it's dana boente. remember that dramatic night in the second week of the new administration and president trump fired salary yates? they announced a new person appointed to be the acting attorney general now that yates was fired. the new person trump appointed that night to be the new attorney general is dana boente. the acting attorney general until they confirmed jeff sessions and swore him in. at that point, boente was the deputy attorney general and held that job until rod rosenstein was confirmed and sworn in. then in march when president trump and the attorney general jeff sessions fired all the u.s. attorneys, all of a sudden with no warning, when they, surprise, demanded that all the u.s. attorneys all the federal prosecutors had to resign en masse, resign that day, leave office that day, you might remember there's an asterisk on that order. a blanket order to the u.s. attorneys but two u.s. attorneys who had their resignations demanded with everybody else but the trump administration declined

i know he had conversations with boente. >> dana boente and sessions. he said he talked to them. >> the sessions conversation was please do not let me go into a situation where i am alone with the president of the united states. he did not explain his concerns specifically. >> that sounds like a concern, doesn't it? >> of course. >> he probably said why. >> i don't know. he didn't say that. as attorney general, if my fbi director is saying that, i'm going to find out why. with respect to dana boente. as i read the written testimony, i think he conveyed to boente is the president of the united states asked the fbi disclose that he is not the target of the investigation. i don't think he told boente he had concerns of the communications with the president. there is a lot of information we don't know here. >> it is still early. you are right. the idea of the trifecta of i want you to be loyal to me and i want you to drop the probe and firing him when he doesn't do it. those three steps of behavior, your concern? >> yes. i think that gives bob mueller somet

james comey never heard back from the acting deputy attorney general dana boente. dana boente is going to be put under oath by the special prosecutor and possibly by the congressional investigative committees and will be asked why he apparently did nothing about that phone call from james comey. the very same thing is going to happen with attorney general jeff sessions. why did he do nothing about the president's inappropriate direct communications with the fbi director. tomorrow is not the end of the james comey story. his testimony tomorrow will raise more questions than he will be able to answer. questions that must be answered under oath by the attorney general of the united states, and eventually under oath by the president of the united states. joining us now nick ackerman, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. he also served as an assistant special watergate prosecutor, is now a partner at dorsey & whitney. also with us ron klain, former chief of staff to vice presidents joe biden and al gore and a former senior aide to presid

that was dana boente, 33 years in the department of justice and was even then still serving for six years and continues to serve as attorney general. appointed by president obama. he's man of great integrity. if he had concerns i think he should have raised it to department attorney general boente, the appropriate person in any case, really, but if he had any concern that i might be recusing myself that might be a double reason to share it with him. >> thank you. >>> attorney general sessions, has the president ever expressed his decision abo-- >> i'm not any discuss. >> because you're evoking executive privilege. >> my understanding is, you took an oath, you raised your right hand here today and you said you would solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. now you're not answering questions. you're impeding this investigation. so, my understanding of the legal standard is that you either answer the question that's the best outcome. you say this classified, can't answer it here. i'll answer it in closed session. bucket number three is to say i'm evoking ex

that was dana boente who had 33 years in the department of justice. and was even then still serving a -- for six years and continues to serve as attorney general appointed by president obama. so he's a man of great integrity and everybodyri knows it. a man of decency and judgment. if he had concerns,cy i think h should have raised it to deputy attorney general boente who would be thene appropriate pers in any case, really. but if he had any concern that i might be h recusing myself, tha would be a double reason for hm to share it with deputy attorney general boente. >> thank you. >> senator heinrich. >> has the president ever expressed frustration to you regarding your decision to recuseto yourself? >> senator, i'm not able to share with this committee private communication -- >> because you'ree invoking executive ivprivilege.au >> i'm not able to invoke executive privilege. that's theiv n president's prerogative. >> my understanding is you took an oath, you raised your right hand here today and said you wouldou solemnly swear to tell e truth, the who

boente. >> i wanted to go into that. who did you talk with about that, lifting the cloud, stopping the investigation, back at the fbi? and what was their response? >> the fbi, during one of the two conversations, i'm not remembering exactly, i think the first, my chief of staff was actually sitting in front of me and heard my end of the conversation, because the president's call was a surprise. and i discussed lifting the cloud and the request with the senior leadership team who typically, and i think this all these circumstances, was the deputy director, my chief of staff, the general counsel, the deputy director's chief counsel, and i think in a number of circumstances, the number three at the fbi, and a few of the conversations included the national security branch. so that group of us who lead the fbi when it comes to national security. >> okay. you have the president of the united states asking you to stop an investigation that's an important investigation. what was the response of your colleagues? >> i think they w

that was dana boente, who had 33 years in the department of justice, and was even then still serving for six years and continues to serve as attorney general appointed by president obama. so he's a >>> we'll have much mf of the testimony in a few minutes. nbc 108÷u[ news at 4:00 startst now. >>> right now at 4:00, the waiting game. nbc 10 has live coverage as the jury works to decide bill cosby's case. >>> feeling the heat, schools close early on the hottest day y yet. but a big cooldown is coming. >>> plus dine ask dash payback. the social media shaming that forced a man on his bills. >>> 20 medicines minutes of nonstop news begins with verdict watch. a jury is deciding right now whether to send america's dad to jail potentially for the rest of his life. nbc 10 has your all access pass to what's happening right now both inside and outside the courtroom. we'll have live team coverage as deliberations continue and await word on the jury's decision. gompb, i'm jim rosenfield. thank you for being live from the montgomery county courthouse. right now, that jury is trying to drill down o

he said there was a process that , danahave reported it boente. it was never reported to her.t is saying that there is doubt in the direction of james comey she shouldre are i's have dotted. not finishing the sentence in terms of what sessions is suggesting. it leaves the door open for the president to say what he is going to say. sessions can sit in the middle and not be directly contradicting other one. charlie: thank you for joining us. pleasure. back in a moment. stay with us. ♪ the u.s. treasury department unveiled sweeping recommendations monday that would eliminate or dampen regulations enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis. pay nearly 150 page report takes aim at pieces of the dodd-frank legislation and reduces the capital standards required of banks. the trump administration seeks to grow the economy by 5%. this is contingent on efforts to overhaul the tax code and other initiatives. joining me is steve mnuchin, who i am pleased to have on the program. welcome. >> it's great to be back with you. charlie: tell me what you hope to accomplish with this regulat

she wants to interview dana boente. she wants to interview dan coach, mike rogers and she would like to do that all very soon, please. and i don't know if republican senator chuck grassly will agree to that list, but she has made her list public. she's argued her case publicly for why that committee needs to hear from these people. one point here. even with that giant list of people that that investigatory committee wants to talk to, there is one name that is not on that big, long list, that puzzles me for not being there. part of the reason everyone wants to keep talking to the director, dan coats, he gave hours of testimony in open session last week. he gave three hours of testimony yesterday in classified session with the judiciary committee -- with the intelligence committee. now the judiciary committee wants to talk to him to. it has been reported by "the washington post" and the "new york times" and nbc and the "wall street journal" that robert mueller also plans to interview dan coats sometime soon. and part of t

boente. >> i want to go into that. who did you talk to about that, listing the cloud and stopping the investigation back at the fbi and what was their response? >> well, the fbi during one of the two conversations, not remembering exactly. i think the first. my chief of staff was sitting in front of me, and heard my end of the conversation because the president's call was a surprise, and i discussed lifting the cloud in the request with the senior leadership team who typically, and i think in all these circumstances was the deputy director, my chief of staff, the general counsel, the deputy director's chief counsel, and i think in a number of circumstances, the number three in the fbi and a few of the conversations, including the head of the national security branch. that group of us that lead the fbi when it comes to national security. >> okay. you have the president of the united states asking you to stop an investigation that's an important investigation. what was the response of your colleagues? >> i think they wer

that was dana boente, 33 years in the department of justice and was even then still serving for six years and continues to serve as attorney general. appointed by president obama. he's man of great integrity. if he had concerns i think he should have raised it to department attorney general boente, the appropriate person in any case, really, but if he had any concern that i might be recusing myself that might be a double reason to share it with him. >> thank you. >>> attorney general sessions, has the president ever expressed his decision abo-- >> i'm not any discuss. >> because you're evoking executive privilege. >> my understanding is, you took an oath, you raised your right hand here today and you said you would solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. now you're not answering questions. you're impeding this investigation. so, my understanding of the legal standard is that you either answer the question that's the best outcome. you say this classified, can't answer it here. i'll answer it in closed session. bucket number three is to say i'm evoking ex

that was dana boente who had 33 years in the department of justice and was even then still serving as six years and continues to serve as attorney general appointed by president obama. so he's a man of great integrity and everybody knows it. a man of decency and junlment. if he had concerns, i think he should have raised it to deputy attorney boente who would have been the appropriate person in any case really. but if he had any concern i might be recusing myself, that would be a double reason for him to share it with deputy attorney boente. >> thank you. >> senator heinrich. >> attorney general sessions, has the president ever expressed his frustration to you regarding your decision to recuse yourself? >> senator heinrich, i'm not able to share with this committee private communications. >> because you're invoking executive privilege? >> i'm not able to invoke executive privilege. that's the president's bre rogive. >> my understanding is you took an oath, raised your right hand today and said you would solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. now y

dana boente who was james comey's boss for a few months after inauguration. top prosecutor in alexandria, prosecuted former governor bob mcdonnell. comey's last boss, rod rosenstein, deputy attorney general was the top cop in maryland for 15 years. he plays a role in this as well. and comey's deputy, andy he's one of the fbi ishl ioffic who tried to investigate d.c. mayor james gray. >> we remember. and you are on the hill all the time. what was it like today? >> i gotta tell you, i've seen nothing like the crush of humanity on the hill today. the u.s. house was paralyzed. all the parking evaporated. the elevators were jammed, had to take stairs up six or seven flights. there were so many people. just look at the line. that was through the hart senate building, which is a very wide open space. to see a clutter like that, it was an indication. it was a show, not just on television. it was a unique show on capitol hill. and capitol hill getting the attention it thinks it regularly gets from the public. this was different. >> and it's not over yet. >> more to co

. >> so nia, can i ask you -- he says he called the acting deputy attorney general dana boente to reportthis call. what does that tell you? the criticism is that james comey sat on the information. here he's saying that no, he went to at the time the acting ag to report this. again, they didn't say anything. this i think again echos him trying to talk to sessions and say, listen, sessions, please don't leave me alone with donald trump, and sessions essentially offering crickets to that request this thing is masterfully written, so scenic, easy to understand, it has these echos and framings, and really you so he this kind of building obsession that trump has with comey. the through line, of course is this initial obsession with michael flynn. no one knows why. we read so many stories about donald trump and he's throwing this person under the bus, throwing bannon under the bus, he's upset with sessions, and here he is going through so much to through michael flynn a lifeline, to protect him, and then there is this unknown thing where he says he has they other concerns about felony, that we

she wants to interview dana boente.ants to interview dan coats, mike rogers and she would like to do that all very soon, please. and i don't know if republican senator chuck grassley will agree to that list, but she has made her list public. she's argued her case publicly for why that committee needs to hear from these people. if we are ever to get to the bottom of these obstruction of justice allegations. one point here. even with that giant list of people that that investigatory committee wants to talk to, there is one name that is not on that big, long list that puzzles me for not being there. part of the reason everyone wants to keep talking to the director of national intelligence dan coats, he gave hours of testimony in open session last week. he gave three hours of testimony yesterday in classified session. three hours alone in classified session with the judiciary committee -- sorry, with the intelligence committee. now the judiciary committee wants to talk to him too. it has been reported by "the washington pos

if he had concerns i think he should have raise today to deputy attorney general boente who would be i might be recusing myself, that would be a double reason for him to share it with deputy attorney boente. >> thank you. >> center hine risch. >> you're watching jeff sessions testimony before congress we will pause for just a moment to allow some stations to return to regular programming. >> senator heinrich, i'm not able to sharexwith this committee private communications. >> because you're invoking executive privilege? >> i'm not able toib voke executi+e privilege that's the president's prerogative. >> my understanding is you took an oath, you raised your right hand here today and you said you would solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and @rc nothing before you the truth and now you're not answering questions. you're impeding thys investigation. so my understanding of the legal standard is that you either answer the question, that's the best outcome. you say this is classified, can't answer it here, i'll answer is in closq" session, that's bucket number two. bucket n

. >> and ooh ' going to recite the entire english avenue in a slow none rhythmic manner means you boenteg it, okay? do you understand the instructions? >> not yet. >> what were the instructs in. >> not to sing the national backward. >> not to sing the national anthem backward? okay. what i want you to do -- >> they never mentioned the and the in a -- national anthem. >> but recited the alphabet and did it 100% correct. >> forward? >> forward. >> oh, i can do, that but he was pretty impaired, he said remember, when a lot of us do the alphabet we kind of sing it, abcdefg, right. he didn't. wasn't along to sing it and did he it and he did if absolutely correct. a lot of questions he answered incorrectly, in long as less, head today orange county was in jupiter. he was in jupiter. >> so close do orange county just happens to be orange county florida. >> exactly right. >> when you same it was an hour and a half that typical for du. stems for them to last that long? >> when they do field of sobriety test it took a while. watch the whole think, it was a long process when he had to walk the whil

boente, acting attorney general in that seat. we decided the best move would be to hold it, keep it in a box, document it as we had already done, then this investigation is going to go on and figure out what to do with it down the road. there is a way to corroborate this? our view at the time, look, it's your word against the president. there's no way to corroborate this. my view of that changed when the prospects of tapes were raised but that's how we that the of it then. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> director comey, the meeting in the oval office where he made the request about mike flynn, was that the only time he asked you to hopefully let it go? >> yes. >> and in that meeting, as you understood it, he was asking not about the general russia investigation, he was asking very specifically about the jeopardy that flynn was in? >> that's how i understood it. >> as you perceived it, a request and hope to do away with it, you perceived it as an order, the light some of the circumstances. >> yes. >> did you say anything to the pre