the mike flynn story, the mike flynn story is unprecedented in american history. incredible. but it also is the vice president's story now. and unlike mike flynn, mike pence of course is still in office. watch this space. >>> this week, right after this glorious independence day holiday, president trump will be heading to europe for his second overseas trip of his presidency. he will be stopping in poland. he will be stopping in germany and in germany in hamburg, he has planned a very special meeting with russian president vladimir putin. in person, first time. i wonder if they'll get along. that does it for us tonight. happy fourth of july. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell.> witch hunt. >> this is not a witch hunt. this is a search for facts. >> the fbi is investigating whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. >> the whole russian thing, that's a ruse. >> there are three investigations. these are not hoaxes invented by democrats. >> it should be over with. in my opinion, it should have been over a long

the mike flynn story, the mike flynn story is unprecedented in american history.y, it's incredible. but it also is the vice president's story now. and unlike mike flynn, mike pence of course is still in office. watch this space. so, your new prescription does have a few side effects. oh, like what? ♪ you're gonna have dizziness, ♪ nausea, and sweaty eyelids. ♪ and in certain cases chronic flatulence. ♪ no. ♪ sooooo gassy girl. ♪ so gassy. if you're boyz ii men, you make anything sound good. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. next! ♪ next! if you've got a life, you gotta swiffer so find a venus smooth that contours to curves, the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. flexes for comfort, and has a disposable made for you. skin smoothing venus razors. >>> this week, right after this glorious independence day holiday, president trump will be heading to europe for his second overseas trip of his presidency. he will be stopping in poland. he will be stopping in germany a

mike flynn need to register.rd of this. >> that's the first of it. >> that cannot be true. >> that cannot be true. the mike flynn scandal in this white house, the inexplicable hiring of flynn, the national security advisor being forced out of that job just 24 days into the new administration because of his secret foreign ties, the mike flynn matter is also the mike pence matter. his behavior and account of his own actions, these thing es don't add up and they never have. vice president pence adviser to keep a low profile in this administration but he's made a number of blunt, direct, false statements related to the trump-russia investigation. he assert thad the trump transition had not apply for security clearance for mike flynn's son. they had. mike pence also boldly asserted that james comey was not fired for anything having to do with the trump-rush scsia investigat. the president admitted that's exactly why he was fired. mike pence has asserted there were no trump campaign contacts with russian officials duri

the president has defended flynn, despite firing him for lying. >> michael flynn, general flynn is a wonderful man, i think he's been treated very unfairly by the media. as i call it, the fake media in many cases. and i think it's really a sad thing that he was treated so badly. >> flynn himself has gone silent publicly, in march, he said he was willing to be interviewed in exchange for immunity. general flynn has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it. joining me now, rachel maddow who has been covering it better than anyone. >> i don't know, that was pretty good. >> i'm curious what you feel of this story. in terms of the waves it sent has not been as large as others. for me personally, the way i feel like i'm putting the facts as we know them into view, seems like one of the most significant because it puts flynn at the center of something, and it gives some plausible vision of what exactly someone might be up to in reaching out to the russians. >> i think you laid it out perfectly. we've now been looking at this long enough as a country. we know enough about the inves

flynn's son who worked as chief of staff in his father's company and that smith was helping flynn's sonl's reporting to be specific does not define the role flynn held to find the hacked clinton e-mails, but it does detail for the first time these specifics we just described in part to the watershed accusations against the trump campaign of collusion to influence the election. don't expect public congressional testimony, though, from mr. smith himself. mr. smith died at 81 years old on may 14th. that was about ten days after his "wall street journal" interview. joining us now is former fbi senior agent and terra maller, spokesperson and senior policy adviser for the counterextremism project and former c.i.a. military intelligence. what do you make of this report that came from the "wall street journal," these connections we just mentioned some of them with mike flynn and peter smith and potentially trump campaign? >> i think the report is really interesting because since we've been watching this investigation we've seen a lot of smoke and been looking for the sparks. we've been looking

now, mike flynn is not confirming whether or not that's true. he's not commenting on that reporting at all. but the other big specific revelation in that shane hair ra harris piece in "the wall street journal" which sort of corroborated that piece about flynn is that in that same "wall street journal" piece shane hair race also reported u.s. investigators also, quote, have examined reports from intelligence agencies that described russian hackers discussing how to obtain e-mails from hillary clinton's server and then transmit them to mike flynn via an intermediary. that still doesn't mean for sure that mike flynn, then a senior adviser to the trump campaign was still in on this project to work with the russians on their attack. i mean, we have reported that the guy running that project claimed he was working with flynn. we have reporting quoting a number of people who were either involved in that project or who were approached to be involved in that project saying that peter smith, the guy running it, told them that flynn was part of it. we've g

>> we certainly know that the fbi intercepted the phone calls on flynn and who leaked flynn's name whenwe can infer from the facts. there is no reason for us to suspend our sensory advantages here? >> no, there is no reason to do that, you are right. there were very few people under ten. i will not give an exact number that knew and read those transcripts according to my sources. we know that the number of people who knew what was taking place was within the scope of the fbi, doj and sally yates who had access to that. if they wanted to, it would be simple to find out who did that. >> lou: second in the command in the fbi is andrew mccabe whose wife is a democrat, and who is a beneficiary of the largess of virginia governor mcauliffe and who received hundreds of thousands for hear campaign in virginia. >> actually 700000. she received 500000 from a political action committee that was basically associated with mcauliffe and received over 200000 from another democratic committee. very tied in. >> lou: the relationship between general flynn and andrew mccabe how was that? >> that was a con

flynn had no comment on the journal's story. joining me now, tara miller, former cia military analyst and senior policy adviser at the counterextremism project. tara, what do you make of the journal's report on the possible smith connection to flynn. >> i think the journal report was extremely interesting. all roads always seem to lead back to general flynn and i think this is going to be a constant problem for the trump administration as this investigation continues. we've seen flynn be the center of this investigation initially. we've seen him be the center of comey's testimony in terms of trump pressuring to let flynn go, and making other people leave the room. and now we see another story where there's a republican operative who claims to have ties to flynn. again, we haven't heard flynn's side of the story on this but the claim that the operative was in touch with flynn on this does seem to suggest some sort of coordination or cooperation with what may have been a russian hacking group, even if they didn't actually end up o

smith implies that he was working with flynn and flynn's son.d shortly after speaking. 81-year-old of his death there. first time there is a connection of somebody that's willing to work with the russians to do whatever they could. >> that's why this is a little tension to the story because if at all pans out, it would suggest that, it will be the first suggestion that there may have been some form of collusion, the source of this story of intelligence officers came out. what we don't know is where peter smith is talking about the relationship of the trump people. we have not heard from flynn and clovis about this. there is still questions around how tight the relationships are. >> you brought up the british m m matae. he wrote this long post. the time i got recruited to collude with the russians. my conversation with smith shocked me given the amount of media attention of the involvement of the government and dnc hack, it seemed mind-boggling of the trump campaign or this offshoot of it to be actively seeking the e-mails. it made it no differen

flynn: sure. representative pearce, i think briefly, first of all, previous study showed that a pilot program that had been enacted a few years ago to provide federal permit streamlining pilot project created additional funding and allowed 140 additional staff members to be hired for seven pilot offices , including two in new mexico. the farmington office and carlsbad office. and while they were able to increase the amount of applications, the apd's, by 10% , the number of days to process the apd's increased. so they got less efficient by 40%. rep. pearce: the industry jumped in and helped out and the same people working in the same agency took much longer and my study showed it took about double. so, miss macgregor, you recently in whatever mr. lambert from colorado said about your performance seemed to go well so i'm going to identify with that also. but thanks for visiting our state, just to look forward to working with you because they delays really do affect us. i live three miles from the te

smith implied that he was working with flynn and flynn's son.y the way, smith died shortly after speaking to the wall street journal. he was 81 years old at his death there, but still, katty kay, a first time there has been an explicit, potential connection between somebody who was willing to work with the russians to do whatever they could to get something damaging on hillary clinton. >> that's why there's been a lot of attention to this story because if it all pans out, it would suggest -- it would be the first suggestion that there may have been some form of collusion. the source of this story, a former british intelligence officer, has also come out and corroborated his part in the story. what we don't know is whether peter smith was talking up his relationship with the trump people. conway and bannon have both come out ask denied any of the links. we haven't heard from clovis on this. there is still questions on how tight they were. >> ron tate wrote this long sort of explanatory post on the website lawfare, and he writes this. at the time

he was in frequent communication with mike flynn.t time was a senior adviser to the trump campaign. now, tonight "the wall street journal" has added to their story. just moments ago they have published this news, saying that peter smith didn't just tell people he was working with and in communication with mike flynn in his effort to contact the russian hackers and get their e-mails from hillary clinton. he also said in a document that he prepared to recruit people to help into his effort, he also, according to "the wall street journal," said that he was working, quote, in coordination to the extent permitted as an independent expenditure with not just mike flynn but also steve bannon, kellyanne conway, and sam clovis, who is a policy adviser to now president trump. joining us now is investigative reporter michael isikoff. he's chief investigative correspondent at yahoo news. he wrote a book in 1999 called uncovering clinton that looks at some of peter smith's earlier activism. appreciate your time tonight. >> good to be with you. >>

with flynn, who was a senior adviser to the trump campaign.ow tonight, "the wall street journal" has added to this story, moments ago they published this news, saying he didn't just say he was working with michael flynn in an effort to hack and get e-mails from hillary clinton. he also said in a document that he prepared to recruit people, he also said according to "the wall street journal" that he was working toward in close preparation to an independent expenditure, with not just michael flynn but also steve bannon, kellyanne conway, and sam clovis, who was a policy adviser to now president trump. joining us now is investigative reporter michael isikoff, who is chief investigative correspondent at yahoo! news, who wrote a book in 1999, called uncovering clinton, who looks at peter smith's earlier activism. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> so peter smith turns up in the "the wall street journal" last night, also tonight. what can you tell us about his background in the anti-bill clinton material in the '90s? >> well, it's

mike flynn never commented for that "wall street journal" story. he's never commented on those allegations, but the white house commented. they fairly readily threw him under the bus on that one. the white house comment to the "wall street journal" about that story is that if mike flynn cooperated with that in any way, it would have been under his capacity as a private individual. mike flynn was a senior adviser to the trump campaign at the time that project was underway, and that project was only about the campaign. so that defense from the white house beggars belief, but it at least kind of shows what they think their options are. it shows that they were willing to let flynn take the blame for that rather than trying to defend the content. now, in this second collusion story, theoretically, they have the same choice, right? you can defend the conduct itself, or if you can't defend the conduct, you kind of have to hive off the people who appear to be guilty of it. hive off from the president, hive off from the white house the people to have appear

flynn and his consulting company, flynn intel group, to be allies.e are joined by a reporter who wrote that story. okay. walk us through this, because you got a couple things here i want to try to pin down here t. name michael flynn comes up. the idea of a republican political consultant not formally a part of trump campaign and the idea of stolen e-mails and contacts with the russians. what exactly do you know here? >> we know smith launched this over labor day weekend officially, before that the campaign was entering the home stretch. he theorized that hackers had obtained access to secretary clinton's private e-mail server and likely pulled e-mails she claimed she delete. he believed they would reveal information about malfeasance of the clinton foundation and her role in the benghazi attacks. he had no everyday of where that would be the case, he suspected she was deleting those to cover up something ne narrious. >> that gets linked with the trump campaign. mr. smith was telling people he was talking to mike flynn about what he was doing, the que

was flynn aware?ommented but the campaign said if peter smith was doing something with general flynn, that was in general flynn's private capacity. it is still not entirely clear to what extent mike flynn was involved in in. there is no doubt that these two menu each other. >> an attorney for michael flynn didn't return our calls or e-mails seeking comment. in the end, shane harris said, peter smith believes he had gathered those private hillary clinton e-mails but couldn't completely verify their accuracy. so he never put them out. some on capitol hill thinks smith's efforts are one more avenue that should be investigated in the russia probe. >> it is something that should be probed further. i hope it now gets folded into what we are doing. >> aside from michael flynn's attorney never getting back to us about peter smith, the white house also didn't return our calls or e-mails. a senior official from the trump presidential campaign told me he had never heard of peter smith or his reported attempts to

take for instance the saga of michael flynn. the first inkling there was something sketchy about the trump foreign policy adviser and his relationship with russia came a year ago through republican national convention when yahoo! news chief investigative correspondent pressed flynn on a trip he took to moscow for the 10th anniversary of r.t. >> were you paid for that event? >> you would have to ask the folks i went over there to -- >> no, i'm asking you. you would know if you were paid? >> yeah, i went over there as a speaking event. it was a speaking event. >> then one week before the inauguration, "the washington post" reported the very same day president obama sanctioned russia for interfering in the election according to a u.s. governor officials flynn phoned kiss lee yak several times. what did he say or undercut sanctions. the white house denied it. they went on national television to say flynn had not talked sanctions. hours after michael flynn was sworn in as national security adviser, the "wall street journal" reported

flynn. i'm the executive director for the new mexico oil and gas association. prior to taking over i was the secretary of environment and natural resource trustee in the state of new mexico and worked in state government for approximately six years, almost six years prior to taking this role. i want to thank representative pierce for recognizing me. i want to recognize representative pierce as well who just had to step out of the room, but he has been a tremendous leader. his district is home to one of the most resilient and productive oil and gas plays in the world. i want to talk to you a little bit about new mexico's oil and gas industry and talk to you about some challenges to oil and gas development on federal lands in new mexico and suggest some opportunities for improving blm's operations in new mexico. i want to be very clear that my goal here today is not in any way, shape or form to criticize blm individually. we have had a tremendous working relationship with blm staff and leaders

flynn. which are now recognizes mr. squillance or his five minutes. >> thank you, chairman go sour and ranking member lowenthal for the opportunity to testify. i am a professor of law at the university of colorado law school. i begin my written testimony by asking that we each commit to each other that we will engage in a meaningful way on important issues that are the subject of this hearing and i am offering this testimony today in the hopes that we can have a constructive dialogue. i want to make three points regarding oil and gas programs on federal lands. oil and gas production on federal lands remain strong despite a weak market and lackluster interest in new leases and development. second, efforts to accelerate leasing and development under current marketing conditions are misguided because what they could do is block of federal oil and gas resources even as they deny the public affair returned on these valuable assets. in this regard, by the way, the focus really should eat unproven

general flynn's private capacity.'s still not entirely clear to what extent mike flynn was involved in this. there's no doubt that these two men knew each other. >> reporter: an attorney for flynn didn't return our calls for comment. peter smith believed he had gathered the private hillary clinton e-mails but couldn't completely verify the accuracy. now some on capitol hill including one member of the house intelligence committee thinks smith's efforts are one more avenue that should be investigated in the russia probe. >> it's something that should be probed further and i hope it now gets folded into what we're doing. >> reporter: now aside from flynn's attorney never getting back to us, the white house didn't return our calls or e-mails but a senior official from the trump campaign said he had never heard of peter smith or about smith's reported attempts to get the clinton e-mails during the campaign. ana? >> brian todd, thank you. >>> we'll take you live now to bernie sanders event. here he is speaking in iowa for

i just heard where general flynn got his clearance from the obama administration. when general flynn came to us, as you now know, he already had the highest clearance you can have. i think the same clearance as the president of the united states would have. >> had actually the president has an instinct many situations like this, if he feels he's on his heels at all, to deflect some blame back to the obama administration. i think he's done with it hillary clinton. when you see it in this case, is he falling back on his instincts? or does that reflect a wider strategy by the white house? >> i don't think it reflects a wider strategy by the white house but i will say, it is classic trump to float something publicly. as he said today, he doesn't know fits true. he's heard maybe it has happened or to float something that isn't true. the i think that's the president riffing and freelancing and not something senior white house officials are encouraging. this is a family issue in addition to being an issue of his presidency. this is his son who had this meeting. this is hi