29,417 --> 00:01:31,667 This was a target of an FBI investigation 34 00:01:31,750 --> 00:01:35,250 trying to choose the person who was investigating them. 35 00:01:35,333 --> 00:01:37,458 And what kind of constitutional problem 36 00:01:37,542 --> 00:01:38,667 does that present? 37 00:01:38,750 --> 00:01:40,792 A huge one. 38 00:01:40,875 --> 00:01:43,208 I think everyone realized that we were 39 00:01:43,291 --> 00:01:46,000 coming into unprecedented political territory. 40 00:01:47,792 --> 00:01:49,834 Comey's got the FBI Gulfstream plane 41 00:01:49,917 --> 00:01:51,750 out there in Los Angeles. 42 00:01:51,834 --> 00:01:53,542 There's an O.J. moment 43 00:01:53,625 --> 00:01:55,083 where you've got a helicopter 44 00:01:55,166 --> 00:01:57,250 following this plane down the tarmac. 45 00:01:59,667 --> 00:02:01,667 Comey gets into the plane and settles back, 46 00:02:01,750 --> 00:02:06,375 uncorks some red wine, pours it into a paper cup, 47 00:02:06,458 --> 00:02:07,917 looks down over the United States 48 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,959 as evening settles in, 49 00:02:10,041 --> 00:02:14,125 thinking, "What the hell just happened?" 50 00:02:37,959 --> 00:02:38,834 I, Ronald Reagan... 51 00:02:38,917 --> 00:02:40,500 William Jefferson Clinton... 52 00:02:40,583 --> 00:02:41,792 Do solemnly swear... 53 00:02:41,875 --> 00:02:42,667 Do solemnly swear... 54 00:02:45,959 --> 00:02:48,000 ...and will, to the best of my ability... 55 00:02:48,083 --> 00:02:49,834 ...preserve, protect, and defend... 56 00:02:49,917 --> 00:02:53,041 ...the Constitution of the United States. 57 00:03:19,417 --> 00:03:21,083 I know that when you were fired, 58 00:03:21,166 --> 00:03:22,875 you say in the book that, when-- 59 00:03:22,959 --> 00:03:24,500 when it was over, you, 60 00:03:24,583 --> 00:03:26,500 flew back on a plane to the East Coast... 61 00:03:26,583 --> 00:03:28,875 Drinking Pinot Noir 62 00:03:28,959 --> 00:03:31,583 out of a paper cup, so I thought maybe 63 00:03:31,667 --> 00:03:34,208 we could re-create that happy moment for you right now. 64 00:03:36,166 --> 00:03:38,667 - To the truth. - Yes, to the truth. 65 00:03:41,709 --> 00:03:43,959 Breaking news tonight: we have our first look 66 00:03:44,041 --> 00:03:47,208 at fired FBI director James Comey's much-anticipated 67 00:03:47,291 --> 00:03:49,375 tell-all book, 68 00:03:49,458 --> 00:03:51,166 a window into his interactions with President Trump. 69 00:03:51,250 --> 00:03:53,333 James Comey starts a media tour 70 00:03:53,417 --> 00:03:55,083 to promote his new book. 71 00:03:55,166 --> 00:03:56,834 Our guest tonight is James Comey. 72 00:03:56,917 --> 00:03:58,917 ...former FBI director, James Comey. 73 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:00,083 James Comey. 74 00:04:04,417 --> 00:04:06,458 It's all right, y'all. It's all right. 75 00:04:06,542 --> 00:04:07,959 Our president must 76 00:04:08,041 --> 00:04:09,250 adhere to the values 77 00:04:09,333 --> 00:04:10,500 that are the core of this country, 78 00:04:10,583 --> 00:04:12,333 the most important being truth. 79 00:04:12,417 --> 00:04:14,542 This president is not able to do that. 80 00:04:14,625 --> 00:04:16,542 He is morally unfit to be president. 81 00:04:16,625 --> 00:04:19,500 Comey holds little back. It is a scathing indictment. 82 00:04:19,583 --> 00:04:22,750 This president is "untethered to truth 83 00:04:22,834 --> 00:04:25,000 and institutional values," Comey writes. 84 00:04:25,083 --> 00:04:26,625 "His leadership 85 00:04:26,709 --> 00:04:29,166 is transactional, ego-driven"... 86 00:04:29,250 --> 00:04:31,458 ..."and about personal loyalty. 87 00:04:31,542 --> 00:04:34,834 I'm writing at a time of great anxiety in my country. 88 00:04:34,917 --> 00:04:36,834 I understand the anxiety. 89 00:04:36,917 --> 00:04:38,625 Donald Trump's presidency threatens 90 00:04:38,709 --> 00:04:41,250 much of what is good in this nation." 91 00:04:41,333 --> 00:04:42,875 A lot of people 92 00:04:42,959 --> 00:04:44,625 were suspicious of Jim 93 00:04:44,709 --> 00:04:46,917 as a moralistic, 94 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,458 pious showboater. 95 00:04:49,542 --> 00:04:51,583 This is nothing more than a poorly executed 96 00:04:51,667 --> 00:04:54,750 PR stunt by Comey to desperately rehabilitate 97 00:04:54,834 --> 00:04:56,709 his tattered reputation. -Sarah? 98 00:04:56,792 --> 00:05:00,125 There's a lot of room for disagreement about that. 99 00:05:00,208 --> 00:05:04,208 He is raising a moral and political and legal alarm... 100 00:05:04,291 --> 00:05:05,583 Right. -About the health 101 00:05:05,667 --> 00:05:07,458 of our institutions-- 102 00:05:07,542 --> 00:05:09,750 about the effect of our president on them. 103 00:05:09,834 --> 00:05:12,041 Do you think people tied to President Trump 104 00:05:12,125 --> 00:05:13,375 colluded with the Russians? 105 00:05:13,458 --> 00:05:15,625 "I don't know" is the honest answer. 106 00:05:15,709 --> 00:05:18,083 This is a big mistake, this book! 107 00:05:18,166 --> 00:05:19,667 There is no collusion with me-- 108 00:05:19,750 --> 00:05:21,417 All right. -And Russia! 109 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:22,667 And our Justice Department, 110 00:05:22,750 --> 00:05:24,500 they have this witch hunt... 111 00:05:24,583 --> 00:05:27,667 Trump is trying to muddy the legitimacy 112 00:05:27,750 --> 00:05:30,417 of Bob Mueller's Russia investigation, 113 00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:32,625 and to turn this into 114 00:05:32,709 --> 00:05:35,333 the public appearance of a partisan witch hunt. 115 00:05:35,417 --> 00:05:37,625 One of the biggest political witch hunts in the history 116 00:05:37,709 --> 00:05:39,917 of this country. 117 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,625 Robert Mueller is on a Jihad of some sort. 118 00:05:42,709 --> 00:05:45,041 "Mr. Mueller, end the witch hunt." 119 00:05:57,208 --> 00:05:59,917 "I don't know whether the special counsel will find 120 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,458 criminal wrongdoing by the president 121 00:06:01,542 --> 00:06:03,083 or others who have not been charged 122 00:06:03,166 --> 00:06:04,875 as of this writing. 123 00:06:04,959 --> 00:06:06,750 One of the pivotal questions 124 00:06:06,834 --> 00:06:08,834 I presume Bob Mueller's team is investigating 125 00:06:08,917 --> 00:06:11,333 is whether or not, in firing me, 126 00:06:11,417 --> 00:06:13,417 President Trump was attempting to obstruct justice, 127 00:06:13,500 --> 00:06:14,875 which is a federal crime. 128 00:06:16,583 --> 00:06:18,875 I've prosecuted and overseen many cases 129 00:06:18,959 --> 00:06:21,291 involving obstruction of justice, 130 00:06:21,375 --> 00:06:23,417 but in this case, I'm a witness." 131 00:06:26,166 --> 00:06:28,083 Comey and Mueller are confronting 132 00:06:28,166 --> 00:06:30,875 the most powerful man on the face of the Earth 133 00:06:30,959 --> 00:06:34,125 in the most politically charged 134 00:06:34,208 --> 00:06:37,291 investigation of a president 135 00:06:37,375 --> 00:06:38,959 in American history. 136 00:06:39,041 --> 00:06:42,083 These guys aren't pals. 137 00:06:42,166 --> 00:06:43,458 But they are allies. 138 00:06:43,542 --> 00:06:45,458 They have worked together with great effect 139 00:06:45,542 --> 00:06:47,583 in the past in confronting 140 00:06:47,667 --> 00:06:51,417 presidential power when it goes beyond the scope of the law. 141 00:07:01,458 --> 00:07:02,917 Ladies and gentlemen, 142 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,583 the President of the United States, 143 00:07:04,667 --> 00:07:07,041 accompanied by Bob Mueller. 144 00:07:07,125 --> 00:07:10,834 The heart and soul of the FBI is keeping 145 00:07:10,917 --> 00:07:13,750 the trust and confidence of the American people, 146 00:07:13,834 --> 00:07:18,125 being an investigative agency that's not corruptible. 147 00:07:18,208 --> 00:07:19,750 Mr. President. -It was a point 148 00:07:19,834 --> 00:07:22,208 Mueller used to make when he was director. 149 00:07:23,709 --> 00:07:27,750 I am deeply honored by the trust 150 00:07:27,834 --> 00:07:30,083 that President Bush has shown in nominating me 151 00:07:30,166 --> 00:07:32,792 to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 152 00:07:32,875 --> 00:07:34,875 Bob Mueller was the symbol 153 00:07:34,959 --> 00:07:39,208 of a non-partisan individual who keeps his head down, 154 00:07:39,291 --> 00:07:41,000 follows the facts wherever they lead, 155 00:07:41,083 --> 00:07:44,458 and doesn't care about making a name for himself. 156 00:07:44,542 --> 00:07:48,458 The FBI is the foremost law enforcement agency 157 00:07:48,542 --> 00:07:49,959 in the world. 158 00:07:50,041 --> 00:07:52,333 The only political appointee at the FBI 159 00:07:52,417 --> 00:07:54,375 is the director of the FBI. 160 00:07:54,458 --> 00:07:56,250 Thank you all for coming. 161 00:07:56,333 --> 00:07:58,500 That's traditionally been a ten-year term 162 00:07:58,583 --> 00:08:01,125 to cross two terms of a president, 163 00:08:01,208 --> 00:08:03,000 to make it clear 164 00:08:03,083 --> 00:08:05,083 that the FBI director shouldn't be accountable 165 00:08:05,166 --> 00:08:08,667 to one party or the other, but independent. 166 00:08:11,667 --> 00:08:13,583 Bob Mueller became 167 00:08:13,667 --> 00:08:16,750 the head of the FBI a week before 168 00:08:16,834 --> 00:08:19,291 the September 11th attacks in 2001. 169 00:08:21,250 --> 00:08:22,417 And you can imagine what 170 00:08:22,500 --> 00:08:24,375 his second week at work was like. 171 00:08:41,250 --> 00:08:43,709 On the morning of September 11th, 172 00:08:43,792 --> 00:08:47,417 Bob Mueller is getting his first briefing on al-Qaeda 173 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:49,875 when aides interrupt to tell him 174 00:08:49,959 --> 00:08:52,834 that the first plane has hit the World Trade Center. 175 00:08:52,917 --> 00:08:54,792 What happened? 176 00:08:54,875 --> 00:08:56,625 It collapsed. 177 00:08:56,709 --> 00:08:58,667 The top floors collapsed down. 178 00:08:58,750 --> 00:09:00,583 Even as he's sitting there 179 00:09:00,667 --> 00:09:03,000 in the briefing on al-Qaeda, 180 00:09:03,083 --> 00:09:06,417 the idea that that was the beginning of a terror plot 181 00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:08,750 was so far-fetched 182 00:09:08,834 --> 00:09:12,458 that Mueller looks out the window and says, 183 00:09:12,542 --> 00:09:15,250 "How could a plane have hit the World Trade Center 184 00:09:15,333 --> 00:09:18,041 on such a clear day?" 185 00:09:18,125 --> 00:09:20,458 Try it again. 186 00:09:20,542 --> 00:09:22,041 Ready? -The president 187 00:09:22,125 --> 00:09:23,875 was in Sarasota, Florida, 188 00:09:23,959 --> 00:09:25,875 for an education event. 189 00:09:25,959 --> 00:09:28,834 I came up from behind him 190 00:09:28,917 --> 00:09:31,834 and leaned over and whispered into his right ear, 191 00:09:31,917 --> 00:09:36,458 "A second plane hit the second tower. 192 00:09:36,542 --> 00:09:38,834 America is under attack." 193 00:09:40,917 --> 00:09:42,959 On the count of three... 194 00:09:57,625 --> 00:09:59,500 Freedom itself was attacked this morning 195 00:09:59,583 --> 00:10:01,291 by a faceless coward. 196 00:10:03,291 --> 00:10:06,041 The resolve of our great nation 197 00:10:06,125 --> 00:10:08,125 is being tested. 198 00:10:08,208 --> 00:10:09,917 But make no mistake. 199 00:10:10,834 --> 00:10:13,709 We will show the world that we will pass this test. 200 00:10:13,792 --> 00:10:15,291 God bless. 201 00:10:23,625 --> 00:10:25,583 On September 14th, 202 00:10:25,667 --> 00:10:28,291 in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, 203 00:10:28,375 --> 00:10:30,208 the president says, "I want to get 204 00:10:30,291 --> 00:10:32,917 the FBI director over here this morning." 205 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,500 And that sounds like a very normal expectation. 206 00:10:36,583 --> 00:10:38,542 The truth is, it was not normal. 207 00:10:38,625 --> 00:10:40,750 There was a great fear after Watergate 208 00:10:40,834 --> 00:10:43,667 that the president would try 209 00:10:43,750 --> 00:10:48,125 to influence the investigative arm 210 00:10:48,208 --> 00:10:49,709 of the government, 211 00:10:49,792 --> 00:10:51,750 so after Watergate, 212 00:10:51,834 --> 00:10:54,667 FBI directors did not come to the White House very much 213 00:10:54,750 --> 00:10:56,709 to have briefings with the president. 214 00:10:58,291 --> 00:11:01,291 But Bob Mueller came over, and he starts his briefing, 215 00:11:01,375 --> 00:11:03,792 and it was all about what they were doing 216 00:11:03,875 --> 00:11:06,125 in terms of their investigation. 217 00:11:06,208 --> 00:11:08,333 And the president interrupted and said, 218 00:11:08,417 --> 00:11:10,125 "I am very interested 219 00:11:10,208 --> 00:11:12,709 in learning what your investigation is finding, 220 00:11:12,792 --> 00:11:15,083 but of greater concern to me is, 221 00:11:15,166 --> 00:11:18,709 what are you doing to prevent the next attack?" 222 00:11:20,834 --> 00:11:22,583 The U.S. House of Representatives 223 00:11:22,667 --> 00:11:25,792 is closing offices today to allow a complete sweep 224 00:11:25,875 --> 00:11:28,458 for traces of anthrax. 225 00:11:28,542 --> 00:11:30,083 We have to remember 226 00:11:30,166 --> 00:11:32,208 what the tension was like in Washington 227 00:11:32,291 --> 00:11:34,959 in the days and weeks and months after 9/11. 228 00:11:35,041 --> 00:11:36,583 There were 197 people onboard 229 00:11:36,667 --> 00:11:38,834 American Airlines Flight 63. 230 00:11:38,917 --> 00:11:40,458 An unruly passenger apparently had 231 00:11:40,542 --> 00:11:42,500 an explosive device in his shoes. 232 00:11:42,583 --> 00:11:44,542 Everyone was convinced 233 00:11:44,625 --> 00:11:47,834 that a second attack was days or minutes away. 234 00:11:47,917 --> 00:11:49,458 "They've got nuclear weapons. 235 00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:51,208 They've got biological weapons. 236 00:11:51,291 --> 00:11:52,792 They've got chemical weapons. They're coming. 237 00:11:52,875 --> 00:11:55,834 The second wave is gonna hit." 238 00:11:55,917 --> 00:11:58,750 Vice President Dick Cheney held the point of view 239 00:11:58,834 --> 00:12:01,917 that in any time of crisis, 240 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,625 the powers of the presidency were unitary-- 241 00:12:04,709 --> 00:12:07,417 that is, he encompassed the power 242 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:10,375 of the Congress and of the courts in himself. 243 00:12:10,458 --> 00:12:13,583 It was more like a king than the president we think of. 244 00:12:15,625 --> 00:12:17,250 It was a point of view 245 00:12:17,333 --> 00:12:19,834 that would get President George W. Bush 246 00:12:19,917 --> 00:12:23,208 into a terrible, terrible situation. 247 00:12:23,291 --> 00:12:25,917 These terrorists must be pursued, 248 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,250 they must be defeated, 249 00:12:28,333 --> 00:12:30,500 and they must be brought to justice. 250 00:12:34,417 --> 00:12:36,458 In 2002, 251 00:12:36,542 --> 00:12:39,500 to help forewarn of an attack on the United States, 252 00:12:39,583 --> 00:12:43,375 President Bush orders the National Security Agency 253 00:12:43,458 --> 00:12:46,125 to basically start spying 254 00:12:46,208 --> 00:12:49,041 on not only the world... 255 00:12:49,125 --> 00:12:50,458 but on Americans. 256 00:12:54,542 --> 00:12:57,959 The program, which authorized electronic eavesdropping 257 00:12:58,041 --> 00:13:00,375 into people's phone calls and emails, 258 00:13:00,458 --> 00:13:03,000 is code-named Stellar Wind. 259 00:13:05,041 --> 00:13:06,709 The exact technical details of it 260 00:13:06,792 --> 00:13:10,917 are still largely opaque to us, 261 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,250 but it authorized the surveillance of Americans 262 00:13:14,333 --> 00:13:16,250 inside America. 263 00:13:19,792 --> 00:13:21,208 This threatens to shatter 264 00:13:21,291 --> 00:13:23,333 an understanding that has been in place 265 00:13:23,417 --> 00:13:25,291 since Watergate: 266 00:13:25,375 --> 00:13:29,542 you don't spy on Americans without a warrant. 267 00:13:29,625 --> 00:13:31,500 I wanna congratulate you, Mr. Comey, 268 00:13:31,583 --> 00:13:33,333 for being selected by President Bush 269 00:13:33,417 --> 00:13:36,125 for this important position in the Justice Department. 270 00:13:36,208 --> 00:13:38,083 At this time, 271 00:13:38,166 --> 00:13:39,834 the rising star in the Justice Department, 272 00:13:39,917 --> 00:13:42,000 Jim Comey, is promoted to become 273 00:13:42,083 --> 00:13:44,500 the deputy attorney general of the United States 274 00:13:44,583 --> 00:13:46,959 above Bob Mueller, 275 00:13:47,041 --> 00:13:49,083 and Comey comes to understand 276 00:13:49,166 --> 00:13:53,250 that there are serious concerns about Stellar Wind, 277 00:13:53,333 --> 00:13:56,959 emanating in large part from a lawyer 278 00:13:57,041 --> 00:13:58,667 named Jack Goldsmith. 279 00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:04,417 When I got to the Office of Legal Counsel 280 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:06,834 in October of 2003, 281 00:14:06,917 --> 00:14:08,834 I couldn't have imagined having confrontations 282 00:14:08,917 --> 00:14:11,417 like I had with the White House. 283 00:14:11,500 --> 00:14:13,041 But there's a natural tension 284 00:14:13,125 --> 00:14:15,625 that's exacerbated in wartime 285 00:14:15,709 --> 00:14:17,375 between, on the one hand, 286 00:14:17,458 --> 00:14:18,959 wanting to do whatever you can to stop the next attack, 287 00:14:19,041 --> 00:14:21,750 and on the other hand, ensuring that 288 00:14:21,834 --> 00:14:23,166 the executive branch complies with the law. 289 00:14:23,250 --> 00:14:25,000 So that tension was ever present. 290 00:14:25,083 --> 00:14:27,041 It was starkly felt every day I worked. 291 00:14:33,834 --> 00:14:37,500 So the Office of Legal Counsel basically serves to determine 292 00:14:37,583 --> 00:14:40,500 what is lawful for the executive branch. 293 00:14:40,583 --> 00:14:42,333 My predecessors had a conception 294 00:14:42,417 --> 00:14:45,625 of executive power that was super broad, 295 00:14:45,709 --> 00:14:47,583 and they basically thought the president could 296 00:14:47,667 --> 00:14:49,458 do whatever he wanted in wartime 297 00:14:49,542 --> 00:14:51,583 if he thought it was necessary for national security, 298 00:14:51,667 --> 00:14:54,917 so for two years, the program had been deemed lawful. 299 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,625 But the entire program was flawed. 300 00:14:58,709 --> 00:15:00,250 I concluded that 301 00:15:00,333 --> 00:15:02,083 the government was not fully complying 302 00:15:02,166 --> 00:15:03,583 with the law 303 00:15:03,667 --> 00:15:04,750 that was designed to protect 304 00:15:04,834 --> 00:15:06,458 the privacy of Americans 305 00:15:06,542 --> 00:15:08,417 when it comes to electronic surveillance. 306 00:15:11,834 --> 00:15:14,458 This results in an epic confrontation 307 00:15:14,542 --> 00:15:16,208 over civil liberties-- 308 00:15:16,291 --> 00:15:19,625 the president and the vice president on one side, 309 00:15:19,709 --> 00:15:22,125 Jim Comey and Bob Mueller on the other. 310 00:15:24,875 --> 00:15:26,875 On March 9th, 311 00:15:26,959 --> 00:15:29,208 there's this high-stakes meeting at the White House 312 00:15:29,291 --> 00:15:31,959 to air the concerns about the Stellar Wind program. 313 00:15:32,041 --> 00:15:34,125 It's a high-power gathering. 314 00:15:34,208 --> 00:15:37,208 You've got Jim Comey, FBI Director Robert Mueller, 315 00:15:37,291 --> 00:15:39,667 and head of the Office of Legal Counsel, 316 00:15:39,750 --> 00:15:41,041 Jack Goldsmith, 317 00:15:41,125 --> 00:15:43,667 versus Vice President Cheney; 318 00:15:43,750 --> 00:15:46,417 Cheney's top legal advisor, David Addington; 319 00:15:46,500 --> 00:15:49,333 and even White House Chief of Staff, Andy Card. 320 00:15:49,417 --> 00:15:53,458 There was no one at any of those meetings that was there 321 00:15:53,542 --> 00:15:57,500 because they wanted to deny personal liberty, 322 00:15:57,583 --> 00:16:00,542 and they were not trying to interrupt 323 00:16:00,625 --> 00:16:03,208 private communication. 324 00:16:03,291 --> 00:16:05,125 I can't impress upon you 325 00:16:05,208 --> 00:16:07,333 the reality of dealing with the change 326 00:16:07,417 --> 00:16:10,000 from an analog world to a digital world. 327 00:16:11,875 --> 00:16:13,959 The world changed before our laws did, 328 00:16:14,041 --> 00:16:17,166 and Stellar Wind took reality 329 00:16:17,250 --> 00:16:18,709 and forced it into the law. 330 00:16:20,625 --> 00:16:22,917 We've got bad things happening around the world. 331 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,959 We don't want to... go blind, 332 00:16:25,041 --> 00:16:27,834 and we have to go blind-- we-we'd have to pull the plug 333 00:16:27,917 --> 00:16:29,625 if we don't get it signed. 334 00:16:30,959 --> 00:16:32,458 Cheney then expressed a frustration 335 00:16:32,542 --> 00:16:33,667 that was entirely reasonable. 336 00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:35,834 He pointed out that 337 00:16:35,917 --> 00:16:37,291 the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel 338 00:16:37,375 --> 00:16:38,875 had written a memo 339 00:16:38,959 --> 00:16:41,000 to support the program in 2001 340 00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:42,959 and that the attorney general had repeatedly certified 341 00:16:43,041 --> 00:16:45,125 the program's legality since. 342 00:16:45,208 --> 00:16:48,041 I said the 2001 opinion was so bad 343 00:16:48,125 --> 00:16:50,291 as to be facially invalid. 344 00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:53,208 No lawyer could rely upon it. 345 00:16:53,291 --> 00:16:56,500 From the windowsill came Addington's cutting voice: 346 00:16:56,583 --> 00:16:59,250 "I'm a lawyer, and I did." 347 00:16:59,333 --> 00:17:02,291 "No good lawyer," I added. 348 00:17:02,375 --> 00:17:05,125 David Addington said something to the effect that, 349 00:17:05,208 --> 00:17:07,041 "If you rule that way, you'll have the blood 350 00:17:07,125 --> 00:17:08,625 of the 100,000 people who die in the next attack 351 00:17:08,709 --> 00:17:09,709 on your hands." 352 00:17:11,875 --> 00:17:14,083 He wasn't saying that to scare me. 353 00:17:14,166 --> 00:17:15,625 He really wasn't. He really believed it. 354 00:17:15,709 --> 00:17:17,125 And I kind of believed it too. 355 00:17:18,125 --> 00:17:20,083 I mean, I was reading the threat reports. 356 00:17:20,166 --> 00:17:22,166 I was as scared as anybody else. 357 00:17:22,250 --> 00:17:24,083 And this is all happening in secret. 358 00:17:24,166 --> 00:17:26,542 It's very tough in that circumstance 359 00:17:26,625 --> 00:17:29,250 to know exactly what the right answer is. 360 00:17:29,333 --> 00:17:30,750 But we held. 361 00:17:30,834 --> 00:17:32,542 We held, but it wasn't over. 362 00:17:38,125 --> 00:17:40,375 I met alone with Attorney General Ashcroft 363 00:17:40,458 --> 00:17:43,500 to tell him in detail about the problems with the program 364 00:17:43,583 --> 00:17:46,542 and why we could not approve another extension: 365 00:17:46,625 --> 00:17:47,875 it was an extraordinary assertion 366 00:17:47,959 --> 00:17:50,000 of presidential power. 367 00:17:50,083 --> 00:17:53,375 The president has serious substantial powers, 368 00:17:53,458 --> 00:17:55,000 but the president doesn't have the right 369 00:17:55,083 --> 00:17:56,750 to do whatever he chooses. 370 00:17:56,834 --> 00:17:58,333 No one has that right 371 00:17:58,417 --> 00:18:01,583 in a society framed by the rule of law. 372 00:18:03,417 --> 00:18:05,625 And I'm not in a position to discuss 373 00:18:05,709 --> 00:18:07,542 what my advice was 374 00:18:07,625 --> 00:18:09,417 to the President of the United States 375 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:10,625 and his staff. 376 00:18:10,709 --> 00:18:12,208 I think those are things 377 00:18:12,291 --> 00:18:15,083 that are importantly not discussed publicly. 378 00:18:15,166 --> 00:18:16,875 It's pretty clear that Jim Comey 379 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:18,208 doesn't have the same feeling. 380 00:18:18,291 --> 00:18:20,041 ...why he came off the list? 381 00:18:20,125 --> 00:18:21,875 Did it have anything to do with the prosecution 382 00:18:21,959 --> 00:18:23,583 of voter fraud cases? 383 00:18:23,667 --> 00:18:25,041 I would ask our witness 384 00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:26,250 to please state your name for the record. 385 00:18:26,333 --> 00:18:27,875 My name's James Comey. 386 00:18:27,959 --> 00:18:29,542 Can you hit your microphone, please? 387 00:18:29,625 --> 00:18:31,333 Sorry, I've forgotten... -There we go. 388 00:18:31,417 --> 00:18:32,667 I've forgotten the... 389 00:18:32,750 --> 00:18:34,208 The technology. My name is James Comey. 390 00:18:34,291 --> 00:18:35,333 I go by Jim Comey. 391 00:18:37,333 --> 00:18:40,792 Now, were you there when Jim Comey gave his testimony? 392 00:18:40,875 --> 00:18:42,417 Yeah, I was a dutiful staffer 393 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:43,792 sitting behind, 394 00:18:43,875 --> 00:18:46,750 Senator Charles Schumer. 395 00:18:46,834 --> 00:18:48,792 In the spring of 2007, 396 00:18:48,875 --> 00:18:50,667 I was the chief counsel to Senator Schumer 397 00:18:50,750 --> 00:18:52,625 on the Judiciary Committee. 398 00:18:52,709 --> 00:18:55,375 We had a-a witness who was gonna come testify 399 00:18:55,458 --> 00:18:57,250 who had to cancel at the last minute, 400 00:18:57,333 --> 00:19:00,083 and now we had an open spot. 401 00:19:00,166 --> 00:19:02,083 And I know Jim a long time. 402 00:19:02,166 --> 00:19:03,625 He had been my boss as a U.S. attorney 403 00:19:03,709 --> 00:19:04,875 when I was an assistant U.S. attorney 404 00:19:04,959 --> 00:19:06,375 in the southern district. 405 00:19:06,458 --> 00:19:09,625 It also became known to me 406 00:19:09,709 --> 00:19:12,041 that...you know, there's this other thing 407 00:19:12,125 --> 00:19:14,333 that he has never talked about, that was only rumored. 408 00:19:14,417 --> 00:19:16,458 So Jim Comey tells me on the phone 409 00:19:16,542 --> 00:19:19,291 about this, you know, hitherto, you know, 410 00:19:19,375 --> 00:19:22,041 unexplored and basically unknown crisis 411 00:19:22,125 --> 00:19:24,208 in the Bush White House and Justice Department 412 00:19:24,291 --> 00:19:25,625 in a way that made the hair stand up 413 00:19:25,709 --> 00:19:27,417 on the back of my neck. 414 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:29,583 And was the description in the room 415 00:19:29,667 --> 00:19:32,208 as dramatic as it was on the phone? 416 00:19:32,291 --> 00:19:34,583 It was more dramatic because there were-- 417 00:19:34,667 --> 00:19:37,959 there were senators whose-whose jaws dropped to the floor. 418 00:19:39,083 --> 00:19:41,458 This was a... 419 00:19:44,208 --> 00:19:47,834 Very memorable... period in my life-- 420 00:19:47,917 --> 00:19:49,166 probably the most difficult time 421 00:19:49,250 --> 00:19:51,458 in my entire professional life. 422 00:19:51,542 --> 00:19:53,709 In the early part of 2004, 423 00:19:53,792 --> 00:19:56,583 the Office of Legal Counsel, under my supervision, 424 00:19:56,667 --> 00:19:59,542 was engaged in a reevaluation both factually and legally 425 00:19:59,625 --> 00:20:01,417 of a particular classified program. 426 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:03,500 Just assume--you thought something was wrong? 427 00:20:03,583 --> 00:20:05,542 Yes. -Right. 428 00:20:05,625 --> 00:20:08,959 And it was a program that was renewed on a regular basis 429 00:20:09,041 --> 00:20:11,083 and required signature by the attorney general 430 00:20:11,166 --> 00:20:13,125 certifying to its legality. 431 00:20:13,208 --> 00:20:14,709 But the attorney general was taken 432 00:20:14,792 --> 00:20:16,458 to George Washington Hospital, 433 00:20:16,542 --> 00:20:18,625 and I became the acting attorney general. 434 00:20:18,709 --> 00:20:20,542 And as acting attorney general, 435 00:20:20,625 --> 00:20:23,125 I would not certify the program, 436 00:20:23,208 --> 00:20:24,375 as to its legality. 437 00:20:26,166 --> 00:20:28,959 During this period, you were not in good health. 438 00:20:29,041 --> 00:20:31,250 Could you at least e-- 439 00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:33,625 There were press reports. 440 00:20:33,709 --> 00:20:36,667 I would confirm that I was, for about ten days, 441 00:20:36,750 --> 00:20:39,542 in intensive care in the hospital. 442 00:20:39,625 --> 00:20:42,792 And I know--I know of nothing to contradict those... 443 00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:44,834 Press reports. 444 00:20:46,667 --> 00:20:48,166 Well, thank you for that--thank you 445 00:20:48,250 --> 00:20:49,750 - for that candor. - That's-- 446 00:20:49,834 --> 00:20:51,667 there's a big concession for you. 447 00:20:54,750 --> 00:20:57,709 Were you present when Alberto Gonzales visited 448 00:20:57,792 --> 00:21:00,834 Attorney General Ashcroft's bedside? 449 00:21:00,917 --> 00:21:02,375 Yes. 450 00:21:02,458 --> 00:21:04,333 And am I correct 451 00:21:04,417 --> 00:21:06,792 that the conduct of Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Card 452 00:21:06,875 --> 00:21:09,625 on that evening troubled you greatly? 453 00:21:09,709 --> 00:21:10,750 Yes. 454 00:21:10,834 --> 00:21:12,583 Why? 455 00:21:15,500 --> 00:21:17,041 I-- I'm only hesitating-- 456 00:21:17,125 --> 00:21:18,875 and I'm uncomfortable talking about this, 457 00:21:18,959 --> 00:21:20,583 but I'll answer the question. -I understand. 458 00:21:22,625 --> 00:21:24,250 Wednesday, March the tenth, 459 00:21:24,333 --> 00:21:25,834 the night of the hospital incident, 460 00:21:25,917 --> 00:21:27,417 at about eight o'clock that evening, 461 00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:29,750 I was headed home. 462 00:21:29,834 --> 00:21:33,875 My security detail was driving me, and got a call 463 00:21:33,959 --> 00:21:36,834 from Attorney General Ashcroft's chief of staff, 464 00:21:36,917 --> 00:21:40,000 telling me that he had gotten a call from Mrs. Ashcroft 465 00:21:40,083 --> 00:21:42,000 from the hospital. 466 00:21:42,083 --> 00:21:45,083 And Mrs. Ashcroft reported that a call had come through-- 467 00:21:45,166 --> 00:21:47,291 Do you have any idea who that call was from? 468 00:21:49,333 --> 00:21:51,625 I have some recollection 469 00:21:51,709 --> 00:21:53,959 that the call was from the president himself, 470 00:21:54,041 --> 00:21:55,333 but I don't know that for sure. 471 00:21:55,417 --> 00:21:57,166 It came from the White House, 472 00:21:57,250 --> 00:21:59,709 and as a result of that call, 473 00:21:59,792 --> 00:22:01,375 Mr. Card and Mr. Gonzales were on their way to the hospital 474 00:22:01,458 --> 00:22:03,333 to see Mr. Ashcroft. 475 00:22:05,375 --> 00:22:08,166 So I told my security detail that I needed to get 476 00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:10,834 to George Washington Hospital immediately. 477 00:22:12,583 --> 00:22:14,250 They turned on the emergency equipment 478 00:22:14,333 --> 00:22:17,041 and drove very quickly. 479 00:22:17,125 --> 00:22:19,667 Immediately called FBI Director Mueller, 480 00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:22,041 with whom I'd been discussing this particular matter, 481 00:22:22,125 --> 00:22:24,166 and told him what was happening. 482 00:22:24,250 --> 00:22:25,542 He said, "I'll meet you at the hospital right now." 483 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:29,041 What was your concern? 484 00:22:29,125 --> 00:22:31,458 You were in, obviously, a huge hurry. 485 00:22:31,542 --> 00:22:35,041 I was concerned that, 486 00:22:35,125 --> 00:22:37,917 given how ill I knew the attorney general was, 487 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,417 that there might be an effort to ask him to overrule me 488 00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:44,458 when he was in no condition to do that. 489 00:22:46,625 --> 00:22:49,375 You have these lights-and-siren motorcades 490 00:22:49,458 --> 00:22:52,291 converging from across Washington. 491 00:22:52,375 --> 00:22:54,834 Comey gets there first. 492 00:22:54,917 --> 00:22:57,417 Comey knows that Mueller is not going to make it 493 00:22:57,500 --> 00:22:59,333 to the hospital 494 00:22:59,417 --> 00:23:01,625 before White House Chief of Staff Andy Card 495 00:23:01,709 --> 00:23:04,291 and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. 496 00:23:04,375 --> 00:23:07,208 And Jim Comey, in that moment, 497 00:23:07,291 --> 00:23:10,125 is worried that the Secret Service agents 498 00:23:10,208 --> 00:23:12,250 who are with Andy Card 499 00:23:12,333 --> 00:23:15,875 might try to remove Comey from the hospital room. 500 00:23:18,041 --> 00:23:19,709 "While standing with the FBI special agent, 501 00:23:19,792 --> 00:23:21,792 I called Bob Mueller again on his cell phone. 502 00:23:21,875 --> 00:23:23,792 He was on his way. 503 00:23:23,875 --> 00:23:26,667 'Bob,' I said, 'I need you to order your agents 504 00:23:26,750 --> 00:23:28,709 not to permit me to be taken from Ashcroft's room 505 00:23:28,792 --> 00:23:30,959 under any circumstances.' 506 00:23:31,041 --> 00:23:33,625 Mueller asked me to pass the phone to the agent. 507 00:23:33,709 --> 00:23:36,792 I stood as the agent listened, crisply answered, 'Yes, sir,' 508 00:23:36,875 --> 00:23:38,834 and passed the phone back. 509 00:23:38,917 --> 00:23:41,291 The agent looked at me with a steely expression. 510 00:23:41,375 --> 00:23:43,000 'You will not leave that room, sir. 511 00:23:43,083 --> 00:23:44,250 This is our scene.'" 512 00:23:47,583 --> 00:23:49,291 Just sort of imagine what it's like 513 00:23:49,375 --> 00:23:51,333 for those FBI agents in that moment. 514 00:23:51,417 --> 00:23:54,542 You know, "Use force if you need to 515 00:23:54,625 --> 00:23:57,583 to resist the U.S. Secret Service 516 00:23:57,667 --> 00:23:59,709 and the White House chief of staff." 517 00:23:59,792 --> 00:24:01,959 And it has to be, 518 00:24:02,041 --> 00:24:04,875 one of the most surreal telephone calls 519 00:24:04,959 --> 00:24:06,959 in American political history. 520 00:24:10,417 --> 00:24:13,917 And the attorney general was... 521 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,625 What was his condition? 522 00:24:15,709 --> 00:24:18,041 Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed. 523 00:24:18,125 --> 00:24:19,875 The room was darkened. 524 00:24:19,959 --> 00:24:22,291 He seemed pretty bad off. 525 00:24:22,375 --> 00:24:23,792 I was shortly joined 526 00:24:23,875 --> 00:24:25,542 by the head of the Office of Legal Counsel, 527 00:24:25,625 --> 00:24:27,750 Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith, 528 00:24:27,834 --> 00:24:30,542 and it was only a matter of minutes 529 00:24:30,625 --> 00:24:33,709 that the door opened, and in walked, 530 00:24:33,792 --> 00:24:35,542 Mr. Gonzales, carrying an envelope, 531 00:24:35,625 --> 00:24:37,625 and Mr. Card. 532 00:24:42,083 --> 00:24:44,667 They seemed very surprised to see us. 533 00:24:44,750 --> 00:24:46,959 It was a very awkward-- extremely awkward moment. 534 00:24:48,917 --> 00:24:51,166 They were standing at the foot of the bed. 535 00:24:51,250 --> 00:24:53,625 In that manila envelope, Gonzales had the approvals 536 00:24:53,709 --> 00:24:55,834 for the program without any retraction, 537 00:24:55,917 --> 00:24:57,875 and he asked the attorney general 538 00:24:57,959 --> 00:25:00,250 would he approve the program that he essentially approved 539 00:25:00,333 --> 00:25:02,000 for the last two years. 540 00:25:06,041 --> 00:25:08,000 There was some silence, 541 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:11,375 and then Ashcroft kind of lifted himself up off the bed 542 00:25:11,458 --> 00:25:13,208 and he kind of expanded his chest 543 00:25:13,291 --> 00:25:14,458 and kind of looked at them, 544 00:25:14,542 --> 00:25:17,500 and he came to life a little bit. 545 00:25:17,583 --> 00:25:20,458 And then John Ashcroft did something that amazed me. 546 00:25:20,542 --> 00:25:21,917 He had been misled about the scope 547 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,709 of the surveillance program, he said. 548 00:25:23,792 --> 00:25:25,542 He vented that he had serious concerns 549 00:25:25,625 --> 00:25:27,875 about the legal basis for parts of the program 550 00:25:27,959 --> 00:25:29,875 now that he understood it. 551 00:25:29,959 --> 00:25:32,208 "But that doesn't matter now," he said, 552 00:25:32,291 --> 00:25:34,500 "because I'm not the attorney general." 553 00:25:34,583 --> 00:25:37,083 With a finger extended from his shaking left hand, 554 00:25:37,166 --> 00:25:38,959 he pointed at me. 555 00:25:39,041 --> 00:25:40,792 "There is the attorney general." 556 00:25:42,875 --> 00:25:46,041 I don't appreciate the way Jim Comey talks about it. 557 00:25:46,125 --> 00:25:49,083 His tunnel vision was limited, 558 00:25:49,166 --> 00:25:50,792 so I don't question 559 00:25:50,875 --> 00:25:53,625 how he relates it from his narrow vision, 560 00:25:53,709 --> 00:25:56,709 but it's very different than a more realistic 561 00:25:56,792 --> 00:25:59,667 a-and accurate description of what happened. 562 00:25:59,750 --> 00:26:02,458 The president made a phone call to the hospital, 563 00:26:02,542 --> 00:26:04,917 and I hear him say to John Ashcroft-- 564 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,166 or Janet Ashcroft--that Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales 565 00:26:08,250 --> 00:26:10,125 will come over and bring the documents, 566 00:26:10,208 --> 00:26:11,667 and you can sign them. 567 00:26:11,750 --> 00:26:15,333 And so, the president says to me, 568 00:26:15,417 --> 00:26:17,667 "He's expecting you. You can go over there." 569 00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:19,709 And I go out and get Alberto Gonzales, 570 00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:22,000 and we then go over to the hospital. 571 00:26:22,083 --> 00:26:24,417 This was not, "Sign the document! 572 00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:26,041 You've gotta make him sign the document!" 573 00:26:26,125 --> 00:26:27,917 - No, no-- - This was not that way at all. 574 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,250 But he did-- John Ashcroft didn't turn 575 00:26:30,333 --> 00:26:32,542 to you and say, "I'm not the attorney general. 576 00:26:32,625 --> 00:26:34,291 - This man is"? - No, he says, "I'm told 577 00:26:34,375 --> 00:26:36,625 I'm not the attorney general right now." 578 00:26:36,709 --> 00:26:40,291 I was...upset at the White House 579 00:26:40,375 --> 00:26:41,834 because I didn't know 580 00:26:41,917 --> 00:26:43,792 the attorney general wasn't the attorney general. 581 00:26:43,875 --> 00:26:45,625 I was not in a condition 582 00:26:45,709 --> 00:26:48,250 to make the kinds of decisions that... 583 00:26:48,333 --> 00:26:50,166 um... 584 00:26:50,250 --> 00:26:52,125 I wasn't totally without an awareness, 585 00:26:52,208 --> 00:26:54,291 but I-I wasn't looking around the room. 586 00:26:54,375 --> 00:26:57,667 I-I didn't...I didn't... 587 00:26:57,750 --> 00:27:01,583 you know, I had a morphine pump in one hand. 588 00:27:01,667 --> 00:27:04,625 And I was not attorney general for a good reason. 589 00:27:07,709 --> 00:27:08,750 At that point, they just wanted 590 00:27:08,834 --> 00:27:10,250 to get the hell out of there, 591 00:27:10,333 --> 00:27:12,125 and they said something like, 592 00:27:12,208 --> 00:27:14,542 "Thank you very much, sir. I hope you feel better." 593 00:27:14,625 --> 00:27:17,125 Mrs. Ashcroft is a small lady, 594 00:27:17,208 --> 00:27:20,333 and...she did something that really kind of summed up 595 00:27:20,417 --> 00:27:21,750 the way I think a lot of us felt. 596 00:27:21,834 --> 00:27:23,250 As they were walking out the door, 597 00:27:23,333 --> 00:27:24,542 she stuck out her tongue at them 598 00:27:24,625 --> 00:27:28,125 in a very, um, forceful way. 599 00:27:28,208 --> 00:27:29,208 She didn't approve. 600 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,709 Can you tell us what happened then? 601 00:27:34,333 --> 00:27:37,125 I was very upset. I was angry. 602 00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:41,250 Jim Comey has a strong sense of right and wrong, 603 00:27:41,333 --> 00:27:42,917 and through his career 604 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,291 has not been shy about sharing that 605 00:27:46,375 --> 00:27:47,917 publicly and vocally. 606 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,959 Tell me what so upset you. 607 00:27:50,041 --> 00:27:52,166 I thought I'd just witnessed an effort to take advantage 608 00:27:52,250 --> 00:27:54,125 of a very sick man 609 00:27:54,208 --> 00:27:55,875 who did not have the powers of the attorney general 610 00:27:55,959 --> 00:27:58,583 because they had been transferred to me. 611 00:27:58,667 --> 00:28:00,083 People want to take these things 612 00:28:00,166 --> 00:28:01,417 and turn them into Machiavellian games. 613 00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:03,000 It was not. 614 00:28:03,083 --> 00:28:05,000 Yes, the attorney general had signed off 615 00:28:05,083 --> 00:28:06,542 on it every month. 616 00:28:06,625 --> 00:28:07,750 Yes, there was an expectation 617 00:28:07,834 --> 00:28:09,500 that he'd sign off on it again. 618 00:28:09,583 --> 00:28:11,667 Yes, we were told that the program would come 619 00:28:11,750 --> 00:28:13,542 to a screeching halt at midnight 620 00:28:13,625 --> 00:28:15,875 if we didn't have the document signed. 621 00:28:15,959 --> 00:28:19,709 And I wasn't even carrying the document. 622 00:28:19,792 --> 00:28:22,417 Alberto Gonzales was. 623 00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:24,333 Who sent you to the hospital? 624 00:28:24,417 --> 00:28:25,709 Senator, what I can say is we'd had 625 00:28:25,792 --> 00:28:27,959 a very important meeting at the White House 626 00:28:28,041 --> 00:28:29,417 - over one of the most-- - I didn't ask that. 627 00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:30,750 I didn't ask--you've discussed the meeting... 628 00:28:30,834 --> 00:28:32,250 I'm answering your question, Senator. 629 00:28:32,333 --> 00:28:33,500 Who sent you? -If I could. 630 00:28:33,583 --> 00:28:35,166 Did anyone tell you to go? 631 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:36,875 It was one of the most important programs 632 00:28:36,959 --> 00:28:38,208 for the United States. It was important-- 633 00:28:38,291 --> 00:28:39,792 had been authorized by the president. 634 00:28:39,875 --> 00:28:42,041 Did the president ask you to go? 635 00:28:42,125 --> 00:28:43,083 We were there on behalf of the President of the United States. 636 00:28:43,166 --> 00:28:44,291 I didn't ask you that. 637 00:28:44,375 --> 00:28:45,709 Did the president ask you to go? 638 00:28:45,792 --> 00:28:47,166 Senator, we were there on behalf 639 00:28:47,250 --> 00:28:48,417 of the President of the United States. 640 00:28:48,500 --> 00:28:50,000 Why can't you answer that question? 641 00:28:50,083 --> 00:28:52,041 That's the answer that I can give you, Senator. 642 00:28:54,208 --> 00:28:56,458 And you stated that the next day, Thursday, 643 00:28:56,542 --> 00:28:59,291 was the deadline for reauthorization of the program. 644 00:28:59,375 --> 00:29:01,250 - Is that right? - Yes, sir. 645 00:29:01,333 --> 00:29:03,458 Okay. Can you tell us what happened? 646 00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:07,500 The program was reauthorized without us, 647 00:29:07,583 --> 00:29:09,917 and without a signature from the Department of Justice 648 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,583 attesting as to its legality 649 00:29:12,667 --> 00:29:15,834 and, I prepared a letter of resignation. 650 00:29:19,417 --> 00:29:21,125 As I understand it, 651 00:29:21,208 --> 00:29:24,500 you believed that others were also prepared to resign, 652 00:29:24,583 --> 00:29:26,667 not just you. 653 00:29:26,750 --> 00:29:28,291 Yes. 654 00:29:30,333 --> 00:29:32,959 I was prepared to resign if I felt 655 00:29:33,041 --> 00:29:36,500 that we were condoning or promoting or facilitating 656 00:29:36,583 --> 00:29:39,458 illegal behavior. 657 00:29:39,542 --> 00:29:41,333 It is not to say that you are 658 00:29:41,417 --> 00:29:42,458 the ultimate arbiter 659 00:29:42,542 --> 00:29:44,166 of what's right and wrong. 660 00:29:45,375 --> 00:29:47,250 I started thinking more about resignation 661 00:29:47,333 --> 00:29:49,500 and trying to figure out what the principled thing 662 00:29:49,583 --> 00:29:51,959 to do was in this highly political situation 663 00:29:52,041 --> 00:29:53,667 where there was a lot of presidential power 664 00:29:53,750 --> 00:29:55,333 to deal with, but there was also restraints 665 00:29:55,417 --> 00:29:57,166 on presidential power. 666 00:29:57,250 --> 00:29:59,458 And across my desk 667 00:29:59,542 --> 00:30:01,834 was a large portrait of Elliot Richardson, 668 00:30:01,917 --> 00:30:04,667 the attorney general under Nixon 669 00:30:04,750 --> 00:30:07,000 who resigned on principle. 670 00:30:07,083 --> 00:30:09,959 He has very thick, large black glasses, 671 00:30:10,041 --> 00:30:12,291 and his beady little eyes were staring out of them, 672 00:30:12,375 --> 00:30:14,750 and I grew very close to him in watching his portrait 673 00:30:14,834 --> 00:30:17,250 and trying to decide what I should do. 674 00:30:17,333 --> 00:30:20,333 Ultimately, I didn't see how I could continue to serve 675 00:30:20,417 --> 00:30:23,709 an administration that seemed indifferent to the law, 676 00:30:23,792 --> 00:30:25,583 so I was prepared to resign, 677 00:30:25,667 --> 00:30:28,834 and a lot of other people were as well. 678 00:30:28,917 --> 00:30:30,834 How about your chief of staff? 679 00:30:30,917 --> 00:30:33,291 Yes, he-he was certainly gonna go when I went. 680 00:30:33,375 --> 00:30:37,083 Right. How about Mr. Ashcroft's chief of staff? 681 00:30:37,166 --> 00:30:38,834 My understanding was that he would go as well. 682 00:30:38,917 --> 00:30:41,166 How about Director Mueller? 683 00:30:41,250 --> 00:30:42,375 Yes. 684 00:30:45,250 --> 00:30:48,208 Literally and figuratively, George W. Bush blinks, 685 00:30:48,291 --> 00:30:51,959 and he says, "Tell Jim to make the changes 686 00:30:52,041 --> 00:30:55,583 that he thinks are necessary to this program." 687 00:30:55,667 --> 00:30:58,625 Bush writes in his memoir... 688 00:30:58,709 --> 00:31:02,500 that when Mueller and Comey confronted him 689 00:31:02,583 --> 00:31:05,834 and said they were prepared to resign on principle, 690 00:31:05,917 --> 00:31:08,542 a thought flashed immediately through his mind, 691 00:31:08,625 --> 00:31:12,458 and that was the memory of the Saturday Night Massacre. 692 00:31:12,542 --> 00:31:15,417 President Nixon has discharged 693 00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:19,709 Archibald Cox as Watergate's special prosecutor. 694 00:31:19,792 --> 00:31:24,000 As a result, Attorney General Elliot Richardson has resigned, 695 00:31:24,083 --> 00:31:27,291 and when Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus 696 00:31:27,375 --> 00:31:30,208 refused to carry out orders... 697 00:31:30,291 --> 00:31:32,959 From the president, he was discharged. 698 00:31:34,375 --> 00:31:37,125 And Bush writes, "That was not a historical experience 699 00:31:37,208 --> 00:31:39,000 I wished to repeat." 700 00:31:39,083 --> 00:31:41,625 You felt lucky that the country was spared 701 00:31:41,709 --> 00:31:44,208 what was clearly a constitutional crisis 702 00:31:44,291 --> 00:31:46,208 and a potential mass resignation, 703 00:31:46,291 --> 00:31:48,041 over principle 704 00:31:48,125 --> 00:31:50,000 by the leading law enforcement officials 705 00:31:50,083 --> 00:31:52,375 in the country. 706 00:31:52,458 --> 00:31:54,417 George W. Bush didn't think 707 00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:56,375 that any president could survive 708 00:31:56,458 --> 00:31:57,959 the loss of an FBI director. 709 00:32:00,291 --> 00:32:03,250 Those are words he said to me a decade ago at this point 710 00:32:03,333 --> 00:32:05,834 but have sort of rattled around my mind 711 00:32:05,917 --> 00:32:08,000 with sort of a fresh resonance, 712 00:32:08,083 --> 00:32:11,000 you know, as we sort of look at Jim Comey and Bob Mueller 713 00:32:11,083 --> 00:32:12,750 in the midst of another showdown 714 00:32:12,834 --> 00:32:14,750 with another president. 715 00:32:23,291 --> 00:32:25,834 On June eighth, 2017, 716 00:32:25,917 --> 00:32:29,500 almost ten years exactly after his testimony 717 00:32:29,583 --> 00:32:31,792 about the Stellar Wind confrontation, 718 00:32:31,875 --> 00:32:34,959 here comes Jim Comey to tell the story 719 00:32:35,041 --> 00:32:37,333 of another extraordinary confrontation 720 00:32:37,417 --> 00:32:38,625 with a president. 721 00:32:40,709 --> 00:32:43,083 Comey delivering the first public accounting 722 00:32:43,166 --> 00:32:45,458 of his dealings with President Donald Trump. 723 00:32:45,542 --> 00:32:47,458 No word yet on whether the White House would 724 00:32:47,542 --> 00:32:50,625 claim executive privilege to block Comey's testimony. 725 00:32:50,709 --> 00:32:52,083 He has done so much damage 726 00:32:52,166 --> 00:32:54,250 to the reputation of the FBI, 727 00:32:54,333 --> 00:32:56,875 and he continues to insert himself into stories. 728 00:32:56,959 --> 00:32:58,875 Nothing with Jim Comey has been dull 729 00:32:58,959 --> 00:33:00,417 in his past testimonies. 730 00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:03,291 I don't expect this one to be either. 731 00:33:03,375 --> 00:33:05,250 Director Comey, you're now under oath. 732 00:33:05,333 --> 00:33:06,959 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 733 00:33:07,041 --> 00:33:08,959 Ranking Member Warner, members of the committee, 734 00:33:09,041 --> 00:33:11,834 thank you for inviting me here to testify today. 735 00:33:11,917 --> 00:33:16,250 When I was appointed FBI director in 2013, 736 00:33:16,333 --> 00:33:19,208 I understood that I served at the pleasure of the president. 737 00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:23,667 But I want the American people to know this truth: 738 00:33:23,750 --> 00:33:25,417 when I was fired, 739 00:33:25,500 --> 00:33:28,250 the administration chose to defame me 740 00:33:28,333 --> 00:33:30,875 and, more importantly, the FBI by saying 741 00:33:30,959 --> 00:33:33,375 that the organization was in disarray, 742 00:33:33,458 --> 00:33:36,959 that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. 743 00:33:37,583 --> 00:33:39,917 Those were lies, plain and simple. 744 00:33:43,375 --> 00:33:45,500 There were a lot of terrible things 745 00:33:45,583 --> 00:33:50,458 about the firing, but it didn't surprise me. 746 00:33:54,041 --> 00:33:57,125 I run a news and commentary outlet 747 00:33:57,208 --> 00:33:59,333 that is devoted to, 748 00:33:59,417 --> 00:34:00,792 the space where 749 00:34:00,875 --> 00:34:03,333 national security, law, and policy 750 00:34:03,417 --> 00:34:04,792 crash into one another. 751 00:34:06,834 --> 00:34:09,750 Two days after the election, I wrote a piece 752 00:34:09,834 --> 00:34:11,750 specifically warning 753 00:34:11,834 --> 00:34:12,542 that Trump might try 754 00:34:12,625 --> 00:34:13,875 to fire Jim Comey. 755 00:34:16,709 --> 00:34:20,208 I believed that if you are an authoritarian personality 756 00:34:20,291 --> 00:34:22,542 in control of the presidency, 757 00:34:22,625 --> 00:34:23,917 you simply cannot be 758 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,375 as authoritarian as you want to be 759 00:34:26,458 --> 00:34:28,333 if you have independent, honest law enforcement-- 760 00:34:28,417 --> 00:34:30,959 and let me just be candid about my bias, here: 761 00:34:31,041 --> 00:34:33,542 That is what I think Jim represents. 762 00:34:33,625 --> 00:34:36,917 Flaws and all, whatever mistakes he may have made, 763 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,333 he's independent and he's honest. 764 00:34:39,417 --> 00:34:42,083 Let me begin with one overarching question. 765 00:34:42,166 --> 00:34:44,625 Why do you believe you were fired? 766 00:34:44,709 --> 00:34:46,417 There's no doubt that 767 00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:48,375 it's a fair judgment-- it's my judgment-- 768 00:34:48,458 --> 00:34:51,417 that I was fired because of the Russia investigation. 769 00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:53,750 I was fired to change the way 770 00:34:53,834 --> 00:34:55,792 the Russia investigation was being conducted. 771 00:34:58,291 --> 00:35:00,083 I wanted to know 772 00:35:00,166 --> 00:35:02,375 that the person who headed the FBI 773 00:35:02,458 --> 00:35:04,250 would be willing 774 00:35:04,333 --> 00:35:06,667 to stand up to the President of the United States 775 00:35:06,750 --> 00:35:11,250 as Bob Mueller had been willing to do in 2004, 776 00:35:11,333 --> 00:35:14,667 because, for reasons that were specific 777 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:16,750 to the Russia investigation, 778 00:35:16,834 --> 00:35:19,000 I never doubted that there would be 779 00:35:19,083 --> 00:35:20,959 a significant confrontation. 780 00:35:23,291 --> 00:35:25,250 The Russia investigation began 781 00:35:25,333 --> 00:35:28,125 very quietly in the summer of 2016, 782 00:35:28,208 --> 00:35:30,792 when evidence of Russian interference 783 00:35:30,875 --> 00:35:32,834 in the presidential election started to emerge. 784 00:35:35,083 --> 00:35:37,000 There's a long history of the Russians 785 00:35:37,083 --> 00:35:37,959 interfering in elections-- 786 00:35:38,041 --> 00:35:40,000 theirs and other people's. 787 00:35:40,083 --> 00:35:42,917 We have records going back at least to the '60s 788 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,792 of Russians attempting, in their ham-handed way, 789 00:35:45,875 --> 00:35:47,417 to influence elections. 790 00:35:48,500 --> 00:35:49,917 Just to play devil's advocate, I mean, 791 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:51,500 isn't there a variation of this 792 00:35:51,583 --> 00:35:53,750 that we've done to Russia in the past? 793 00:35:53,834 --> 00:35:56,041 Sure. We've done that. 794 00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:58,083 ...I... 795 00:35:58,166 --> 00:36:00,083 This may seem naive or altruistic, 796 00:36:00,166 --> 00:36:03,041 but I think in just about every case, 797 00:36:03,125 --> 00:36:06,250 we were trying to do it because of the oppressed peoples 798 00:36:06,333 --> 00:36:08,333 of that particular country or, frankly, 799 00:36:08,417 --> 00:36:11,458 what we thought was in, you know, best U.S. interests. 800 00:36:11,542 --> 00:36:15,959 But never ever as direct and aggressive and multifaceted 801 00:36:16,041 --> 00:36:18,875 as what they did in 2016. 802 00:36:18,959 --> 00:36:20,417 Was the big difference 803 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:22,166 that they weaponized it and made it public? 804 00:36:22,250 --> 00:36:23,834 Well, the thing was, it was so different. 805 00:36:23,917 --> 00:36:25,625 It was so active, 806 00:36:25,709 --> 00:36:28,250 particularly using the enabler of social media. 807 00:36:28,333 --> 00:36:30,625 That was the big difference here. 808 00:36:30,709 --> 00:36:33,375 Massive use of social media, 809 00:36:33,458 --> 00:36:35,875 which was very sophisticated, very astute. 810 00:36:35,959 --> 00:36:38,000 They had messages for everybody-- 811 00:36:38,083 --> 00:36:40,250 Black Lives Matter, white supremacists, 812 00:36:40,333 --> 00:36:42,291 pro-Muslims, anti-Muslims, 813 00:36:42,375 --> 00:36:43,875 pro-gun-control, anti-gun-control. 814 00:36:43,959 --> 00:36:46,333 It didn't matter. The Russians went after them. 815 00:36:48,125 --> 00:36:49,917 And their objections, we believe, 816 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:51,500 evolved over time, 817 00:36:51,583 --> 00:36:53,458 starting with the very strong personal animus 818 00:36:53,542 --> 00:36:56,500 that Vladimir Putin had towards Secretary Clinton, 819 00:36:56,583 --> 00:36:58,583 whom he held responsible for fomenting 820 00:36:58,667 --> 00:37:00,709 what he thought was a revolution 821 00:37:00,792 --> 00:37:03,291 during the election in Russia in 2011. 822 00:37:05,083 --> 00:37:06,959 So the Russians did all they could 823 00:37:07,041 --> 00:37:08,792 to undermine her. 824 00:37:08,875 --> 00:37:10,959 A revolt 825 00:37:11,041 --> 00:37:12,333 in the Democratic Party 826 00:37:12,417 --> 00:37:14,166 after hacked emails revealed 827 00:37:14,250 --> 00:37:16,834 the DNC favored Clinton over Sanders. 828 00:37:16,917 --> 00:37:20,375 Will you people shut up? Save it for Trump! 829 00:37:20,458 --> 00:37:23,000 Russian intelligence hacked the DNC 830 00:37:23,083 --> 00:37:25,500 and set the pestilence of these emails out 831 00:37:25,583 --> 00:37:28,500 into the ecosystem of American politics. 832 00:37:28,583 --> 00:37:30,542 On the eve of the convention, 833 00:37:30,625 --> 00:37:33,959 WikiLeaks released thousands of emails from the DNC. 834 00:37:34,041 --> 00:37:37,208 So if you go back to the Watergate break-in, 835 00:37:37,291 --> 00:37:39,250 a bunch of bad actors broke into 836 00:37:39,333 --> 00:37:40,792 the Democratic National Headquarters, 837 00:37:40,875 --> 00:37:42,125 digging up dirt. 838 00:37:42,959 --> 00:37:44,917 Here we are today. 839 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,750 A bunch of bad actors that happen to be Russians 840 00:37:47,834 --> 00:37:50,166 broke into the Democratic National Headquarters 841 00:37:50,250 --> 00:37:53,917 to dig up dirt and help elect Donald Trump. 842 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:55,542 I pledge 843 00:37:55,625 --> 00:37:57,875 that I will be president for all Americans. 844 00:38:00,333 --> 00:38:04,166 FBI, CIA, and NSA are on the same page on this, 845 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:08,625 and frankly, FBI, CIA, and NSA rarely agree on anything. 846 00:38:08,709 --> 00:38:11,875 So we put together all of the reporting that we had 847 00:38:11,959 --> 00:38:15,417 on Russian interference in the run-up to the election, 848 00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:17,291 put it in one document 849 00:38:17,375 --> 00:38:18,667 called the Intelligence Community Assessment. 850 00:38:20,834 --> 00:38:24,417 And then we all took a very low-vis, low-profile 851 00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:27,083 15-SUV column 852 00:38:27,166 --> 00:38:29,083 that took us down to Trump Tower, 853 00:38:29,166 --> 00:38:30,834 where we briefed out 854 00:38:30,917 --> 00:38:32,250 our Intelligence Community Assessment 855 00:38:32,333 --> 00:38:33,959 to then-President-Elect Trump 856 00:38:34,041 --> 00:38:35,709 on Friday, January sixth. 857 00:38:41,041 --> 00:38:42,542 So when you went in to brief Trump... 858 00:38:42,625 --> 00:38:44,417 set the stage for us. 859 00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:47,542 - What was the room like? - Well, I don't know. 860 00:38:47,625 --> 00:38:50,625 I guess it was about a 12x15-size room-- 861 00:38:50,709 --> 00:38:52,500 pretty small, had a conference table 862 00:38:52,583 --> 00:38:55,000 which accommodated, eight people, 863 00:38:55,083 --> 00:38:57,959 and then about six people along the side. 864 00:38:59,417 --> 00:39:01,417 I don't remember the colors of the wall. 865 00:39:05,834 --> 00:39:07,333 "We walked in a group, 866 00:39:07,417 --> 00:39:09,417 surrounded by our security people, 867 00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:11,291 and entered the side-street entrance 868 00:39:11,375 --> 00:39:13,000 for the Trump Tower residences." 869 00:39:15,166 --> 00:39:17,208 "After all the live-TV images of job applicants 870 00:39:17,291 --> 00:39:19,250 and dignitaries coming and going 871 00:39:19,333 --> 00:39:21,375 through the gilded Fifth Avenue lobby 872 00:39:21,458 --> 00:39:24,875 as though on a reality TV show, 873 00:39:24,959 --> 00:39:27,208 the leaders of our country's biggest intelligence agencies 874 00:39:27,291 --> 00:39:30,333 were sneaking in to see the president-elect. 875 00:39:30,417 --> 00:39:31,917 We were sneaking in to tell him 876 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,291 what Russia had done to try to help elect him." 877 00:39:36,208 --> 00:39:37,959 The import 878 00:39:38,041 --> 00:39:39,417 of our Intelligence Community Assessment 879 00:39:39,500 --> 00:39:41,834 really did, cast some doubt 880 00:39:41,917 --> 00:39:44,458 about the legitimacy of the election, 881 00:39:44,542 --> 00:39:46,500 so we were all a bit apprehensive 882 00:39:46,583 --> 00:39:50,291 about just what kind of a reaction we would get. 883 00:39:50,375 --> 00:39:53,000 When we completed our briefing, 884 00:39:53,083 --> 00:39:55,250 President Elect Trump and various other staff members 885 00:39:55,333 --> 00:39:57,875 started drafting a press release, 886 00:39:57,959 --> 00:39:59,875 you know, before we left the room, 887 00:39:59,959 --> 00:40:02,083 which was kind of unusual. 888 00:40:02,166 --> 00:40:05,250 And what they wanted to say was that the Russian meddling 889 00:40:05,333 --> 00:40:08,458 had no impact on the election, 890 00:40:08,542 --> 00:40:11,125 and we tried to point out to them 891 00:40:11,208 --> 00:40:14,709 that we didn't say that. 892 00:40:14,792 --> 00:40:18,417 The president has repeatedly talked about 893 00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:21,583 Russia's involvement as fake news. 894 00:40:21,667 --> 00:40:24,000 Can you talk a little bit about what you saw 895 00:40:24,083 --> 00:40:25,625 as FBI director? 896 00:40:25,709 --> 00:40:29,250 The Russians interfered in our election 897 00:40:29,333 --> 00:40:31,083 during the 2016 cycle. 898 00:40:31,166 --> 00:40:32,333 They did it with purpose. 899 00:40:32,417 --> 00:40:34,041 They did it with sophistication. 900 00:40:34,125 --> 00:40:35,625 It was an active-measures campaign 901 00:40:35,709 --> 00:40:37,166 driven from the top of that government. 902 00:40:37,250 --> 00:40:39,417 There is no fuzz on that. 903 00:40:39,500 --> 00:40:42,417 Did the president, in any of those interactions, 904 00:40:42,500 --> 00:40:45,125 ask you what you should be doing 905 00:40:45,208 --> 00:40:48,000 to protect America against Russian interference 906 00:40:48,083 --> 00:40:49,750 in our election system? 907 00:40:49,834 --> 00:40:51,750 I don't recall a conversation like that. 908 00:40:51,834 --> 00:40:53,542 Never? 909 00:40:53,625 --> 00:40:54,792 No. 910 00:40:59,500 --> 00:41:01,500 It's in the aftermath of that briefing 911 00:41:01,583 --> 00:41:04,041 that Comey pulls Trump aside 912 00:41:04,125 --> 00:41:06,375 and tells him about the dossier, 913 00:41:06,458 --> 00:41:08,166 this document that had been compiled 914 00:41:08,250 --> 00:41:09,959 by a former British spy 915 00:41:10,041 --> 00:41:12,083 on derogatory information the Russians had 916 00:41:12,166 --> 00:41:13,750 about the president. 917 00:41:15,709 --> 00:41:18,959 The dossier was not used at all 918 00:41:19,041 --> 00:41:20,834 to draw on as a source 919 00:41:20,917 --> 00:41:22,917 for the Intelligence Community Assessment. 920 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,959 We did include 921 00:41:25,041 --> 00:41:27,959 about a page-and-three-quarter summary of the dossier 922 00:41:28,041 --> 00:41:29,166 as an appendix, 923 00:41:29,250 --> 00:41:30,750 but not as an organic part 924 00:41:30,834 --> 00:41:32,959 of the Intelligence Community Assessment. 925 00:41:33,041 --> 00:41:35,959 And we just felt, the obligation or duty 926 00:41:36,041 --> 00:41:39,208 to warn the president that this thing was out there. 927 00:41:39,291 --> 00:41:41,375 And Jim asked if... 928 00:41:41,458 --> 00:41:43,583 he said, "I think it'd be better 929 00:41:43,667 --> 00:41:46,417 if I did it by myself," and I-I was fine with that. 930 00:41:47,709 --> 00:41:50,041 The material included some wild stuff. 931 00:41:50,125 --> 00:41:52,458 Among that stuff were unconfirmed allegations 932 00:41:52,542 --> 00:41:54,500 that the president-elect had been engaged 933 00:41:54,583 --> 00:41:58,041 in unusual sexual activities with prostitutes in Russia 934 00:41:58,125 --> 00:42:01,667 while on a trip to Moscow in 2013. 935 00:42:01,750 --> 00:42:04,208 Another allegation was that these activities 936 00:42:04,291 --> 00:42:06,417 were filmed by Russian intelligence 937 00:42:06,500 --> 00:42:08,083 for the possible purpose of blackmail 938 00:42:08,166 --> 00:42:10,667 against the president-elect. 939 00:42:10,750 --> 00:42:12,834 Jim Comey, and I think rightfully so, 940 00:42:12,917 --> 00:42:14,375 was concerned about 941 00:42:14,458 --> 00:42:16,417 the counterintelligence implications. 942 00:42:16,500 --> 00:42:18,834 The Russians have a long history 943 00:42:18,917 --> 00:42:21,250 and are famous for using what they call "kompromat"-- 944 00:42:21,333 --> 00:42:23,792 compromising material-- 945 00:42:23,875 --> 00:42:27,375 which they might attempt to use for leverage. 946 00:42:27,458 --> 00:42:30,583 The mere fact that this stuff is out there 947 00:42:30,667 --> 00:42:32,500 is a problem 948 00:42:32,583 --> 00:42:35,583 that has to be managed from a security point of view. 949 00:42:35,667 --> 00:42:38,625 But Trump responds 950 00:42:38,709 --> 00:42:42,125 by denying specific components of it: 951 00:42:42,208 --> 00:42:45,583 whether he needs prostitutes or not. 952 00:42:45,667 --> 00:42:48,333 Trump is the kind of guy who tries to make his own reality. 953 00:42:48,417 --> 00:42:50,083 "It never happened, 954 00:42:50,166 --> 00:42:52,000 I don't know anything about Russia, 955 00:42:52,083 --> 00:42:54,000 and I have no business with Russians." 956 00:42:55,792 --> 00:42:58,291 I think that our intelligence agencies 957 00:42:58,375 --> 00:43:02,041 are giving the president advice that is colored 958 00:43:02,125 --> 00:43:06,166 by their agenda and their motivations. 959 00:43:06,250 --> 00:43:07,834 They began trying to get 960 00:43:07,917 --> 00:43:11,333 Donald Trump to run for president in 1988, 961 00:43:11,417 --> 00:43:13,542 again in 2000, 962 00:43:13,625 --> 00:43:17,500 again in 2012, and then finally, in 2016. 963 00:43:17,583 --> 00:43:20,291 I have worked for four presidents. 964 00:43:20,375 --> 00:43:24,250 I think I could only be called an adviser to three of them: 965 00:43:24,333 --> 00:43:26,041 Richard Nixon, 966 00:43:26,125 --> 00:43:27,500 Ronald Reagan, 967 00:43:27,583 --> 00:43:29,750 and Donald Trump. 968 00:43:29,834 --> 00:43:31,291 If you are the subject 969 00:43:31,375 --> 00:43:33,291 of a partisan witch hunt-- 970 00:43:33,375 --> 00:43:35,500 as I think Nixon was, 971 00:43:35,583 --> 00:43:38,000 as I think Trump now is-- 972 00:43:38,083 --> 00:43:40,500 then I-I think that you cannot trust 973 00:43:40,583 --> 00:43:43,125 in the intelligence agencies, 974 00:43:43,208 --> 00:43:44,750 and I suspect, 975 00:43:44,834 --> 00:43:46,667 that Mr. Comey was telling the president 976 00:43:46,750 --> 00:43:49,834 about the dossier as a way to threaten him. 977 00:43:51,709 --> 00:43:54,083 There was a real chance that Donald Trump 978 00:43:54,166 --> 00:43:56,750 would assume I was pulling a J. Edgar Hoover 979 00:43:56,834 --> 00:43:58,667 and dangling the prostitute thing over him 980 00:43:58,750 --> 00:44:01,250 to gain leverage. 981 00:44:01,333 --> 00:44:03,208 I decided I could assure the president-elect 982 00:44:03,291 --> 00:44:06,583 that the FBI was not currently investigating him. 983 00:44:06,667 --> 00:44:08,500 This was literally true 984 00:44:08,583 --> 00:44:11,083 but could be misleadingly narrow. 985 00:44:11,166 --> 00:44:14,583 But I also saw the bigger danger of the new president, 986 00:44:14,667 --> 00:44:16,291 who was known to be impulsive, 987 00:44:16,375 --> 00:44:19,583 going to war against the FBI. 988 00:44:19,667 --> 00:44:23,208 The FBI director is so concerned 989 00:44:23,291 --> 00:44:25,125 by this interaction 990 00:44:25,208 --> 00:44:28,375 that he gets into the FBI car 991 00:44:28,458 --> 00:44:30,250 and immediately memorializes it. 992 00:44:35,417 --> 00:44:36,750 It's the first memo 993 00:44:36,834 --> 00:44:39,166 in a series of ones that Comey made 994 00:44:39,250 --> 00:44:42,250 about every single interaction he had with the president. 995 00:44:47,333 --> 00:44:51,583 He's asked, "Why'd you feel the need to write it down?" 996 00:44:51,667 --> 00:44:54,500 And he says, "It's because of the nature of the person." 997 00:45:06,959 --> 00:45:08,834 CNN has learned 998 00:45:08,917 --> 00:45:10,834 that the nation's top intelligence officials 999 00:45:10,917 --> 00:45:14,125 provided information to President-Elect Donald Trump 1000 00:45:14,208 --> 00:45:16,583 about claims of Russian efforts 1001 00:45:16,667 --> 00:45:19,125 to compromise President-Elect Trump. 1002 00:45:19,208 --> 00:45:22,041 ...including a claim of sexual activity 1003 00:45:22,125 --> 00:45:25,458 caught on a Moscow hotel room surveillance camera. 1004 00:45:27,667 --> 00:45:28,875 Go ahead. -First of all, 1005 00:45:28,959 --> 00:45:31,000 did the heads of the intelligence agencies 1006 00:45:31,083 --> 00:45:32,750 provide you with a two-page summary 1007 00:45:32,834 --> 00:45:34,709 of these unsubstantiated allegations? 1008 00:45:34,792 --> 00:45:36,333 These meetings, as you know, are confidential, 1009 00:45:36,417 --> 00:45:38,208 classified, so I'm not allowed 1010 00:45:38,291 --> 00:45:40,875 to talk about what went on in a meeting, 1011 00:45:40,959 --> 00:45:43,667 but I will say I think it's a disgrace 1012 00:45:43,750 --> 00:45:47,375 that the intelligence agencies allowed any information 1013 00:45:47,458 --> 00:45:51,041 that turned out to be so false and fake out, 1014 00:45:51,125 --> 00:45:52,583 and that's something that 1015 00:45:52,667 --> 00:45:54,834 Nazi Germany would've done and did do. 1016 00:45:54,917 --> 00:45:56,458 He had 1017 00:45:56,542 --> 00:45:58,166 a news conference 1018 00:45:58,250 --> 00:46:00,166 in which he characterized the intelligence community 1019 00:46:00,250 --> 00:46:01,959 as Nazis, 1020 00:46:02,041 --> 00:46:05,208 blaming us for, putting out the dossier, 1021 00:46:05,291 --> 00:46:07,834 which was nonsensical. 1022 00:46:07,917 --> 00:46:09,875 The dossier is not an intelligence document. 1023 00:46:09,959 --> 00:46:11,291 It wasn't classified. 1024 00:46:11,375 --> 00:46:12,667 You know, it had nothing to do with 1025 00:46:12,750 --> 00:46:14,500 the intelligence community. 1026 00:46:14,583 --> 00:46:16,959 Naive me, I tried to appeal to his higher instincts, 1027 00:46:17,041 --> 00:46:20,250 I guess, and I asked that he not refer to, you know, 1028 00:46:20,333 --> 00:46:21,667 the intelligence community as Nazis. 1029 00:46:21,750 --> 00:46:24,041 What was his reaction? 1030 00:46:24,125 --> 00:46:26,500 He said, you know, "Thanks, yeah, they're great," 1031 00:46:26,583 --> 00:46:29,291 and all that, but his--his i- main interest was in 1032 00:46:29,375 --> 00:46:32,583 my, issuing a statement rebutting the, dossier, 1033 00:46:32,667 --> 00:46:35,333 which I-I really couldn't do... 1034 00:46:35,417 --> 00:46:37,208 and didn't. 1035 00:46:37,291 --> 00:46:38,917 Go ahead. 1036 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,250 What do you say to foreign policy experts 1037 00:46:41,333 --> 00:46:44,458 who say you're actually weakening national security 1038 00:46:44,542 --> 00:46:46,625 by waging this war of words 1039 00:46:46,709 --> 00:46:49,125 against your U.S. intelligence community? 1040 00:46:49,208 --> 00:46:51,792 And there's actually a fairly fine line 1041 00:46:51,875 --> 00:46:55,000 between democracy and autocracy, 1042 00:46:55,083 --> 00:46:56,667 and if we're not sensitive 1043 00:46:56,750 --> 00:46:59,333 and don't protect those institutions, 1044 00:46:59,417 --> 00:47:01,709 you're in trouble. 1045 00:47:01,792 --> 00:47:03,917 Well, you know, President Putin 1046 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,250 and Russia put out a statement today that this, fake news 1047 00:47:06,333 --> 00:47:07,792 was indeed fake news. 1048 00:47:07,875 --> 00:47:09,667 They said it totally never happened. 1049 00:47:11,834 --> 00:47:15,291 Russia will have much greater respect 1050 00:47:15,375 --> 00:47:18,000 for our country when I'm leading it 1051 00:47:18,083 --> 00:47:19,750 than when other people have led it. 1052 00:47:23,500 --> 00:47:26,166 The Russians, in an unbelievable 1053 00:47:26,250 --> 00:47:29,000 and unprecedented attack on American democracy, 1054 00:47:29,083 --> 00:47:31,667 hacked the election 1055 00:47:31,750 --> 00:47:34,375 with the intent of throwing it to Trump-- 1056 00:47:34,458 --> 00:47:37,375 with the intent of disrupting American democracy. 1057 00:47:39,875 --> 00:47:43,959 Jim Comey, he knows that the time will come, 1058 00:47:44,041 --> 00:47:48,291 about five minutes after inauguration, 1059 00:47:48,375 --> 00:47:51,125 that he's gonna be investigating the White House, 1060 00:47:51,208 --> 00:47:54,125 that he's gonna be investigating the president, 1061 00:47:54,208 --> 00:47:58,000 and that a terrible confrontation is in store. 1062 00:47:58,083 --> 00:48:01,959 Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. 1063 00:48:02,041 --> 00:48:04,792 "I, Donald John Trump do solemnly swear"... 1064 00:48:15,291 --> 00:48:17,125 Ever since Watergate, 1065 00:48:17,208 --> 00:48:18,917 the country has recognized 1066 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,083 that the Justice Department and FBI 1067 00:48:21,166 --> 00:48:25,208 have to have some form of independence 1068 00:48:25,291 --> 00:48:27,166 from the White House and the president, 1069 00:48:27,250 --> 00:48:29,875 especially when the White House and the president 1070 00:48:29,959 --> 00:48:32,000 are being investigated. 1071 00:48:32,083 --> 00:48:33,959 So we're already in a fraught situation 1072 00:48:34,041 --> 00:48:36,417 where the Justice Department itself is investigating 1073 00:48:36,500 --> 00:48:39,625 the campaign of the president in a close election, 1074 00:48:39,709 --> 00:48:41,166 but Trump from the very beginning 1075 00:48:41,250 --> 00:48:43,959 seemed to have an attitude that was indifferent 1076 00:48:44,041 --> 00:48:46,083 to these independence norms. 1077 00:48:49,166 --> 00:48:51,125 The inauguration was such a success 1078 00:48:51,208 --> 00:48:53,333 and such a safety success, 1079 00:48:53,417 --> 00:48:55,959 and we wanna thank you all, because it was really 1080 00:48:56,041 --> 00:48:58,041 a very, very special experience. 1081 00:48:58,125 --> 00:49:00,333 Right after the inauguration, 1082 00:49:00,417 --> 00:49:03,709 Trump has the heads of the law enforcement agencies 1083 00:49:03,792 --> 00:49:06,417 that did security for his swearing in 1084 00:49:06,500 --> 00:49:08,375 to the White House for an event, 1085 00:49:08,458 --> 00:49:10,375 and Comey is very concerned 1086 00:49:10,458 --> 00:49:13,333 about being seen on camera with the president, 1087 00:49:13,417 --> 00:49:15,750 especially when the FBI is supposed to be insulated 1088 00:49:15,834 --> 00:49:17,417 from politics. 1089 00:49:17,500 --> 00:49:19,458 But Comey, who's six-foot-eight, 1090 00:49:19,542 --> 00:49:21,083 is noticed by the president. -Let's... 1091 00:49:21,166 --> 00:49:23,250 and there's-- James, come here, 1092 00:49:23,333 --> 00:49:24,500 will you, please? 1093 00:49:24,583 --> 00:49:26,125 He's become more famous than me. 1094 00:49:29,792 --> 00:49:31,875 My wife, Patrice, has known me since I was 19. 1095 00:49:31,959 --> 00:49:33,792 Back at our home, she was watching TV 1096 00:49:33,875 --> 00:49:35,709 and pointing at the screen. 1097 00:49:35,792 --> 00:49:38,417 "That's Jim's 'shit' face." 1098 00:49:38,500 --> 00:49:39,458 Yes, it was. 1099 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:46,667 The president leaned in 1100 00:49:46,750 --> 00:49:48,959 and put his mouth near my right ear. 1101 00:49:49,041 --> 00:49:51,458 "I'm really looking forward to working with you," he said. 1102 00:49:51,542 --> 00:49:53,500 Unfortunately, 1103 00:49:53,583 --> 00:49:55,667 because of the vantage point of the TV cameras, 1104 00:49:55,750 --> 00:49:58,166 what many in the world thought they saw was a kiss. 1105 00:50:00,417 --> 00:50:03,333 To have this flamboyant display of embrace 1106 00:50:03,417 --> 00:50:05,709 made Jim concerned about the public confidence 1107 00:50:05,792 --> 00:50:09,083 in the integrity of the FBI 1108 00:50:09,166 --> 00:50:10,166 at a time when 1109 00:50:10,250 --> 00:50:11,875 his own position was, 1110 00:50:11,959 --> 00:50:14,125 in the eyes of a lot of people, 1111 00:50:14,208 --> 00:50:15,458 politically suspect. 1112 00:50:15,542 --> 00:50:17,625 Jim believed it was an attempt 1113 00:50:17,709 --> 00:50:19,458 to compromise him-- 1114 00:50:19,542 --> 00:50:22,291 to make him look political, 1115 00:50:22,375 --> 00:50:26,208 to make him look close to Trump 1116 00:50:26,291 --> 00:50:29,125 in a fashion that would further convince 1117 00:50:29,208 --> 00:50:31,166 people who had supported Hilary Clinton 1118 00:50:31,250 --> 00:50:32,750 that he had put a thumb on the scale 1119 00:50:32,834 --> 00:50:34,750 during the election 1120 00:50:34,834 --> 00:50:37,625 by his performance in the Hilary Clinton email matters. 1121 00:50:44,583 --> 00:50:47,792 I am running for president of the United States! 1122 00:50:52,208 --> 00:50:55,208 In 2015, the FBI opened 1123 00:50:55,291 --> 00:50:57,291 the Clinton email investigation, 1124 00:50:57,375 --> 00:51:01,041 looking at Clinton using a personal email account 1125 00:51:01,125 --> 00:51:04,041 when she was secretary of state. 1126 00:51:04,125 --> 00:51:07,083 This was an investigation that was during the campaign, 1127 00:51:07,166 --> 00:51:10,333 and it was being looked at in a political lens 1128 00:51:10,417 --> 00:51:12,750 by the country. 1129 00:51:12,834 --> 00:51:16,375 Comey knew that the stakes were very high, and he felt 1130 00:51:16,458 --> 00:51:18,709 unnerved by some things the Justice Department had done 1131 00:51:18,792 --> 00:51:20,333 in the course of the investigation, 1132 00:51:20,417 --> 00:51:21,792 which made him wonder 1133 00:51:21,875 --> 00:51:23,709 whether their political leanings 1134 00:51:23,792 --> 00:51:26,917 were gonna get in the way of the investigation. 1135 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:28,792 Things that looked funky, 1136 00:51:28,875 --> 00:51:30,792 like Loretta Lynch meeting with Bill Clinton 1137 00:51:30,875 --> 00:51:33,208 on the tarmac in Arizona. 1138 00:51:33,291 --> 00:51:35,542 Okay, what's with this? 1139 00:51:35,625 --> 00:51:38,083 Loretta Lynch met with President Bill Clinton 1140 00:51:38,166 --> 00:51:39,834 on the tarmac of a Phoenix airport 1141 00:51:39,917 --> 00:51:41,375 for 30 minutes. 1142 00:51:41,458 --> 00:51:43,125 Because of the ongoing federal investigation 1143 00:51:43,208 --> 00:51:44,959 into Hillary Clinton's emails, that meeting 1144 00:51:45,041 --> 00:51:46,959 has now become a major problem. 1145 00:51:47,041 --> 00:51:49,250 As the firestorm grew in the media, 1146 00:51:49,333 --> 00:51:51,667 I paid more attention, watching it become 1147 00:51:51,750 --> 00:51:53,208 another corrosive talking point 1148 00:51:53,291 --> 00:51:55,041 about how the Obama Justice Department 1149 00:51:55,125 --> 00:51:56,542 couldn't be trusted to complete 1150 00:51:56,625 --> 00:51:58,542 the Clinton email investigation. 1151 00:51:58,625 --> 00:52:00,125 Mr. Director. 1152 00:52:00,208 --> 00:52:02,166 Comey felt that the FBI 1153 00:52:02,250 --> 00:52:04,625 needed to put distance between itself 1154 00:52:04,709 --> 00:52:07,083 and the Justice Department. 1155 00:52:07,166 --> 00:52:09,166 You have to understand the relationship. 1156 00:52:09,250 --> 00:52:13,125 The FBI conducts investigations. 1157 00:52:13,208 --> 00:52:17,583 Justice Department lawyers then decide 1158 00:52:17,667 --> 00:52:20,625 what charges can or cannot be brought 1159 00:52:20,709 --> 00:52:24,333 based on those findings. 1160 00:52:24,417 --> 00:52:26,750 The FBI had interviewed Hillary Clinton, 1161 00:52:26,834 --> 00:52:28,291 and they'd come to the conclusion 1162 00:52:28,375 --> 00:52:30,834 that they didn't think she should be prosecuted, 1163 00:52:30,917 --> 00:52:33,959 but instead of quietly sending that recommendation 1164 00:52:34,041 --> 00:52:36,000 over to the Justice Department, 1165 00:52:36,083 --> 00:52:38,125 Comey held a press conference. 1166 00:52:43,834 --> 00:52:45,375 Good morning. 1167 00:52:45,458 --> 00:52:47,417 This is going to be an unusual statement 1168 00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:49,375 in at least a couple of ways. 1169 00:52:49,458 --> 00:52:50,875 First, I'm going to include 1170 00:52:50,959 --> 00:52:52,250 more detail about our process 1171 00:52:52,333 --> 00:52:54,125 than I ordinarily would, 1172 00:52:54,208 --> 00:52:55,709 because I think the American people 1173 00:52:55,792 --> 00:52:57,250 deserve those details 1174 00:52:57,333 --> 00:52:58,959 in a case of intense public interest. 1175 00:53:01,834 --> 00:53:03,875 Transparency had been something 1176 00:53:03,959 --> 00:53:06,542 that had benefited Comey enormously 1177 00:53:06,625 --> 00:53:11,000 in the run-up to him taking over as FBI director. 1178 00:53:11,083 --> 00:53:13,667 In the years after he left the Justice Department 1179 00:53:13,750 --> 00:53:15,291 under the Bush administration, 1180 00:53:15,375 --> 00:53:17,959 he had publicly testified about a program 1181 00:53:18,041 --> 00:53:19,625 that he thought was illegal. 1182 00:53:19,709 --> 00:53:21,917 Just assume--you thought something was wrong. 1183 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:23,750 Yes. -Right. 1184 00:53:23,834 --> 00:53:25,709 And by airing this out publicly, 1185 00:53:25,792 --> 00:53:27,166 Comey was able to get 1186 00:53:27,250 --> 00:53:29,250 the stain of the Bush administration 1187 00:53:29,333 --> 00:53:31,291 off of him and make himself 1188 00:53:31,375 --> 00:53:33,041 appear as a whistleblower, 1189 00:53:33,125 --> 00:53:35,667 so when Obama appoints him 1190 00:53:35,750 --> 00:53:37,333 as FBI director, 1191 00:53:37,417 --> 00:53:39,667 he cites this in his statement. 1192 00:53:39,750 --> 00:53:42,542 To know Jim Comey is also to know his fierce independence 1193 00:53:42,625 --> 00:53:45,750 and his deep integrity. When it's mattered most, 1194 00:53:45,834 --> 00:53:48,500 he joined Bob in standing up for what he believed was right. 1195 00:53:48,583 --> 00:53:50,792 He was prepared to give up the job he loved 1196 00:53:50,875 --> 00:53:52,166 rather than be part of something 1197 00:53:52,250 --> 00:53:53,333 he felt was fundamentally wrong. 1198 00:53:56,083 --> 00:53:57,458 So as he comes 1199 00:53:57,542 --> 00:53:58,959 into the Clinton email investigation, 1200 00:53:59,041 --> 00:54:00,667 transparency is something 1201 00:54:00,750 --> 00:54:03,000 that had really benefited Comey a lot 1202 00:54:03,083 --> 00:54:04,667 throughout his entire career, 1203 00:54:04,750 --> 00:54:07,250 and as he's faced with these different decisions, 1204 00:54:07,333 --> 00:54:09,834 he goes back to run the same play. 1205 00:54:09,917 --> 00:54:12,166 The problem is, in doing that, 1206 00:54:12,250 --> 00:54:14,458 he really undermined himself. 1207 00:54:16,667 --> 00:54:19,125 Although we did not find clear evidence 1208 00:54:19,208 --> 00:54:21,000 that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues 1209 00:54:21,083 --> 00:54:23,083 intended to violate laws 1210 00:54:23,166 --> 00:54:25,750 governing the handling of classified information, 1211 00:54:25,834 --> 00:54:27,208 there is evidence 1212 00:54:27,291 --> 00:54:28,917 that they were extremely careless. 1213 00:54:30,333 --> 00:54:33,291 It's awkward in the extreme. 1214 00:54:33,375 --> 00:54:35,625 Comey made it awkward in the extreme. 1215 00:54:35,709 --> 00:54:37,750 He gratuitously said 1216 00:54:37,834 --> 00:54:40,709 she had been "extremely careless" 1217 00:54:40,792 --> 00:54:42,834 in her handling of classified emails. 1218 00:54:42,917 --> 00:54:46,041 Well, carelessness is not a federal crime. 1219 00:54:46,125 --> 00:54:49,959 I didn't dissent from his decision to do it... 1220 00:54:51,667 --> 00:54:53,291 ...but I was very concerned 1221 00:54:53,375 --> 00:54:56,291 about the precedent that it would set. 1222 00:54:56,375 --> 00:54:57,542 There's something really horrible 1223 00:54:57,625 --> 00:54:59,750 about having 1224 00:54:59,834 --> 00:55:01,959 a senior law enforcement official 1225 00:55:02,041 --> 00:55:04,166 evaluating the conduct of somebody in public 1226 00:55:04,250 --> 00:55:07,291 whom he is not going to charge, and I have a 1227 00:55:07,375 --> 00:55:10,583 sort of civil liberties anxiety about that. 1228 00:55:10,667 --> 00:55:14,083 Although there is evidence of potential violations 1229 00:55:14,166 --> 00:55:15,834 of the statues regarding the handling 1230 00:55:15,917 --> 00:55:17,458 of classified information, 1231 00:55:17,542 --> 00:55:20,333 our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor 1232 00:55:20,417 --> 00:55:22,125 would bring such a case. 1233 00:55:22,208 --> 00:55:23,750 I remember Director Comey-- one of the words 1234 00:55:23,834 --> 00:55:25,417 was "no reasonable prosecutor" 1235 00:55:25,500 --> 00:55:27,625 would, um, file charges. 1236 00:55:27,709 --> 00:55:30,166 The FBI, typically--you do your investigative report, 1237 00:55:30,250 --> 00:55:32,291 turn it over to the U.S. Attorney's office, 1238 00:55:32,375 --> 00:55:34,208 or in this case, to the Department of Justice, 1239 00:55:34,291 --> 00:55:35,875 let them make the decision. 1240 00:55:35,959 --> 00:55:38,083 The July announcement by Director Comey 1241 00:55:38,166 --> 00:55:40,625 was certainly outside the normal rulebook, 1242 00:55:40,709 --> 00:55:42,792 and, um, certainly surprised a lot of people. 1243 00:55:42,875 --> 00:55:45,375 There wasn't any advance warning that it was coming. 1244 00:55:45,458 --> 00:55:47,291 People have certainly 1245 00:55:47,375 --> 00:55:49,667 lost some confidence in the FBI over this, 1246 00:55:49,750 --> 00:55:52,166 and it's been a-- a difficult time. 1247 00:55:54,875 --> 00:55:56,583 When the FBI director 1248 00:55:56,667 --> 00:55:59,458 says that the secretary of state 1249 00:55:59,542 --> 00:56:03,458 was extremely careless and negligent 1250 00:56:03,542 --> 00:56:06,834 in handling our classified secrets, 1251 00:56:06,917 --> 00:56:09,500 I know that these terms 1252 00:56:09,583 --> 00:56:11,208 are minor 1253 00:56:11,291 --> 00:56:13,375 compared to what she actually did. 1254 00:56:13,458 --> 00:56:15,250 They were just used 1255 00:56:15,333 --> 00:56:18,625 to save her from facing justice 1256 00:56:18,709 --> 00:56:21,500 for her terrible, terrible crimes. 1257 00:56:24,458 --> 00:56:27,250 Lock her up! Lock her up! 1258 00:56:27,333 --> 00:56:29,583 Lock her up! Lock her up! 1259 00:56:29,667 --> 00:56:32,417 Lock her up! Lock her up! 1260 00:56:32,500 --> 00:56:35,291 Lock her up! Lock her up! 1261 00:56:44,875 --> 00:56:47,417 Ten days before the election, Comey 1262 00:56:47,500 --> 00:56:49,792 took another extraordinary measure. 1263 00:56:49,875 --> 00:56:51,500 He sent a letter to Congress 1264 00:56:51,583 --> 00:56:52,625 saying that the bureau 1265 00:56:52,709 --> 00:56:53,709 had reopened 1266 00:56:53,792 --> 00:56:55,250 the email investigation... 1267 00:56:58,375 --> 00:57:00,000 As part of a different case, 1268 00:57:00,083 --> 00:57:01,250 Anthony Weiner, 1269 00:57:01,333 --> 00:57:03,542 the former husband 1270 00:57:03,625 --> 00:57:05,125 of Huma Abedin, 1271 00:57:05,208 --> 00:57:06,917 Hillary's closest aide, 1272 00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:10,417 had provided a laptop to the authorities, 1273 00:57:10,500 --> 00:57:12,375 and the FBI saw what they thought 1274 00:57:12,458 --> 00:57:15,959 were Hillary Clinton's emails. 1275 00:57:16,041 --> 00:57:18,500 Once you've said publicly 1276 00:57:18,583 --> 00:57:20,667 this investigation was finished, 1277 00:57:20,750 --> 00:57:24,625 the day you make a liar out of yourself 1278 00:57:24,709 --> 00:57:26,583 and go after new evidence, 1279 00:57:26,667 --> 00:57:28,709 you have some duty to-- 1280 00:57:28,792 --> 00:57:31,875 to let people know about that. 1281 00:57:31,959 --> 00:57:34,834 Assuming, as nearly everyone did, 1282 00:57:34,917 --> 00:57:36,333 that Hillary Clinton would be elected 1283 00:57:36,417 --> 00:57:37,083 President of the United States 1284 00:57:37,166 --> 00:57:38,333 in less than two weeks, 1285 00:57:38,417 --> 00:57:41,500 what would happen to the FBI 1286 00:57:41,583 --> 00:57:43,375 or her own presidency 1287 00:57:43,458 --> 00:57:45,083 if it later was revealed 1288 00:57:45,166 --> 00:57:46,625 after the fact 1289 00:57:46,709 --> 00:57:48,375 that she was still a subject 1290 00:57:48,458 --> 00:57:50,917 of an FBI investigation? 1291 00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:52,000 Comey feels, 1292 00:57:52,083 --> 00:57:54,375 rightly or wrongly, 1293 00:57:54,458 --> 00:57:56,625 a legal obligation to inform Congress 1294 00:57:56,709 --> 00:57:59,750 that, indeed, the needle has moved, 1295 00:57:59,834 --> 00:58:02,709 not knowing whether there's any "there" there 1296 00:58:02,792 --> 00:58:05,792 within in the emails, but knowing full well 1297 00:58:05,875 --> 00:58:07,750 that once he sends this one-page letter, 1298 00:58:07,834 --> 00:58:09,583 the Republicans on the Hill 1299 00:58:09,667 --> 00:58:12,375 will leak it nanoseconds later. 1300 00:58:12,458 --> 00:58:15,166 Clinton is conceivably doomed. 1301 00:58:15,250 --> 00:58:17,500 It took guts 1302 00:58:17,583 --> 00:58:19,542 for Director Comey 1303 00:58:19,625 --> 00:58:22,000 to make the move that he made 1304 00:58:22,083 --> 00:58:24,583 in light of the kind of opposition he had, 1305 00:58:24,667 --> 00:58:26,917 where they're trying to protect her 1306 00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:28,375 from criminal prosecution. 1307 00:58:28,458 --> 00:58:30,250 You know that. 1308 00:58:30,333 --> 00:58:31,959 You think Comey made a mistake? 1309 00:58:32,041 --> 00:58:33,166 I do. 1310 00:58:33,250 --> 00:58:34,166 Why? 1311 00:58:34,250 --> 00:58:37,667 The idea that the FBI 1312 00:58:37,750 --> 00:58:40,458 was wading into the politics of that moment 1313 00:58:40,542 --> 00:58:42,583 is tremendously damaging 1314 00:58:42,667 --> 00:58:44,542 to the reputation of the FBI. 1315 00:58:44,625 --> 00:58:46,542 It took a lot of guts. 1316 00:58:46,625 --> 00:58:48,041 I was not his fan, 1317 00:58:48,125 --> 00:58:50,417 but I'll tell you what. What he did-- 1318 00:58:50,500 --> 00:58:51,875 he brought back his reputation. 1319 00:58:56,125 --> 00:58:59,208 Comey is in a very tough position. 1320 00:58:59,291 --> 00:59:00,625 The man in charge 1321 00:59:00,709 --> 00:59:02,458 of the Russia investigation 1322 00:59:02,542 --> 00:59:04,667 is now seen as a political actor. 1323 00:59:10,667 --> 00:59:12,166 By this time, 1324 00:59:12,250 --> 00:59:14,083 the FBI investigation 1325 00:59:14,166 --> 00:59:16,458 into Russian meddling 1326 00:59:16,542 --> 00:59:18,917 has been going on for six months. 1327 00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:21,625 It's code-named "Crossfire Hurricane." 1328 00:59:21,709 --> 00:59:23,458 At the heart of the Russian 1329 00:59:23,542 --> 00:59:25,083 interference campaign 1330 00:59:25,166 --> 00:59:26,834 was the release of damaging emails 1331 00:59:26,917 --> 00:59:29,500 associated with the Democratic Party. 1332 00:59:29,583 --> 00:59:31,959 In late July, the FBI learned 1333 00:59:32,041 --> 00:59:34,125 that a Trump campaign foreign policy advisor 1334 00:59:34,208 --> 00:59:36,667 named George Papadopoulos 1335 00:59:36,750 --> 00:59:39,291 had been discussing obtaining from the Russian government 1336 00:59:39,375 --> 00:59:41,583 emails damaging to Hillary Clinton. 1337 00:59:41,667 --> 00:59:43,542 Based on this information, 1338 00:59:43,625 --> 00:59:45,667 the FBI opened an investigation 1339 00:59:45,750 --> 00:59:48,083 to try to understand whether Americans, 1340 00:59:48,166 --> 00:59:50,834 including any associated with the Trump campaign, 1341 00:59:50,917 --> 00:59:53,458 were working in any way with the Russians 1342 00:59:53,542 --> 00:59:55,291 in their influence effort. 1343 00:59:55,375 --> 00:59:57,542 Comey knows that Flynn, 1344 00:59:57,625 --> 00:59:59,875 the national security advisor 1345 00:59:59,959 --> 01:00:02,792 to President Trump, has ties to Russia. 1346 01:00:02,875 --> 01:00:05,333 The FBI is looking at him very closely 1347 01:00:05,417 --> 01:00:09,291 whether he is in any way under the influence 1348 01:00:09,375 --> 01:00:11,125 of Vladimir Putin. 1349 01:00:11,208 --> 01:00:12,375 The Russians were going 1350 01:00:12,458 --> 01:00:13,458 to try to co-opt, 1351 01:00:13,542 --> 01:00:14,583 influence, gain leverage-- 1352 01:00:14,667 --> 01:00:15,750 whatever they could do. 1353 01:00:15,834 --> 01:00:17,875 They attempted to woo me, 1354 01:00:17,959 --> 01:00:19,875 and I... 1355 01:00:19,959 --> 01:00:22,125 ...saw them doing that with, General Flynn, 1356 01:00:22,208 --> 01:00:24,041 and I just kind of 1357 01:00:24,125 --> 01:00:27,083 offered some fatherly advice about my own experience. 1358 01:00:27,166 --> 01:00:30,041 And do you think he took that advice to heart? 1359 01:00:30,125 --> 01:00:31,000 No. 1360 01:00:32,333 --> 01:00:34,291 On January 24th, 1361 01:00:34,375 --> 01:00:35,917 as part of our continuing investigation 1362 01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:37,959 of Russian influence efforts, 1363 01:00:38,041 --> 01:00:40,125 I dispatched two agents to the White House 1364 01:00:40,208 --> 01:00:41,792 to interview Flynn about his conversations 1365 01:00:41,875 --> 01:00:43,458 with the Russians. 1366 01:00:43,542 --> 01:00:45,083 He lied to the agents. 1367 01:00:45,166 --> 01:00:48,792 Mike Flynn, for reasons we do not understand yet, 1368 01:00:48,875 --> 01:00:50,834 lies to the FBI 1369 01:00:50,917 --> 01:00:52,792 about his Russia contacts. 1370 01:00:52,875 --> 01:00:56,375 Lying to the FBI is, of course, a crime. 1371 01:00:56,458 --> 01:00:58,542 Two days later, 1372 01:00:58,625 --> 01:01:00,083 the acting attorney general, 1373 01:01:00,166 --> 01:01:02,792 Sally Yates, warns the White House 1374 01:01:02,875 --> 01:01:04,917 that Flynn has lied to the FBI, 1375 01:01:05,000 --> 01:01:07,250 that he is susceptible to blackmail 1376 01:01:07,333 --> 01:01:08,792 by the Russians. 1377 01:01:10,333 --> 01:01:11,917 The next day, 1378 01:01:12,000 --> 01:01:14,792 the phone rings in Jim Comey's office. 1379 01:01:14,875 --> 01:01:16,625 The President of the United States 1380 01:01:16,709 --> 01:01:17,792 would like to have him for dinner. 1381 01:01:20,208 --> 01:01:23,291 Mr. Comey, prior to January 27th 1382 01:01:23,375 --> 01:01:24,875 of this year, 1383 01:01:24,959 --> 01:01:27,125 have you ever had a private dinner 1384 01:01:27,208 --> 01:01:30,125 with a President of the United States? 1385 01:01:30,208 --> 01:01:31,125 No. 1386 01:01:31,208 --> 01:01:32,959 How unusual is it to have 1387 01:01:33,041 --> 01:01:35,583 a-a one-one-one dinner 1388 01:01:35,667 --> 01:01:38,250 with the president? Did that strike you as odd? 1389 01:01:38,333 --> 01:01:41,375 Yeah, so much so that I assumed there would be others, 1390 01:01:41,458 --> 01:01:43,792 that he couldn't possibly be having dinner with me alone. 1391 01:01:43,875 --> 01:01:46,333 If you had behaved differently in that dinner, 1392 01:01:46,417 --> 01:01:49,417 do you think you would have still been fired? 1393 01:01:49,500 --> 01:01:50,625 I don't know. 1394 01:01:50,709 --> 01:01:52,417 I--it--it's impossible to say, 1395 01:01:52,500 --> 01:01:54,000 looking back. I don't know. 1396 01:01:59,917 --> 01:02:01,792 At some point early on, 1397 01:02:01,875 --> 01:02:03,417 Trump asked bluntly, 1398 01:02:03,500 --> 01:02:05,458 "So what do you want to do?" 1399 01:02:05,542 --> 01:02:07,500 It was an odd question that I didn't 1400 01:02:07,583 --> 01:02:09,333 entirely understand at first, 1401 01:02:09,417 --> 01:02:10,667 but without waiting for an answer, 1402 01:02:10,750 --> 01:02:12,041 he launched into a monologue 1403 01:02:12,125 --> 01:02:13,291 that made it crystal-clear 1404 01:02:13,375 --> 01:02:14,625 what he was referring to: 1405 01:02:14,709 --> 01:02:18,083 whether I wanted to keep my job. 1406 01:02:18,166 --> 01:02:20,208 With a serious look on his face, he said, 1407 01:02:20,291 --> 01:02:22,417 "I need loyalty. 1408 01:02:22,500 --> 01:02:24,417 I expect loyalty." 1409 01:02:27,291 --> 01:02:29,291 During the silence that followed, 1410 01:02:29,375 --> 01:02:32,000 I didn't move, speak, 1411 01:02:32,083 --> 01:02:34,625 or change my facial expression in any way. 1412 01:02:36,375 --> 01:02:37,834 It's the two of them 1413 01:02:37,917 --> 01:02:40,417 under the chandelier, alone in the Green Room, 1414 01:02:40,500 --> 01:02:43,333 dining over shrimp scampi, 1415 01:02:43,417 --> 01:02:45,458 and at some point, 1416 01:02:45,542 --> 01:02:49,125 Comey has an out-of-body experience, 1417 01:02:49,208 --> 01:02:52,834 and he's flashing back on his early career, 1418 01:02:52,917 --> 01:02:54,542 interrogating, investigating, 1419 01:02:54,625 --> 01:02:58,291 and prosecuting mafiosi. 1420 01:02:58,375 --> 01:03:00,875 He's looking at the president, but he's seeing Sammy 1421 01:03:00,959 --> 01:03:02,166 "The Bull" Gravano, 1422 01:03:02,250 --> 01:03:03,500 listening to a don 1423 01:03:03,583 --> 01:03:07,125 saying "I need loyalty. 1424 01:03:07,208 --> 01:03:10,625 I need your loyalty." 1425 01:03:10,709 --> 01:03:13,125 It's gonna make a great movie. 1426 01:03:13,208 --> 01:03:14,625 It's not surprising 1427 01:03:14,709 --> 01:03:16,959 that a president would want loyalty 1428 01:03:17,041 --> 01:03:19,166 from a subordinate. It is extremely surprising, 1429 01:03:19,250 --> 01:03:20,875 and stupid on Trump's part, 1430 01:03:20,959 --> 01:03:24,625 to overtly ask for loyalty from Comey, 1431 01:03:24,709 --> 01:03:26,125 because first of all, 1432 01:03:26,208 --> 01:03:27,792 it looks like Trump is trying 1433 01:03:27,875 --> 01:03:30,083 to protect himself from scrutiny. 1434 01:03:30,166 --> 01:03:30,875 Second of all, 1435 01:03:30,959 --> 01:03:32,333 there's no way 1436 01:03:32,417 --> 01:03:34,458 that anyone in Comey's position, 1437 01:03:34,542 --> 01:03:36,250 and especially Jim Comey, 1438 01:03:36,333 --> 01:03:38,875 can give him the loyalty that he thinks he needs 1439 01:03:38,959 --> 01:03:40,709 when there's an investigation going on, 1440 01:03:40,792 --> 01:03:42,250 and Comey's got a job to do, and he's running 1441 01:03:42,333 --> 01:03:44,333 the FBI. 1442 01:03:44,417 --> 01:03:46,667 I was determined not to give the president 1443 01:03:46,750 --> 01:03:49,375 any hint of assent to this demand, 1444 01:03:49,458 --> 01:03:50,875 so I gave silence instead. 1445 01:03:53,083 --> 01:03:55,041 He then returned to the issue of loyalty, 1446 01:03:55,125 --> 01:03:58,542 saying again, "I need loyalty." 1447 01:03:59,333 --> 01:04:01,709 I paused again. 1448 01:04:01,792 --> 01:04:05,000 "You will always get honesty from me," I said. 1449 01:04:05,083 --> 01:04:08,291 He paused. "That's what I want: 1450 01:04:08,375 --> 01:04:10,625 honest loyalty," he said. 1451 01:04:10,709 --> 01:04:13,417 This appeared to satisfy him as some sort of deal 1452 01:04:13,500 --> 01:04:15,417 in which we were both winners. 1453 01:04:15,500 --> 01:04:19,041 "You will get that from me," I said. 1454 01:04:19,125 --> 01:04:22,709 Jim has said that he muffed the situation, 1455 01:04:22,792 --> 01:04:25,959 um, and that he regrets, in retrospect, 1456 01:04:26,041 --> 01:04:28,375 compromising with the president 1457 01:04:28,458 --> 01:04:30,750 on "honest loyalty." 1458 01:04:30,834 --> 01:04:32,333 I agree with him. I think-- 1459 01:04:32,417 --> 01:04:34,625 I think, ideally, 1460 01:04:34,709 --> 01:04:37,417 the right way to do it would've been to say, 1461 01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:39,125 "Nope. Sorry, Mr. President. 1462 01:04:39,208 --> 01:04:41,166 I cannot oblige you on the loyalty thing. 1463 01:04:41,250 --> 01:04:43,000 You know. Sorry. 1464 01:04:43,083 --> 01:04:46,041 You know, maybe you have to fire me now, but, 1465 01:04:46,125 --> 01:04:48,792 like, I don't--loyalty is-- that's just not what I do. 1466 01:04:48,875 --> 01:04:49,959 I have an oath to the Constitution. 1467 01:04:50,041 --> 01:04:51,250 End of story." 1468 01:04:53,709 --> 01:04:56,041 I think it is interesting 1469 01:04:56,125 --> 01:04:59,250 that nobody else has told a story like this, 1470 01:04:59,333 --> 01:05:01,208 and I doubt very much it's because 1471 01:05:01,291 --> 01:05:02,667 nobody else has been asked 1472 01:05:02,750 --> 01:05:05,625 for a loyalty oath, 1473 01:05:05,709 --> 01:05:07,917 and I want to know 1474 01:05:08,000 --> 01:05:10,417 who exactly in the federal government 1475 01:05:10,500 --> 01:05:11,875 did better than Jim, 1476 01:05:11,959 --> 01:05:13,917 faced one-on-one with the president, 1477 01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:17,625 asked for loyalty. 1478 01:05:22,834 --> 01:05:24,542 Embattled national security advisor 1479 01:05:24,625 --> 01:05:26,000 General Michael Flynn 1480 01:05:26,083 --> 01:05:27,792 stepping down Monday night. 1481 01:05:27,875 --> 01:05:29,208 Michael Flynn forced 1482 01:05:29,291 --> 01:05:31,250 to resign for not telling the truth 1483 01:05:31,333 --> 01:05:33,083 about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. 1484 01:05:33,166 --> 01:05:34,291 The shakeup comes at a critical time 1485 01:05:34,375 --> 01:05:36,125 for President Trump. 1486 01:05:36,208 --> 01:05:37,542 That also raised questions 1487 01:05:37,625 --> 01:05:39,000 about the relationship with Russia, 1488 01:05:39,083 --> 01:05:40,417 which still remains a big question. 1489 01:05:42,792 --> 01:05:44,291 Happy Valentine's Day. I can sense 1490 01:05:44,375 --> 01:05:45,834 the love in the room. 1491 01:05:45,917 --> 01:05:48,250 Um, I want to address 1492 01:05:48,333 --> 01:05:50,542 the events of last night, first and foremost. 1493 01:05:50,625 --> 01:05:52,792 The evolving and eroding level of trust 1494 01:05:52,875 --> 01:05:54,917 as a result of this situation 1495 01:05:55,000 --> 01:05:56,709 is what led the president 1496 01:05:56,792 --> 01:05:59,375 to ask for General Flynn's resignation. 1497 01:05:59,458 --> 01:06:02,667 Why would the president, if he was notified 17 days ago 1498 01:06:02,750 --> 01:06:04,458 that Flynn was a potential threat 1499 01:06:04,542 --> 01:06:06,000 to blackmail by the Russians, 1500 01:06:06,083 --> 01:06:08,083 why would he be kept on 1501 01:06:08,166 --> 01:06:10,333 for almost three weeks? 1502 01:06:10,417 --> 01:06:14,625 Once we understood that this was a showdown 1503 01:06:14,709 --> 01:06:18,750 that involved lies from the president's 1504 01:06:18,834 --> 01:06:20,792 national security advisor-- 1505 01:06:20,875 --> 01:06:23,709 that's when we began to move, publicly at least, 1506 01:06:23,792 --> 01:06:25,542 into uncharted territory. 1507 01:06:30,083 --> 01:06:31,709 In your estimation, was General Flynn, 1508 01:06:31,792 --> 01:06:34,959 at that time, in serious legal jeopardy? 1509 01:06:35,041 --> 01:06:36,667 General Flynn, at that point in time, 1510 01:06:36,750 --> 01:06:38,417 was in legal jeopardy. 1511 01:06:38,500 --> 01:06:40,875 There was an open FBI criminal investigation 1512 01:06:40,959 --> 01:06:42,625 of his statements in connection 1513 01:06:42,709 --> 01:06:44,291 with the Russian contacts 1514 01:06:44,375 --> 01:06:46,709 and the contacts themselves. 1515 01:06:46,792 --> 01:06:49,458 And I--I think that is very significant, because 1516 01:06:49,542 --> 01:06:51,000 on February 14th, 1517 01:06:51,083 --> 01:06:52,458 you were in a meeting, 1518 01:06:52,542 --> 01:06:53,750 and the president asked 1519 01:06:53,834 --> 01:06:56,000 everyone to leave, 1520 01:06:56,083 --> 01:06:58,500 including the attorney general to leave, 1521 01:06:58,583 --> 01:07:03,417 before he brought up the matter of General Flynn, 1522 01:07:03,500 --> 01:07:05,709 and have you ever seen anything like that before? 1523 01:07:05,792 --> 01:07:06,458 No, 1524 01:07:06,542 --> 01:07:07,875 and so I knew 1525 01:07:07,959 --> 01:07:09,333 something was about to happen 1526 01:07:09,417 --> 01:07:10,750 that I needed to pay 1527 01:07:10,834 --> 01:07:11,500 very close attention to. 1528 01:07:18,500 --> 01:07:20,333 The president seemed oddly uninterested 1529 01:07:20,417 --> 01:07:22,709 and distracted during the classified briefing. 1530 01:07:22,792 --> 01:07:24,625 At the end of this low-energy session, 1531 01:07:24,709 --> 01:07:27,083 he signaled that the briefing was over. 1532 01:07:27,166 --> 01:07:29,125 Then, pointing at me, he added, 1533 01:07:29,208 --> 01:07:32,125 "I just want to talk to Jim. Thanks, everybody." 1534 01:07:32,208 --> 01:07:34,083 The president began by saying 1535 01:07:34,166 --> 01:07:36,041 General Flynn hadn't done anything wrong 1536 01:07:36,125 --> 01:07:38,583 in speaking with the Russians. He then said, 1537 01:07:38,667 --> 01:07:40,959 "I hope you can see your way clear 1538 01:07:41,041 --> 01:07:43,250 to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. 1539 01:07:43,333 --> 01:07:46,583 He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." 1540 01:07:48,667 --> 01:07:50,625 Think about it. 1541 01:07:50,709 --> 01:07:52,709 The President of the United States 1542 01:07:52,792 --> 01:07:55,000 asking the FBI director 1543 01:07:55,083 --> 01:07:57,709 to drop an ongoing investigation. 1544 01:07:57,792 --> 01:07:59,959 Thank you, sir. 1545 01:08:00,041 --> 01:08:01,917 Senator Risch. 1546 01:08:02,000 --> 01:08:04,458 Thank you very much. You wrote down the words, 1547 01:08:04,542 --> 01:08:06,917 so we can all have the words in front of us now. 1548 01:08:07,000 --> 01:08:10,000 Quote, "I hope--" this is the president speaking. 1549 01:08:10,083 --> 01:08:12,375 "I hope you can let this go." 1550 01:08:12,458 --> 01:08:15,000 Now, those are his exact words. Is that correct? 1551 01:08:15,083 --> 01:08:16,333 Correct. -Okay. 1552 01:08:16,417 --> 01:08:20,041 He did not direct you to let it go. 1553 01:08:20,125 --> 01:08:21,792 Not in his words, no. 1554 01:08:21,875 --> 01:08:24,583 He did not order you to let it go. 1555 01:08:24,667 --> 01:08:26,542 Again, those words are not an order. 1556 01:08:26,625 --> 01:08:27,583 No. 1557 01:08:27,667 --> 01:08:29,208 He said, "I hope." 1558 01:08:29,291 --> 01:08:31,667 The reason I keep saying "his words" is 1559 01:08:31,750 --> 01:08:34,375 I took it as a direction. 1560 01:08:34,458 --> 01:08:36,375 I mean, this is the President of the United States 1561 01:08:36,458 --> 01:08:38,667 with me alone, saying "I hope" this. 1562 01:08:38,750 --> 01:08:40,625 I didn't obey that, but that's the way I took it. 1563 01:08:40,709 --> 01:08:42,500 All right. 1564 01:08:42,583 --> 01:08:45,166 When you have the President of the United States 1565 01:08:45,250 --> 01:08:47,250 saying to the chief law enforcement officer, 1566 01:08:47,333 --> 01:08:49,625 "Hey, look the other way on my guy," 1567 01:08:49,709 --> 01:08:52,208 that is an enormous red flag. 1568 01:08:53,083 --> 01:08:55,458 It sure seems like a cover-up, 1569 01:08:55,542 --> 01:08:57,834 and that is why we have to start looking 1570 01:08:57,917 --> 01:08:59,917 at obstruction of justice. 1571 01:09:00,000 --> 01:09:01,625 Do you sense that the president 1572 01:09:01,709 --> 01:09:03,041 was trying to obstruct justice, 1573 01:09:03,125 --> 01:09:04,875 or just seek for a way 1574 01:09:04,959 --> 01:09:06,709 for Mike Flynn to save face, 1575 01:09:06,792 --> 01:09:08,625 given he had already been fired? 1576 01:09:08,709 --> 01:09:11,458 Obstruction of justice is a technical crime. 1577 01:09:11,542 --> 01:09:14,000 It is something that requires evidence, 1578 01:09:14,083 --> 01:09:17,041 you know, that stands up in a court of law. 1579 01:09:17,125 --> 01:09:19,000 Now, there is no constitutional rule 1580 01:09:19,083 --> 01:09:21,000 that says the president is not allowed 1581 01:09:21,083 --> 01:09:23,625 to instruct the FBI director 1582 01:09:23,709 --> 01:09:25,583 as to how to conduct an investigation. 1583 01:09:25,667 --> 01:09:28,834 In fact, he is constitutionally authorized 1584 01:09:28,917 --> 01:09:31,166 to do exactly that. 1585 01:09:31,250 --> 01:09:32,208 Despite the norms 1586 01:09:32,291 --> 01:09:33,875 about FBI independence, 1587 01:09:33,959 --> 01:09:35,625 he's the chief prosecutor. 1588 01:09:35,709 --> 01:09:37,208 In some sense, 1589 01:09:37,291 --> 01:09:38,667 he is allowed to decide 1590 01:09:38,750 --> 01:09:40,291 who gets prosecuted or not, 1591 01:09:40,375 --> 01:09:42,583 and the paradox and difficulty here 1592 01:09:42,667 --> 01:09:45,500 is whether the president was acting 1593 01:09:45,583 --> 01:09:47,375 within his legitimate constitutional power 1594 01:09:47,458 --> 01:09:49,083 to direct an investigation, 1595 01:09:49,166 --> 01:09:50,875 or whether he crossed the line somehow, 1596 01:09:50,959 --> 01:09:54,083 if the line can be crossed, into criminality. 1597 01:09:54,166 --> 01:09:55,709 And so it looks suspicious, 1598 01:09:55,792 --> 01:09:57,667 but at the end of the day, 1599 01:09:57,750 --> 01:10:00,458 a lot of this does turn on criminal intent, 1600 01:10:00,542 --> 01:10:02,667 and we'd have to get into, really, 1601 01:10:02,750 --> 01:10:05,500 what was President Trump's state of mind at the time, 1602 01:10:05,583 --> 01:10:08,375 which is often very hard to prove, 1603 01:10:08,458 --> 01:10:10,917 because the prosecutor asks, "What were you thinking?" 1604 01:10:11,000 --> 01:10:12,542 and the defendant says, "I'm taking 1605 01:10:12,625 --> 01:10:14,208 my Fifth Amendment rights," 1606 01:10:14,291 --> 01:10:17,000 and so what you need to do as a prosecutor 1607 01:10:17,083 --> 01:10:18,458 is look to extrinsic evidence-- 1608 01:10:18,542 --> 01:10:20,500 did he talk to other folks, 1609 01:10:20,583 --> 01:10:22,875 what did he say to his national security advisor, 1610 01:10:22,959 --> 01:10:24,750 does he have anything written down 1611 01:10:24,834 --> 01:10:26,083 that might bear on this-- 1612 01:10:26,166 --> 01:10:30,083 and then start to build a case. 1613 01:10:30,166 --> 01:10:32,542 This is one of the reasons why I think 1614 01:10:32,625 --> 01:10:34,375 that as a legal matter, the claim that Trump 1615 01:10:34,458 --> 01:10:36,417 committed obstruction of justice is much harder 1616 01:10:36,500 --> 01:10:38,625 than most commentators have made it seem, 1617 01:10:38,709 --> 01:10:41,959 but it's--the legal matter is not what's important. 1618 01:10:42,041 --> 01:10:43,291 What's important is that 1619 01:10:43,375 --> 01:10:45,125 the President of the United States 1620 01:10:45,208 --> 01:10:46,917 was trying to shape an investigation 1621 01:10:47,000 --> 01:10:48,750 into himself and his subordinates 1622 01:10:48,834 --> 01:10:50,375 in a way that 1623 01:10:50,458 --> 01:10:52,792 is a complete violation of all the norms 1624 01:10:52,875 --> 01:10:55,125 that have been put in place since Watergate. 1625 01:11:00,250 --> 01:11:02,125 It's all fake news. 1626 01:11:02,208 --> 01:11:04,667 Mike Flynn is a fine person. 1627 01:11:04,750 --> 01:11:06,709 Mike was doing his job. 1628 01:11:06,792 --> 01:11:08,041 He was calling countries 1629 01:11:08,125 --> 01:11:09,375 and his counterparts. 1630 01:11:10,792 --> 01:11:12,208 Yes, go ahead. 1631 01:11:12,291 --> 01:11:12,959 Can you say whether you 1632 01:11:13,041 --> 01:11:14,291 are aware that anyone 1633 01:11:14,375 --> 01:11:15,208 who advised your campaign 1634 01:11:15,291 --> 01:11:16,709 had contacts with Russia 1635 01:11:16,792 --> 01:11:17,542 during the course of the election? 1636 01:11:17,625 --> 01:11:18,625 How many times do I have 1637 01:11:18,709 --> 01:11:20,583 to answer this question? 1638 01:11:20,667 --> 01:11:22,250 - Can you just say-- - Russia is a ruse. 1639 01:11:22,333 --> 01:11:23,709 Yeah, I know you have to get up and ask a question. 1640 01:11:23,792 --> 01:11:25,458 It's so important. Russia is a ruse. 1641 01:11:25,542 --> 01:11:27,333 I have nothing to do with Russia. 1642 01:11:27,417 --> 01:11:29,125 To the best of my t-- knowledge, 1643 01:11:29,208 --> 01:11:31,000 no person that I deal with... 1644 01:11:37,917 --> 01:11:39,041 Jeff Sessions met twice 1645 01:11:39,125 --> 01:11:41,041 with the Russian ambassador 1646 01:11:41,125 --> 01:11:42,000 to the United States 1647 01:11:42,083 --> 01:11:43,083 during last year's 1648 01:11:43,166 --> 01:11:44,625 presidential campaign. 1649 01:11:44,709 --> 01:11:46,291 As attorney general, 1650 01:11:46,375 --> 01:11:47,834 it's Jeff Sessions' responsibility 1651 01:11:47,917 --> 01:11:49,792 to oversee any potential investigation 1652 01:11:49,875 --> 01:11:52,750 into the Trump campaign's relationship with Russia. 1653 01:11:52,834 --> 01:11:54,750 Now, several are suggesting 1654 01:11:54,834 --> 01:11:56,500 that the nation's chief law enforcement officer 1655 01:11:56,583 --> 01:11:58,500 himself step aside. 1656 01:11:58,583 --> 01:12:00,208 The president was very concerned 1657 01:12:00,291 --> 01:12:01,458 when he first heard about this, 1658 01:12:01,542 --> 01:12:03,041 and had the White House counsel, 1659 01:12:03,125 --> 01:12:04,000 Don McGahn, 1660 01:12:04,083 --> 01:12:05,750 try and lobby Sessions 1661 01:12:05,834 --> 01:12:06,834 not to step aside. 1662 01:12:06,917 --> 01:12:08,792 I have been here 1663 01:12:08,875 --> 01:12:11,333 just three weeks today. 1664 01:12:11,417 --> 01:12:14,917 A lot has been happening, in this three-week period. 1665 01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:17,250 Ultimately, Sessions said, "Look, the career folks 1666 01:12:17,333 --> 01:12:18,875 here at the Justice Department 1667 01:12:18,959 --> 01:12:20,458 who advised me on this said 1668 01:12:20,542 --> 01:12:22,375 that I have to not be involved in this 1669 01:12:22,458 --> 01:12:24,208 because of my role in the campaign." 1670 01:12:24,291 --> 01:12:26,750 Therefore, I have recused myself, 1671 01:12:26,834 --> 01:12:30,959 in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign. 1672 01:12:31,041 --> 01:12:32,417 Jeff Sessions, who is 1673 01:12:32,500 --> 01:12:33,834 a politician through and through, 1674 01:12:33,917 --> 01:12:36,291 bent to the norms 1675 01:12:36,375 --> 01:12:38,834 of independence of the department. 1676 01:12:38,917 --> 01:12:40,834 You don't want the attorney general 1677 01:12:40,917 --> 01:12:43,083 to be conducting an investigation 1678 01:12:43,166 --> 01:12:45,000 where he has a conflict of interest. 1679 01:12:45,750 --> 01:12:47,583 So the number two person, Rod Rosenstein, 1680 01:12:47,667 --> 01:12:49,542 who occupied the position that Comey had 1681 01:12:49,625 --> 01:12:51,500 when I was in the Justice Department-- 1682 01:12:51,583 --> 01:12:53,083 he was the deputy attorney general-- 1683 01:12:53,166 --> 01:12:54,667 he became, for the Russia matter, 1684 01:12:54,750 --> 01:12:55,834 the acting attorney general, 1685 01:12:55,917 --> 01:12:57,250 just as Comey had become, 1686 01:12:57,333 --> 01:12:58,792 for the surveillance program 1687 01:12:58,875 --> 01:13:00,250 in 2004, the acting attorney general, 1688 01:13:00,333 --> 01:13:02,333 and so this actually worked 1689 01:13:02,417 --> 01:13:04,250 the way it was supposed to work. 1690 01:13:04,333 --> 01:13:06,667 Thank you all. Take care. 1691 01:13:06,750 --> 01:13:08,792 But when Sessions recused himself, 1692 01:13:08,875 --> 01:13:11,417 Trump became enraged. 1693 01:13:11,500 --> 01:13:13,709 A source is telling CNN 1694 01:13:13,792 --> 01:13:16,291 that the president was frustrated and angry. 1695 01:13:16,375 --> 01:13:19,542 That led to a fiery meeting in the Oval Office, 1696 01:13:19,625 --> 01:13:22,375 where there were, quote, "a lot of expletives." 1697 01:13:22,458 --> 01:13:24,083 The President of the United States 1698 01:13:24,166 --> 01:13:25,959 is infuriated, 1699 01:13:26,041 --> 01:13:27,667 because he wants loyalty. 1700 01:13:27,750 --> 01:13:29,834 He wants his man 1701 01:13:29,917 --> 01:13:32,125 in charge of the Russia investigation, 1702 01:13:32,208 --> 01:13:34,458 and he can't have it. 1703 01:13:35,875 --> 01:13:37,750 After that angry White House meeting, 1704 01:13:37,834 --> 01:13:39,667 the president left for Florida, 1705 01:13:39,750 --> 01:13:41,709 and it was from his Mar-a-Lago estate 1706 01:13:41,792 --> 01:13:43,625 on Saturday morning that Trump tweeted out 1707 01:13:43,709 --> 01:13:45,458 that explosive accusation 1708 01:13:45,542 --> 01:13:47,625 that President Obama ordered the wiretapping 1709 01:13:47,709 --> 01:13:49,291 of his phone and Trump Tower 1710 01:13:49,375 --> 01:13:51,333 during the campaign. 1711 01:13:51,417 --> 01:13:53,458 Trump is trying to muddy the waters 1712 01:13:53,542 --> 01:13:55,959 and distract from the Russia probe. 1713 01:13:56,041 --> 01:13:57,667 Along comes Comey 1714 01:13:57,750 --> 01:13:59,417 to set the record straight 1715 01:13:59,500 --> 01:14:01,250 in a very public way. 1716 01:14:03,083 --> 01:14:04,250 Tomorrow, James Comey 1717 01:14:04,333 --> 01:14:05,917 will publicly answer questions 1718 01:14:06,000 --> 01:14:08,125 about the president's wiretapping claims. 1719 01:14:08,208 --> 01:14:09,500 The setting this time: 1720 01:14:09,583 --> 01:14:11,083 the House Intelligence Committee. 1721 01:14:11,166 --> 01:14:13,000 It promises to be a blockbuster. 1722 01:14:13,083 --> 01:14:15,375 How directly will he take on the president 1723 01:14:15,458 --> 01:14:17,458 in open session? If he does, 1724 01:14:17,542 --> 01:14:20,166 how is the president gonna respond? 1725 01:14:21,959 --> 01:14:24,333 The committee will come to order. 1726 01:14:24,417 --> 01:14:26,083 Director Comey, 1727 01:14:26,166 --> 01:14:28,959 I want to begin by attempting to put to rest 1728 01:14:29,041 --> 01:14:31,041 several claims made by the president 1729 01:14:31,125 --> 01:14:32,834 about his predecessor, 1730 01:14:32,917 --> 01:14:34,375 namely, that President Obama 1731 01:14:34,458 --> 01:14:36,417 wiretapped his phones. 1732 01:14:36,500 --> 01:14:38,792 I have no information that supports those tweets, 1733 01:14:38,875 --> 01:14:41,750 and we have looked carefully inside the FBI. 1734 01:14:41,834 --> 01:14:43,417 The president accused 1735 01:14:43,500 --> 01:14:45,625 Mr. Obama, and presumably the FBI, 1736 01:14:45,709 --> 01:14:47,750 of engaging in McCarthyism. 1737 01:14:47,834 --> 01:14:50,083 Were you engaged in McCarthyism, Director Comey? 1738 01:14:50,166 --> 01:14:52,125 I try very hard not to engage in any isms 1739 01:14:52,208 --> 01:14:53,583 of any kind, 1740 01:14:53,667 --> 01:14:56,375 including-- including McCarthyism. 1741 01:14:56,458 --> 01:14:57,792 The investigation in the House 1742 01:14:57,875 --> 01:14:59,375 Intelligence Committee 1743 01:14:59,458 --> 01:15:01,625 began as a bipartisan investigation. 1744 01:15:01,709 --> 01:15:03,333 Um, but then we had 1745 01:15:03,417 --> 01:15:05,625 the open hearing with James Comey. 1746 01:15:05,709 --> 01:15:07,041 Director Comey, you're recognized 1747 01:15:07,125 --> 01:15:08,458 for five minutes. 1748 01:15:08,542 --> 01:15:10,041 As you know, our practice 1749 01:15:10,125 --> 01:15:11,709 is not to confirm 1750 01:15:11,792 --> 01:15:14,250 the existence of ongoing investigations, 1751 01:15:14,333 --> 01:15:16,792 but in unusual circumstances, 1752 01:15:16,875 --> 01:15:19,500 where it is in the public interest, 1753 01:15:19,583 --> 01:15:22,291 it may be appropriate to do so. 1754 01:15:22,375 --> 01:15:24,959 This is one of those circumstances. 1755 01:15:26,875 --> 01:15:28,709 He announced for the first time 1756 01:15:28,792 --> 01:15:30,542 that there had been a counterintelligence 1757 01:15:30,625 --> 01:15:31,875 investigation of the Trump campaign 1758 01:15:31,959 --> 01:15:34,792 going on since July. 1759 01:15:34,875 --> 01:15:36,500 I was told thereafter 1760 01:15:36,583 --> 01:15:38,208 that the GOP members of our committee 1761 01:15:38,291 --> 01:15:39,542 viewed that hearing 1762 01:15:39,625 --> 01:15:41,834 as an unmitigated disaster, 1763 01:15:41,917 --> 01:15:44,083 which was curious to me, 1764 01:15:44,166 --> 01:15:46,458 because it was only a disaster if you viewed 1765 01:15:46,542 --> 01:15:48,208 as your mission protecting the president. 1766 01:15:48,291 --> 01:15:50,834 We were attacked by a hostile power. 1767 01:15:50,917 --> 01:15:53,125 In a normal time, 1768 01:15:53,208 --> 01:15:55,500 the legislative branch of government 1769 01:15:55,583 --> 01:15:58,834 would say, "What the hell just happened?" 1770 01:15:58,917 --> 01:16:00,542 Director Comey, you announced this morning 1771 01:16:00,625 --> 01:16:02,083 that there'll be an investigation 1772 01:16:02,166 --> 01:16:04,500 into Trump associates. Do Russians 1773 01:16:04,583 --> 01:16:06,917 historically prefer Republicans 1774 01:16:07,000 --> 01:16:09,458 to win over Democrats? 1775 01:16:09,542 --> 01:16:10,834 I don't know the answer to that. 1776 01:16:10,917 --> 01:16:11,875 Did the Russians 1777 01:16:11,959 --> 01:16:13,250 prefer Mitt Romney 1778 01:16:13,333 --> 01:16:15,792 over Barack Obama in 2012? 1779 01:16:15,875 --> 01:16:18,083 I never saw a U.S. intelligence community 1780 01:16:18,166 --> 01:16:19,875 analytic position on that issue. 1781 01:16:19,959 --> 01:16:21,917 Don't you think it's ridiculous to say 1782 01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:24,500 that somehow, the Russians, prefer 1783 01:16:24,583 --> 01:16:27,083 Republicans over-- over Democrats? 1784 01:16:30,875 --> 01:16:32,709 With the election of Donald Trump, 1785 01:16:32,792 --> 01:16:34,000 you got a Republican president, 1786 01:16:34,083 --> 01:16:35,875 you got a Republican Congress, 1787 01:16:35,959 --> 01:16:37,417 and the Republican Congress 1788 01:16:37,500 --> 01:16:40,750 proves unwilling and unable 1789 01:16:40,834 --> 01:16:43,125 to investigate the Republican president. 1790 01:16:43,208 --> 01:16:45,166 Director Comey, do you have any evidence 1791 01:16:45,250 --> 01:16:46,417 at the FBI that any 1792 01:16:46,500 --> 01:16:48,208 current Trump White House 1793 01:16:48,291 --> 01:16:49,500 or administration official 1794 01:16:49,583 --> 01:16:51,208 coordinated with the Russian 1795 01:16:51,291 --> 01:16:53,500 intelligence services? -That's not something 1796 01:16:53,583 --> 01:16:55,542 I can answer in an open setting. 1797 01:16:55,625 --> 01:16:57,875 Well, we're conducting our own investigation here, 1798 01:16:57,959 --> 01:16:59,500 and I know that you're not going to tell me 1799 01:16:59,583 --> 01:17:01,083 whether or not you have any evidence, 1800 01:17:01,166 --> 01:17:02,792 but I can tell you that we don't have any evidence. 1801 01:17:02,875 --> 01:17:05,083 You know, there is a big gray cloud 1802 01:17:05,166 --> 01:17:06,709 that you have now put over, 1803 01:17:06,792 --> 01:17:07,959 people who have very important work to do 1804 01:17:08,041 --> 01:17:09,166 to lead this country. 1805 01:17:09,250 --> 01:17:11,458 I understand. Thank you. 1806 01:17:14,041 --> 01:17:16,500 If you think about the antics of Devin Nunes, 1807 01:17:16,583 --> 01:17:18,625 there's some deep, deep worry 1808 01:17:18,709 --> 01:17:20,500 that there are people in Congress 1809 01:17:20,583 --> 01:17:22,417 who don't care about the law, 1810 01:17:22,500 --> 01:17:24,667 who don't care about the Constitution, 1811 01:17:24,750 --> 01:17:27,208 and care only about getting reelected 1812 01:17:27,291 --> 01:17:29,458 and having their president reelected. 1813 01:17:29,542 --> 01:17:31,125 Among the majority party, 1814 01:17:31,208 --> 01:17:32,709 there's no interest in finding out 1815 01:17:32,792 --> 01:17:33,917 what the Russians did, 1816 01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:35,667 or what the Trump campaign did, 1817 01:17:35,750 --> 01:17:37,625 or what they did in combination. 1818 01:17:37,709 --> 01:17:39,375 That is damning evidence 1819 01:17:39,458 --> 01:17:41,291 that our system is 1820 01:17:41,375 --> 01:17:43,333 cracking in terms 1821 01:17:43,417 --> 01:17:45,542 of its checks and balances. 1822 01:17:51,250 --> 01:17:52,667 What you have 1823 01:17:52,750 --> 01:17:54,792 in the House Intelligence Committee is 1824 01:17:54,875 --> 01:17:57,458 a chairman who has essentially destroyed 1825 01:17:57,542 --> 01:17:59,250 the checks and balances 1826 01:17:59,333 --> 01:18:00,750 that are written into the Constitution 1827 01:18:00,834 --> 01:18:03,542 to construct a Trumpian reality 1828 01:18:03,625 --> 01:18:05,500 around a terrible event. 1829 01:18:05,583 --> 01:18:07,500 And as we sit here today, 1830 01:18:07,583 --> 01:18:09,792 we know they're coming at us again, 1831 01:18:09,875 --> 01:18:12,083 and we haven't done a damn thing about it. 1832 01:18:30,500 --> 01:18:32,417 He asked what we could do 1833 01:18:32,500 --> 01:18:35,166 to lift the cloud. I responded that we were 1834 01:18:35,250 --> 01:18:37,875 investigating the matter as quickly as we could. 1835 01:18:37,959 --> 01:18:39,583 The president went on to say that if there were 1836 01:18:39,667 --> 01:18:41,959 some satellite associates of his 1837 01:18:42,041 --> 01:18:43,625 who did something wrong, 1838 01:18:43,709 --> 01:18:45,333 it would be good to find that out, 1839 01:18:45,417 --> 01:18:46,667 but then reemphasized the problems 1840 01:18:46,750 --> 01:18:48,417 this was causing him 1841 01:18:48,500 --> 01:18:50,166 and said he hoped I could find a way 1842 01:18:50,250 --> 01:18:52,458 to get out that he wasn't being investigated. 1843 01:18:52,542 --> 01:18:54,000 Now, I understand 1844 01:18:54,083 --> 01:18:56,500 that you received a call from Trump as well. 1845 01:18:56,583 --> 01:18:58,875 I--you know, I did. You know-- 1846 01:18:58,959 --> 01:19:00,750 Look, God knows I don't fully understand 1847 01:19:00,834 --> 01:19:02,875 why Donald Trump does all that he does, 1848 01:19:02,959 --> 01:19:05,458 but there's all sorts of ways 1849 01:19:05,542 --> 01:19:07,583 someone who is in political office 1850 01:19:07,667 --> 01:19:10,709 can try to put the arm on someone who's a prosecutor 1851 01:19:10,792 --> 01:19:12,583 or a law enforcement official. 1852 01:19:12,667 --> 01:19:15,208 Someone will say, "Stop working on that case." 1853 01:19:15,291 --> 01:19:17,750 People can also say, "Could you open up a case?" 1854 01:19:17,834 --> 01:19:21,333 Now, our jurisdiction included his properties, 1855 01:19:21,417 --> 01:19:23,250 his residents, bank accounts, family members-- 1856 01:19:23,333 --> 01:19:25,250 I'm not saying that we were looking 1857 01:19:25,333 --> 01:19:27,125 at any of those things necessarily, 1858 01:19:27,208 --> 01:19:30,041 but that was what our ambit included. 1859 01:19:30,125 --> 01:19:32,917 Ordinarily, if someone of that position 1860 01:19:33,000 --> 01:19:35,208 is gonna be calling the local prosecutor 1861 01:19:35,291 --> 01:19:37,041 in a jurisdiction as I described, 1862 01:19:37,125 --> 01:19:38,959 there would've been some warning about it, 1863 01:19:39,041 --> 01:19:40,500 it would have been set up through the attorney general-- 1864 01:19:40,583 --> 01:19:41,792 I mean, there is protocol 1865 01:19:41,875 --> 01:19:43,792 for precisely the purpose 1866 01:19:43,875 --> 01:19:45,917 of making sure that lines are not crossed, 1867 01:19:46,000 --> 01:19:47,500 so we considered whether or not 1868 01:19:47,583 --> 01:19:49,041 I should return the call 1869 01:19:49,125 --> 01:19:50,959 and actually make a tape recording 1870 01:19:51,041 --> 01:19:52,667 of the phone call between the sitting 1871 01:19:52,750 --> 01:19:54,125 United States attorney and the sitting president, 1872 01:19:54,208 --> 01:19:55,500 and we thought that was a bridge too far. 1873 01:19:55,583 --> 01:19:57,125 That didn't feel right, 1874 01:19:57,208 --> 01:19:59,083 and then we taught-- thought to ourselves 1875 01:19:59,166 --> 01:20:00,542 we could take contemporaneous notes, 1876 01:20:00,625 --> 01:20:02,917 and I later learned Jim Comey did. 1877 01:20:04,917 --> 01:20:06,917 Why was there so much of an instinct 1878 01:20:07,000 --> 01:20:09,291 for people to want to have a record 1879 01:20:09,375 --> 01:20:12,542 of a conversation with President Trump? 1880 01:20:12,625 --> 01:20:14,500 On the morning of April 11th, 1881 01:20:14,583 --> 01:20:16,875 the president called to ask what I had done 1882 01:20:16,959 --> 01:20:19,125 about his request that I get out 1883 01:20:19,208 --> 01:20:21,125 that he is not personally under investigation. 1884 01:20:21,208 --> 01:20:24,500 He seemed irritated with me. Then he added, 1885 01:20:24,583 --> 01:20:27,625 "Because I have been very loyal to you. Very loyal. 1886 01:20:27,709 --> 01:20:29,041 We had that thing, you know." 1887 01:20:33,000 --> 01:20:34,959 You described two phone calls 1888 01:20:35,041 --> 01:20:36,542 that you received from President Trump 1889 01:20:36,625 --> 01:20:38,458 where he asked you, 1890 01:20:38,542 --> 01:20:41,792 quote, "to lift the cloud," end quote. 1891 01:20:41,875 --> 01:20:43,542 Talk for a moment about 1892 01:20:43,625 --> 01:20:45,291 your response to that 1893 01:20:45,375 --> 01:20:47,875 and what impact you believe that had. 1894 01:20:47,959 --> 01:20:50,875 Well, I didn't do it, and so 1895 01:20:50,959 --> 01:20:53,875 this didn't improve the relationship. 1896 01:20:53,959 --> 01:20:57,125 Please go into that with more detail. 1897 01:20:57,208 --> 01:21:00,166 He was frustrated with the 1898 01:21:00,250 --> 01:21:02,375 Russia investigation 1899 01:21:02,458 --> 01:21:04,875 and something about the way I was conducting it 1900 01:21:04,959 --> 01:21:06,750 the president felt 1901 01:21:06,834 --> 01:21:09,125 created pressure on him that he wanted to relieve. 1902 01:21:09,208 --> 01:21:11,375 After April 11th, 1903 01:21:11,458 --> 01:21:14,959 did he ask you more, ever, 1904 01:21:15,041 --> 01:21:18,125 about the Russia investigation? 1905 01:21:18,208 --> 01:21:19,000 No. 1906 01:21:19,083 --> 01:21:20,291 We never spoke again 1907 01:21:20,375 --> 01:21:21,166 after April 11th. 1908 01:21:26,583 --> 01:21:28,000 I was in Los Angeles to attend 1909 01:21:28,083 --> 01:21:30,583 a diversity agent recruiting event. 1910 01:21:30,667 --> 01:21:32,542 I went early enough to have time 1911 01:21:32,625 --> 01:21:35,583 to visit the FBI's Los Angeles field office. 1912 01:21:35,667 --> 01:21:37,208 I met dozens of LA employees 1913 01:21:37,291 --> 01:21:38,625 standing at their desks, 1914 01:21:38,709 --> 01:21:41,166 and then I stopped. 1915 01:21:41,250 --> 01:21:43,458 On the TV screens along the back wall, 1916 01:21:43,542 --> 01:21:45,625 I could see "Comey Fired" 1917 01:21:45,709 --> 01:21:47,792 in large letters. 1918 01:21:47,875 --> 01:21:49,417 This is coming on the heels 1919 01:21:49,500 --> 01:21:51,083 of the FBI director being, 1920 01:21:51,166 --> 01:21:52,667 so central 1921 01:21:52,750 --> 01:21:54,208 involved in this, Russian scandal. 1922 01:21:54,291 --> 01:21:56,208 Across three screens, 1923 01:21:56,291 --> 01:21:58,208 displaying three different news stations, 1924 01:21:58,291 --> 01:22:00,375 I now saw the same words. 1925 01:22:00,458 --> 01:22:02,583 President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations 1926 01:22:02,667 --> 01:22:05,083 of deputy attorney general, 1927 01:22:05,166 --> 01:22:06,375 Rod Rosenstein. 1928 01:22:06,458 --> 01:22:08,000 I just got a letter. 1929 01:22:08,083 --> 01:22:09,750 It's a lengthy letter, a three-page letter, 1930 01:22:09,834 --> 01:22:11,417 from the deputy attorney general. 1931 01:22:11,500 --> 01:22:12,750 The deputy attorney general 1932 01:22:12,834 --> 01:22:14,208 Rod Rosenstein said, 1933 01:22:14,291 --> 01:22:16,417 "I could not defend the director. 1934 01:22:16,500 --> 01:22:18,208 James Comey's handling 1935 01:22:18,291 --> 01:22:19,875 of the conclusion of the investigation 1936 01:22:19,959 --> 01:22:22,208 of Secretary Clinton's emails, started..." 1937 01:22:22,291 --> 01:22:23,625 When Trump 1938 01:22:23,709 --> 01:22:25,041 fired Comey, he gave 1939 01:22:25,125 --> 01:22:26,625 as his first and ostensible reason, 1940 01:22:26,709 --> 01:22:28,750 a memo that Rosenstein had written 1941 01:22:28,834 --> 01:22:30,875 that had detailed 1942 01:22:30,959 --> 01:22:33,208 what Rosenstein viewed as the failings of Comey 1943 01:22:33,291 --> 01:22:34,792 in connection with the Hillary investigation. 1944 01:22:34,875 --> 01:22:37,041 You remember, that was that highly dramatic 1945 01:22:37,125 --> 01:22:39,333 press conference that was held last summer 1946 01:22:39,417 --> 01:22:41,375 where, FBI director Comey 1947 01:22:41,458 --> 01:22:43,375 was quite critical of Hillary Clinton. 1948 01:22:43,458 --> 01:22:45,667 There's much to question about what Comey did, 1949 01:22:45,750 --> 01:22:48,208 but that seemed like it was a memo written 1950 01:22:48,291 --> 01:22:49,834 quickly, and not very impressively, 1951 01:22:49,917 --> 01:22:51,417 as an excuse to fire Comey. 1952 01:22:51,500 --> 01:22:54,291 There is no way 1953 01:22:54,375 --> 01:22:57,625 that Rod Rosenstein could have thought 1954 01:22:57,709 --> 01:23:00,333 that Donald Trump 1955 01:23:00,417 --> 01:23:03,166 wanted to fire the FBI director 1956 01:23:03,250 --> 01:23:05,417 because he had been unfair 1957 01:23:05,500 --> 01:23:06,875 to Hillary Clinton... 1958 01:23:06,959 --> 01:23:08,458 Morning, sir. How you doing? 1959 01:23:08,542 --> 01:23:10,458 ...Though I'm sure it reflects 1960 01:23:10,542 --> 01:23:13,500 Rod's honest evaluation of Jim's performance 1961 01:23:13,583 --> 01:23:15,375 in the Hillary Clinton email matters. 1962 01:23:24,083 --> 01:23:26,458 Monday, you met with the deputy attorney general, 1963 01:23:26,542 --> 01:23:28,041 Rod Rosenstein. -Right. 1964 01:23:28,125 --> 01:23:30,000 Did you ask for a recommendation? 1965 01:23:30,083 --> 01:23:31,583 He made a recommendation, 1966 01:23:31,667 --> 01:23:33,083 but regardless of recommendation, 1967 01:23:33,166 --> 01:23:36,250 I was going to fire Comey. My decision. 1968 01:23:36,333 --> 01:23:37,917 - It was not-- - You had made the decision 1969 01:23:38,000 --> 01:23:38,959 before they came in the room? 1970 01:23:39,041 --> 01:23:41,041 I-I was going to fire Comey. 1971 01:23:41,125 --> 01:23:43,875 And, in fact, when I decided to just do it, 1972 01:23:43,959 --> 01:23:46,125 I said to myself--I said, "You know, 1973 01:23:46,208 --> 01:23:49,041 this Russia thing with Trump and Russia 1974 01:23:49,125 --> 01:23:50,083 is a made-up story." 1975 01:23:50,166 --> 01:23:52,041 This was an excuse 1976 01:23:52,125 --> 01:23:53,917 for having lost an election, and-- 1977 01:23:54,000 --> 01:23:56,291 Okay, are you angry with Mr. Comey 1978 01:23:56,375 --> 01:23:58,125 because of his Russia investigation? 1979 01:23:58,208 --> 01:24:01,792 I just want somebody that's competent. 1980 01:24:01,875 --> 01:24:03,417 Trump realized 1981 01:24:03,500 --> 01:24:04,875 that he could not count 1982 01:24:04,959 --> 01:24:06,208 on Jim Comey 1983 01:24:06,291 --> 01:24:07,917 to not investigate him 1984 01:24:08,000 --> 01:24:09,709 and not investigate his friend, 1985 01:24:09,792 --> 01:24:11,875 and that is why he fired Jim Comey, 1986 01:24:11,959 --> 01:24:13,959 as he made very clear 1987 01:24:14,041 --> 01:24:16,500 the next day to the Russian ambassador 1988 01:24:16,583 --> 01:24:17,542 and the foreign minister. 1989 01:24:21,333 --> 01:24:22,792 The thing about that meeting 1990 01:24:22,875 --> 01:24:24,750 that is sort of an interesting thing 1991 01:24:24,834 --> 01:24:27,458 of the Trump era is that everyone remembers it 1992 01:24:27,542 --> 01:24:31,375 because the president called Comey a nutjob. 1993 01:24:31,458 --> 01:24:33,375 With all the news Trump makes, 1994 01:24:33,458 --> 01:24:35,500 we tend to follow the stupid human trick 1995 01:24:35,583 --> 01:24:37,750 and not pay attention to the more substantive thing, 1996 01:24:37,834 --> 01:24:39,792 the fact that he said 1997 01:24:39,875 --> 01:24:43,250 it relieved pressure on him. 1998 01:24:43,333 --> 01:24:45,792 Ultimately, this is the story 1999 01:24:45,875 --> 01:24:47,500 about a president 2000 01:24:47,583 --> 01:24:50,375 not getting the investigative outcomes 2001 01:24:50,458 --> 01:24:52,000 that he wanted, 2002 01:24:52,083 --> 01:24:54,792 and trying to make law enforcement 2003 01:24:54,875 --> 01:24:58,333 malleable to his political desires, 2004 01:24:58,417 --> 01:25:02,000 and the--the extreme danger of that 2005 01:25:02,083 --> 01:25:04,542 should be all we've been talking about 2006 01:25:04,625 --> 01:25:06,500 for the last year and a half, 2007 01:25:06,583 --> 01:25:07,875 and it hasn't been, 2008 01:25:07,959 --> 01:25:10,041 and one of the reasons is that 2009 01:25:10,125 --> 01:25:12,959 people have such mixed feelings about Jim. 2010 01:25:13,041 --> 01:25:14,458 FBI director 2011 01:25:14,542 --> 01:25:15,458 James Comey 2012 01:25:15,542 --> 01:25:16,542 has just been fired 2013 01:25:16,625 --> 01:25:17,625 by Donald Trump. 2014 01:25:19,542 --> 01:25:21,792 Wow. Wow... 2015 01:25:21,875 --> 01:25:25,208 Huge, huge Donald Trump fans here tonight. 2016 01:25:25,291 --> 01:25:28,000 The complicated feelings 2017 01:25:28,083 --> 01:25:30,125 that people have about Comey 2018 01:25:30,208 --> 01:25:32,000 in relation to Hillary Clinton 2019 01:25:32,083 --> 01:25:35,041 really did muddy that story. 2020 01:25:35,125 --> 01:25:37,834 Frankly, I think it's kind of sad. 2021 01:25:37,917 --> 01:25:40,250 Here's what Democrats said not long ago about Comey. 2022 01:25:40,333 --> 01:25:42,166 Harry Reid said Comey should resign 2023 01:25:42,250 --> 01:25:44,417 and be investigated by the Senate. 2024 01:25:44,500 --> 01:25:47,083 Senator Chuck Schumer said, "I don't have confidence 2025 01:25:47,166 --> 01:25:48,834 in him any longer." And I've heard 2026 01:25:48,917 --> 01:25:51,417 from countless, members of the FBI 2027 01:25:51,500 --> 01:25:53,792 that are grateful and thankful for the president's decision. 2028 01:25:53,875 --> 01:25:55,625 You personally 2029 01:25:55,709 --> 01:26:00,417 have talked to countless FBI employees since this happened? 2030 01:26:00,500 --> 01:26:03,041 Correct. -I mean, really? 2031 01:26:03,125 --> 01:26:05,041 Like, I mean, really? Are we be--so are we talking-- 2032 01:26:05,125 --> 01:26:06,583 Between, like, email, text messages, 2033 01:26:06,667 --> 01:26:08,250 absolutely. -50? 2034 01:26:08,333 --> 01:26:09,792 Yes. -I don't believe 2035 01:26:09,875 --> 01:26:11,250 she heard from anybody 2036 01:26:11,333 --> 01:26:13,250 in the building, 2037 01:26:13,333 --> 01:26:15,083 so I sought, 2038 01:26:15,166 --> 01:26:16,917 under Freedom of Information Act, 2039 01:26:17,000 --> 01:26:19,709 all statements to staff 2040 01:26:19,792 --> 01:26:21,458 in response to the firing 2041 01:26:21,542 --> 01:26:23,750 in all the field offices, 2042 01:26:23,834 --> 01:26:26,208 in all the divisions. 2043 01:26:26,291 --> 01:26:28,333 If Sarah Huckabee Sanders was right, 2044 01:26:28,417 --> 01:26:30,500 there would be a kind of 2045 01:26:30,583 --> 01:26:33,458 "ding-dong, the witch is dead." 2046 01:26:33,542 --> 01:26:36,208 There was not a single expression 2047 01:26:36,291 --> 01:26:38,834 anywhere in any of those pages 2048 01:26:38,917 --> 01:26:40,291 that remotely supports 2049 01:26:40,375 --> 01:26:42,625 what Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. 2050 01:26:42,709 --> 01:26:44,041 People in that building 2051 01:26:44,125 --> 01:26:46,500 knew instinctively 2052 01:26:46,583 --> 01:26:48,792 that the attacks on him 2053 01:26:48,875 --> 01:26:51,709 were a proxy for an attack on them. 2054 01:26:55,250 --> 01:26:57,959 At that point, the face-to-face meetings 2055 01:26:58,041 --> 01:27:00,333 between Trump and Comey 2056 01:27:00,417 --> 01:27:03,208 are not a matter of public record, 2057 01:27:03,291 --> 01:27:05,458 but two days after Comey is fired, 2058 01:27:05,542 --> 01:27:07,500 there's a headline in The New York Times. 2059 01:27:07,583 --> 01:27:08,875 "In A Private Dinner, 2060 01:27:08,959 --> 01:27:11,041 Trump Demanded Loyalty. 2061 01:27:11,125 --> 01:27:12,709 Comey Demurred." 2062 01:27:15,166 --> 01:27:17,375 In the aftermath of Comey being fired, 2063 01:27:17,458 --> 01:27:19,375 it was clear that some stuff had gone on 2064 01:27:19,458 --> 01:27:21,000 that we didn't know about between Comey 2065 01:27:21,083 --> 01:27:23,000 and the president, and the first story 2066 01:27:23,083 --> 01:27:25,333 that I was able to break about it 2067 01:27:25,417 --> 01:27:28,291 was the loyalty dinner. 2068 01:27:28,375 --> 01:27:30,125 Trump was obviously very upset, 2069 01:27:30,208 --> 01:27:32,375 and it's in the aftermath of that story 2070 01:27:32,458 --> 01:27:34,542 that the president tweets 2071 01:27:34,625 --> 01:27:38,083 "Comey better hope there are not tapes." 2072 01:27:38,166 --> 01:27:39,792 President tweeted on Friday 2073 01:27:39,875 --> 01:27:41,333 after I got fired. 2074 01:27:41,417 --> 01:27:43,709 I woke up in the middle of the night. 2075 01:27:43,792 --> 01:27:45,125 Holy cow. There might be tapes, 2076 01:27:45,208 --> 01:27:46,750 and if there are tapes, 2077 01:27:46,834 --> 01:27:48,834 it's not just my word against his 2078 01:27:48,917 --> 01:27:52,000 on the direction to get rid of the Flynn investigation, 2079 01:27:52,083 --> 01:27:53,625 and so I asked a friend of mine 2080 01:27:53,709 --> 01:27:56,792 to share the content of the memo with a reporter, 2081 01:27:56,875 --> 01:27:59,041 because I thought that might prompt 2082 01:27:59,125 --> 01:28:01,000 the appointment of a special counsel. 2083 01:28:01,083 --> 01:28:02,291 When you received 2084 01:28:02,375 --> 01:28:04,125 the information about this memo, 2085 01:28:04,208 --> 01:28:06,417 did you realize what it could lead to? 2086 01:28:06,500 --> 01:28:08,125 Yeah, I mean, it was pretty clear-- 2087 01:28:08,208 --> 01:28:10,792 the significance of it. Yeah. 2088 01:28:13,125 --> 01:28:14,917 We reported about the Oval Office meeting, 2089 01:28:15,000 --> 01:28:16,000 and the next day, 2090 01:28:16,083 --> 01:28:17,709 Rod Rosenstein 2091 01:28:17,792 --> 01:28:20,750 appoints Mueller to be the special counsel. 2092 01:28:20,834 --> 01:28:22,959 The White House blindsided tonight 2093 01:28:23,041 --> 01:28:24,166 as the Department of Justice 2094 01:28:24,250 --> 01:28:26,375 will appoint a special counsel... 2095 01:28:26,458 --> 01:28:28,792 Special Counsel in the Russia investigation. 2096 01:28:28,875 --> 01:28:30,875 That special counsel will be 2097 01:28:30,959 --> 01:28:33,667 former FBI director Robert Mueller. 2098 01:28:33,750 --> 01:28:36,375 The former FBI director Robert Mueller. 2099 01:28:38,917 --> 01:28:41,875 So it--it isn't like the firing of Comey 2100 01:28:41,959 --> 01:28:43,542 ended the investigation into-- 2101 01:28:43,625 --> 01:28:44,792 No. If anything, 2102 01:28:44,875 --> 01:28:46,417 you could argue that it 2103 01:28:46,500 --> 01:28:48,417 doubled or tripled the shadow 2104 01:28:48,500 --> 01:28:51,250 over the White House. 2105 01:28:53,917 --> 01:28:56,250 Sir, do you believe that Robert Mueller, 2106 01:28:56,333 --> 01:28:58,834 our new special investigator on Russia, 2107 01:28:58,917 --> 01:29:01,166 will be thorough and complete without political intervention, 2108 01:29:01,250 --> 01:29:02,458 and would you be confident 2109 01:29:02,542 --> 01:29:04,083 on his findings and recommendations? 2110 01:29:04,166 --> 01:29:05,458 Yes. Bob Mueller is one 2111 01:29:05,542 --> 01:29:07,792 of the finest people and public servants 2112 01:29:07,875 --> 01:29:09,208 this country has ever produced. 2113 01:29:09,291 --> 01:29:11,041 He will do it well. 2114 01:29:11,125 --> 01:29:13,291 He is a dogged, tough person, 2115 01:29:13,375 --> 01:29:15,250 and you can have high confidence 2116 01:29:15,333 --> 01:29:17,542 that when it's done, he's turned over all the rocks. 2117 01:29:17,625 --> 01:29:19,792 Director Comey, thank you once again 2118 01:29:19,875 --> 01:29:21,875 on behalf of the committee. This hearing's adjourned. 2119 01:29:21,959 --> 01:29:24,250 When the president fires Jim Comey, 2120 01:29:24,333 --> 01:29:27,625 he thinks if he decapitates the FBI, 2121 01:29:27,709 --> 01:29:30,125 the FBI will cease to investigate him. 2122 01:29:30,208 --> 01:29:32,041 He is so wrong. 2123 01:29:34,583 --> 01:29:37,834 Bob Mueller can take teams of FBI agents 2124 01:29:37,917 --> 01:29:41,417 and point them in a number of directions. 2125 01:29:41,500 --> 01:29:44,375 His mandate is not simply to look at all things Russia. 2126 01:29:44,458 --> 01:29:48,083 It is to look at all things criminal. 2127 01:29:48,166 --> 01:29:49,250 Like Paul Manafort 2128 01:29:49,333 --> 01:29:50,709 and Rick Gates' indictment 2129 01:29:50,792 --> 01:29:53,792 for money laundering and past work 2130 01:29:53,875 --> 01:29:56,375 for Russian-backed oligarchs in Ukraine. 2131 01:29:56,458 --> 01:29:58,750 Paul Manafort is a nice man. 2132 01:29:58,834 --> 01:30:01,083 You look at what's going on with him-- 2133 01:30:01,166 --> 01:30:02,709 it--it's just a sad thing. 2134 01:30:02,792 --> 01:30:03,959 We've seen from Mueller 2135 01:30:04,041 --> 01:30:05,125 that his interests are broad, 2136 01:30:05,208 --> 01:30:07,291 that he is looking 2137 01:30:07,375 --> 01:30:09,083 at many different things, including 2138 01:30:09,166 --> 01:30:11,709 charging Russians who were part 2139 01:30:11,792 --> 01:30:13,583 of this influence campaign, to charging 2140 01:30:13,667 --> 01:30:15,500 folks around the president 2141 01:30:15,583 --> 01:30:17,834 with making false statements to investigators. 2142 01:30:17,917 --> 01:30:19,542 Michael Flynn ended up pleading guilty. 2143 01:30:19,625 --> 01:30:21,917 This is where we saw George Papadopoulos 2144 01:30:22,000 --> 01:30:23,125 plead guilty. 2145 01:30:23,208 --> 01:30:24,125 There has been 2146 01:30:24,208 --> 01:30:25,875 absolutely no collusion. 2147 01:30:25,959 --> 01:30:28,166 It's been stated that they have no collusion. 2148 01:30:28,250 --> 01:30:30,458 At every stage of his investigation, 2149 01:30:30,542 --> 01:30:32,583 Bob Mueller has surprised us 2150 01:30:32,667 --> 01:30:35,667 by knowing more and knowing it earlier 2151 01:30:35,750 --> 01:30:37,583 than we possibly imagined. 2152 01:30:37,667 --> 01:30:39,500 They have a witch hunt 2153 01:30:39,583 --> 01:30:41,458 against the President of the United States. 2154 01:30:41,542 --> 01:30:43,166 What's going on is a disgrace. 2155 01:30:43,250 --> 01:30:44,917 It's an absolute disgrace. 2156 01:30:45,000 --> 01:30:48,750 Investigations beget investigations, 2157 01:30:48,834 --> 01:30:50,875 so what starts as a counterintelligence case 2158 01:30:50,959 --> 01:30:53,375 becomes an obstruction of justice case 2159 01:30:53,458 --> 01:30:55,041 when Comey is fired, 2160 01:30:55,125 --> 01:30:56,208 and it has now 2161 01:30:56,291 --> 01:30:57,959 almost inevitably, 2162 01:30:58,041 --> 01:30:59,583 because you're investigating Donald Trump, 2163 01:30:59,667 --> 01:31:01,625 become an investigation 2164 01:31:01,709 --> 01:31:05,041 that is fraught with evidence trails 2165 01:31:05,125 --> 01:31:10,000 and the question of hush money, and... 2166 01:31:10,083 --> 01:31:11,583 ...it could go on 2167 01:31:11,667 --> 01:31:14,792 until long after Trump has left office. 2168 01:31:14,875 --> 01:31:16,333 Why don't you just fire Mueller? 2169 01:31:16,417 --> 01:31:17,750 Why don't I just fire Mueller? 2170 01:31:17,834 --> 01:31:18,959 Yeah, just fire the guy. 2171 01:31:19,041 --> 01:31:20,166 And many people have said, 2172 01:31:20,250 --> 01:31:21,667 "You should fire him." 2173 01:31:21,750 --> 01:31:23,417 So we'll see what happens. 2174 01:31:23,500 --> 01:31:25,500 I think it's, disgraceful, 2175 01:31:25,583 --> 01:31:27,917 and so does a lot of other people. 2176 01:31:28,000 --> 01:31:29,542 This is a pure and simple 2177 01:31:29,625 --> 01:31:31,458 witch hunt. Thank you very much. 2178 01:31:31,542 --> 01:31:32,917 Thank you. Thank you. 2179 01:31:35,291 --> 01:31:37,583 I saw this on Twitter just yesterday. 2180 01:31:37,667 --> 01:31:39,458 Someone had the revelation: "I--I guess 2181 01:31:39,542 --> 01:31:41,792 much of what goes on in this country 2182 01:31:41,875 --> 01:31:43,750 at the highest levels is done on the honor system." 2183 01:31:43,834 --> 01:31:46,333 Yeah, and that's true. 2184 01:31:46,417 --> 01:31:48,125 So when he fired Jim Comey, 2185 01:31:48,208 --> 01:31:49,750 I learned a lesson: 2186 01:31:49,834 --> 01:31:51,959 that this president, if brought to anger, 2187 01:31:52,041 --> 01:31:53,917 is capable of firing anyone. 2188 01:31:54,000 --> 01:31:56,041 I think he's capable of pardoning anyone. 2189 01:31:56,125 --> 01:31:57,542 I think he's capable 2190 01:31:57,625 --> 01:31:59,208 of taking outrageous steps 2191 01:31:59,291 --> 01:32:01,291 if he thinks that he or his family 2192 01:32:01,375 --> 01:32:03,125 are in the crosshairs. 2193 01:32:03,208 --> 01:32:04,667 Today, the president demanded 2194 01:32:04,750 --> 01:32:07,083 his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, resign. 2195 01:32:07,166 --> 01:32:09,709 We're going to have a new acting attorney general 2196 01:32:09,792 --> 01:32:12,709 who has been somewhat critical of the Mueller investigation. 2197 01:32:12,792 --> 01:32:14,125 The president's move 2198 01:32:14,208 --> 01:32:15,417 shifts the focus immediately 2199 01:32:15,500 --> 01:32:16,458 to the Mueller investigation. 2200 01:32:16,542 --> 01:32:18,125 Is it in danger? 2201 01:32:18,208 --> 01:32:19,709 It's kind of shame--shame on us 2202 01:32:19,792 --> 01:32:21,542 for being so surprised by it, 2203 01:32:21,625 --> 01:32:24,583 and as we tape this, lots of things have happened 2204 01:32:24,667 --> 01:32:26,250 in, you know, very recent times, 2205 01:32:26,333 --> 01:32:27,917 so shame on us again 2206 01:32:28,000 --> 01:32:29,250 if we don't realize, 2207 01:32:29,333 --> 01:32:30,792 how close we are 2208 01:32:30,875 --> 01:32:32,333 to yet another constitutional crisis, 2209 01:32:32,417 --> 01:32:35,959 because, you know any-- any moment, 2210 01:32:36,041 --> 01:32:38,417 if Donald Trump had his druthers, 2211 01:32:38,500 --> 01:32:42,875 he would do a lot of things that are inimical to democracy. 2212 01:32:42,959 --> 01:32:46,083 Raise your right hand and please repeat after me. 2213 01:32:46,166 --> 01:32:48,166 "I, Richard Nixon, 2214 01:32:48,250 --> 01:32:49,750 do solemnly swear..." 2215 01:32:49,834 --> 01:32:52,750 I, Richard Nixon, do solemnly swear... 2216 01:32:52,834 --> 01:32:55,291 Our whole history is about 2217 01:32:55,375 --> 01:32:57,667 creating a system of accountability 2218 01:32:57,750 --> 01:33:00,583 to prevent the rise 2219 01:33:00,667 --> 01:33:03,750 of an autocracy or a dictatorship. 2220 01:33:03,834 --> 01:33:07,792 If you don't obey the laws that are put in place 2221 01:33:07,875 --> 01:33:10,333 to keep all of us on the up-and-up, 2222 01:33:10,417 --> 01:33:12,125 then where are you? 2223 01:33:12,208 --> 01:33:13,667 I, Ronald Reagan, 2224 01:33:13,750 --> 01:33:15,500 do solemnly swear... 2225 01:33:15,583 --> 01:33:17,417 "That I will faithfully execute 2226 01:33:17,500 --> 01:33:20,125 the office of President of the United States..." 2227 01:33:20,208 --> 01:33:21,875 That I will faithfully execute the office 2228 01:33:21,959 --> 01:33:23,959 of President of the United States... 2229 01:33:24,041 --> 01:33:27,208 If the FBI is not doing it, who's gonna do it? 2230 01:33:27,291 --> 01:33:28,458 We're not perfect, 2231 01:33:28,542 --> 01:33:32,375 but the institution is solid. 2232 01:33:32,458 --> 01:33:35,583 I-I fear what it would be like if we didn't have 2233 01:33:35,667 --> 01:33:36,917 the FBI. 2234 01:33:37,000 --> 01:33:39,709 It's not--it's not the enemy. 2235 01:33:39,792 --> 01:33:42,500 I will, to the best of my ability... 2236 01:33:42,583 --> 01:33:45,125 "Preserve, protect, and defend 2237 01:33:45,208 --> 01:33:46,792 the Constitution of the United States." 2238 01:33:46,875 --> 01:33:48,208 The question of whether we 2239 01:33:48,291 --> 01:33:49,792 are still capable 2240 01:33:49,875 --> 01:33:52,667 of holding the president, accountable 2241 01:33:52,750 --> 01:33:55,709 is an enduring one, 2242 01:33:55,792 --> 01:33:57,709 and I hope that the American people 2243 01:33:57,792 --> 01:34:00,083 want those truth-finding mechanisms 2244 01:34:00,166 --> 01:34:02,125 to be able to do their job 2245 01:34:02,208 --> 01:34:04,166 unimpeded. 2246 01:34:04,250 --> 01:34:06,250 Preserve, protect, and defend 2247 01:34:06,333 --> 01:34:09,250 the Constitution of the United States. 2248 01:34:09,333 --> 01:34:11,542 Congratulations, Mr. President. 2249 01:34:11,625 --> 01:34:13,125 No free republic 2250 01:34:13,208 --> 01:34:15,083 in the history of civilization 2251 01:34:15,166 --> 01:34:17,083 has lasted longer than 300 years, 2252 01:34:17,166 --> 01:34:19,333 and that was the Roman Empire. 2253 01:34:19,417 --> 01:34:23,542 We're on year 242. 2254 01:34:23,625 --> 01:34:25,542 If we're gonna make it 2255 01:34:25,625 --> 01:34:27,083 to the three-century mark, 2256 01:34:27,166 --> 01:34:28,709 we have to get through this 2257 01:34:28,792 --> 01:34:30,250 in a way in which 2258 01:34:30,333 --> 01:34:31,792 our institutions 2259 01:34:31,875 --> 01:34:33,917 and the rule of law are strengthened, 2260 01:34:34,000 --> 01:34:36,250 and at the moment, they are under attack 2261 01:34:36,333 --> 01:34:38,500 by the President of the United States.