ef time trump tweets against the department of justice, he's making the russians very, very happy. bipartisan con sensensu that russia attack eed us durin the election and launched a campaign to undermine confidence in our institutions. every time he tweets against department of justice or his political opponent, he's actively participate ng the russian's information warfare campaign and i urge him to read or reread a july defense intelligence agency report that talks about how russia views the information domain as strategically decisive and that they're using psychological operations to confuse their intended audience. in this case, the united states. we know that kremlin-backed twitter accounts attacks the crede bability of the fbi and now, we have the president of the united states doing exactly the same thing. he's making the russian's job a lot easier. >> david, i want you to weigh in. >> i agree with what jeffrey was saying about just how unprecedented this is. that this is not the way a president even if you buy the legal argument and agree with the president that he can do

with the justice department and christopher steele no word yet if the justice department will do that. this is part of a long-running fight that nunes has had with the justice department over this issue, wolf. >> and, manu, all of this comes as a new report suggests the dossier is not what started the russia investigation, right? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. "the new york times" reported over the weekend that george papadopoulos, the trump campaign foreign policy adviser who actually has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about some of these contacts pertaining to russia, met with the australian diplomat in london last year and said he had dirt -- he could get dirt from the russians on the clinton campaign. this came after papadopoulos was informed about these leaked e-mails that had been hacked by the russians from the dnc's servers and papadopoulos had been informed about this and mentioned about the opportunity to get dirt on the clinton campaign from the russians. now one question, wolf, that investigators on capitol hill still say they don't have the answers to is whether or

but if he was sent to the justice department by the president, specifically to interfere with the justice department on a law enforcement matter, specifically to interfere with jeff session's rekuszr recusal decision, how they administer the rule of law, then that would be a pretty obvious violation of those important rules that govern how the white house and justice department are supposed to communicate with each other to avoid white house pressure. if mcgahn lobbied sessions, if mccann did in fact do what the "new york times" reports he did, there is a reasonable legal ethics case to be made don mccann should resign as white house counsel for having done that. that said, nbc further, this story today when they reported that the president didn't just send the white house counsel don mcgahn to the justice department to go lobby jeff sessions. according to nbc, the president sent multiple senior white house personnel to the justice department to lobby jeff sessions that he shouldn't recuse himself from the russia investigation. so both of those things, both the fact that the president rep

there's a lack of transpersoncy at the justice department that would have made the obama justice department blush. and the deep state is in full control over there, thanks to the leadership just checking out on these transparency issues and refusing to be brave on these transparency issues. we were told by the fbi, we've asked about these text messages. i can't tell you how contempt cuous they were. and they told us to sue them if we wanted them, which we did. we've had numerous lawsuits that should have been turning them over to us and they've basically giving us the back of the hand. and this is out of the new administration, not the obama administration. lou: that raises the question. why you must ask yourself this question surely, why would not president trump order these people, these servants of the american public to act in his interest and release that to the american people because it is our right to know. >> i think he's receiving legal advice not to get involved. i don't know how else to explain it because i think he does want this information released. he's been complaining abou

detailing fisa surveillance abuses within the fbi and justice department. the house intel committee. fox news maz just acquired a memorandum delivered from the department of justice to the house intel committee. it attacks the very thought that the committee would release that memo to the american public. the letter reads in part, we believe it would be extraordinarily reckless for the committee to discloses such information publicly without giving the department and the fbi the opportunity to review the memorandum. my, my, my. the justice department doesn't want us to read that memo. let's move on if we could, please. harvard law profes fer, a demeanorprofes are, ademocrat w. joining us greg jarrett. thanks for being here. let's start with first the justice department trying to deny the public's right to know. >> well they've lost all credibility having lost integrity and they don't want the public to see their own wrongdoing, which is why they're trying to cover it up. fortunately it's not up to the doj. as long as the intel committee votes in committee to

is the head of the justice department is appointed by the president and reports to the president. but there is a tradition and the word tradition may not do it justice, of independence of the department of justice from the executive -- from the president. and there are important reasons for that. like i said, i think that the american public should really want their department of justice to function independently without meddling from the president and it really at the end of the day, helps keep us safer to have people believe in the integrity of the department of justice and the fbi and to allow it to function independently from the president. >> we've heard the story about the president wanting to fire bob mueller back in june of last year. his counsel, bob mcgahn said if you do it i'm going to quit. what is his responsibility to inform the justice department of this order? >> his client is technically not the president as an individual. his client is the office of the presidency and he like everyone in the department of justice, as we've been discussing, mcgahn takes an oath to

that will be a new concept at the justice department if it can only be introduced by the trump administratione corrupt officials of what has become the administrative state that now frustrates the honorable and committed public servants of justice and the fbi, they deserve far better. certainly we do, the american citizens. the quotation of the evening now from albert ion stein and he said this. the world is a dangerous place to live. not because of the people who are evil. but because of the people who don't do anything about it. and for a decade, perhaps longer, we've had a lot of people who's done nothing about the evil that has seized the swamp. we're coming right back. stay with us. >>> president trump and republican leaders meeting at camp david. they're talking taxes, infrastructure, national security, the budget and even more. >> we have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to accomplish. and we are making america great again. >> we take up the president and the republicans' 2018 legislative priorities. ed rollens and ann coulter join us. >>> what do you do if you can't find wa

i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. but for purposes of hopefully thinking i'm going to be treated fairly, i've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. the white house later clarifying trump's statement that the department of justice was part of a conspiracy called deep state. >> obviously he doesn't believe the entire justice department is part of that. you know, one of the things that the president has done is appoint christopher wray at the fbi because he wants to change the culture of that agency and he thinks he's the right person to do that. >> reporter: in one of his few agenda-focussed tweets, trump weighed in on the so-called d.r.e.a.m.ers. democrats are doing nothing for daca, just interested in politics. daca activists and hispanics will go hard against dems, start falling in love with republicans and their president. we are about results. trump taking a shot at the same democrats he insists he wants to worth with hiss year. >> i really do believe we're going to have a lot of bipartisan work done. >> re

>> i think that is right but you have a justice department regulation, that wouldn't permit prosecutorso do that. >> what is that regulation? >> it is a regulation within the department. it is a department practice that they are not going to indict a sitting president. >> a grand jury could indict the president, the justice department would not go forward? >> the justice department recommends indictment. it is not like the grand jury is going to do it on their own. if they d you have an argument by the president saying, he is a sitting president. his time would be taken up to a great exent, having to sit through pretrial proceedings, sitting through a criminal trial, it should wait until he finishes his term of office and/or is impeached. the legal issue is not decided. the bottom line legal issue s the president is not above the law. he is not king george. in 1776, we made a determination we would be run by constitution and laws, we got rid of the king. so, we have checks and balances, and the president has to provide evidence as he will be required to do. >> let me stop you there. one

it does tie into sessions and the justice department. the reporting you have that, you know, just days before firing comey, sessions' aide goes up to capitol hill and tries to get dirt on comey. whatever he can find. that's big. >> right. well i mean we know that trump was very angry at comey for refusing to publicly clear him in this russia investigation. he had told him privately that he wasn't a target, but he wouldn't say it publicly and, in fact, he had gone to the hill and testified and refused to say that. so he was very angry at comey and it seems that he enlisted

president trump attacking his own justice department, accusing the agency of mass conspiracy against him. the president charging the department is part of a so-called deep state. it's an unsettling and destabilizing charge and it comes as the president appears to call for hik's top aide, huma abedin, to go to jail. it happened as of course it usually does, via tweet. today, here's what the president wrote. crooked hillary clinton's top aide huma abedin has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. she put classified passwords into the hands of foreign agents. remember sailors pictures on submarines? jail. finally, the white house press secretary defended her boss' obvious disregard for due process in that tweet. >> is the president requesting that the department of justice investigate huma abedin, and how did he reach his conclusion that she should be in jail given that she hasn't been indicted or convicted of any crime? >> look, obviously, the facts of that case are very disturbing. >> considering that the president told "the new york times" in an interview this weekend,

do you see yourself as essentially picking a fight with the justice department? cking a fight with the federal government on that? do you expect backlash from that decision today? >> you know, i would normally say no but with this department of justice and the president, i think we have to assume there will be a backlash. we have staked out the position on immigration to make sure that we're true sanctuary city and they have already told us to deny the funding. we will have to fight that. but we'll protect our legal businesses. but we can also protect public safetyality t safety at the same time and focus on violence, on kids and have an approach that really is holist wick a public health harm reduction model for the war on drugs so i hope we don't have the backlash but, you know, i tell you, we are ready for it. >> jenny durkin, former u.s. attorney, mayor of seattle, thank you. >> thank you so much. >> stay with us. we'll be right back. his son-in-law -- secret talks with russians. the director of the fbi -- fired. special counsel robert mueller's criminal inves

it is certainly bad for the fbi and the department of justice. i shouudder to think of the morale. >> this crosses a threshold that i don't think that we've crossed before. >> before the house intel vote, chris wray an wwas allowed to rw the memo. the president is inclined to release the memorandum which could pit him against his own justice department. >> the president erupted when he learned of efforts to stop the memo release. officials warned it would be extraordinarily reckless to public this. for more, return to manu raju on capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning, christine and dave. a sharply divided committee voting along party lines to move forward with the republican staff memo that details allegations of fbi and justice department abuse over russia investigation suggesting that warrants were obtained during the campaign season over carter page given information to the fisa judge to approve the warrants. the judge not given the full picture why the justice department was seeking the warrants. the memo drafted by staff from the house in

speaker ryan's office is referring people to the justice department and fbi. they're saying nothing about what happened here. but this was a surprise meeting. and those documents supposed to go to devin nunes didn't go there. conceivably they could have been opening up very sensitive stuff from the middle of the mueller investigation while it's under way. drama. and that brings us to the last thing i want to get to off the top of the show tonight, the first direct effort by anybody in the orbit of president trump to try to shut down the mueller investigation directly. trump campaign chairman paul manafort was indicted on multiple felony charges. trial due to start may 2nd. today he and lawyers filed a civil lawsuit against robert mueller and justice department official who appointed him and oversees the investigation, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. i'm not a lawyer but i think it might be weird that manafort has filed this as civil lawsuit. wouldn't you just file this in his own case? but it's demanding that order appointed robert mueller be declared

the best thing that happened yet yesterday was that the department of justice, trump's department of justice, in the person of assistant attorney general steven boyd, sent a letter to the house intelligence committee saying the attempt to disseminate this material without having it reviewed by the fbi, would be extraordinarily reckless. those are his words, and further, that on the key area that these republicans have been alleging, conspiracy behavior involving the completion of fisa warrants, that's what's in the memo that nunes is trying to circulate. that the justice department finds no evidence, is not aware of any wrongdoing in the completion of that process. so you have the bureaucracy, thank goodness in a time when people are trying to intimidate them, pushing back, speaking out. speaking for the department of justice, the integrity of the people there. that was one of the good events yesterday. >> it was. >> the campaign by johnson and the others -- extraordinary. >> and also, a deflection to what's really going on. that letter to congressman devin nunes renews the request by

the fbi and the department of justice. every member of congress now who has read the classified intelligence memorandum detailing fisa surveillance abuse seem deeply disturbed to say the least. our next guest is calling for the release of the classified documents and demanding a purge of officials at the politically corrupt fbi and doj. joining us tonight is republican florida congressman francis rooney. vice chairman of the foreign affairs committee. congressman, good to have you with us, first of all. this is now reaching a level that i don't think many anticipated. and that is two institutions that are at the foundation of the special counsel are obviously corrupt and working against the public interest. >> well, first, lou thank you for having me on. i really appreciate it. no one would have foreseen the depth of the rot that you're talking about. who could have thought such behave yoor would be conducted right inside the doj and the fbi. that's why the memos need to be released to let the american people see what's ha

he's the one who mueller reports to at the justice department. rod rosenstein was appointed by president trump. he's a republican. nobody quite knows what to make of him and his inclinations on the russia investigation, which he has steadfastly refused to discuss in public, other than to say that he believes mueller is doing a good job and that he's the right man for the job. but then today, surprise, whole bunch of reporters, including scott wong from "the hill" newspaper were staking out paul ryan's office. they were staking out the peopler of the house, his office today, hoping to catch some news about budget negotiations in congress. they're all outside paul ryan's office when, hey now, here comes, isn't that rod rosenstein? and his security detail? yeah, there's the deputy attorney general filing into house peopler paul ryan's office. what he is doing here? reporters including scott wong were soon able to susz out that nobody knew this was coming, rod rosenstein, in fact, was there at paul ryan's office to talk with him about the russia inve

and in the department justice. there is a lack of trance're transparency that would have made the obama justice department blush. the deep state is in full control thanks to the leadership checking out on the transparency issues and refusing to be brave on the transparency issues. we were told by the fbi when ask the about the text message. i can't tell you how contemptuous and they told us sue us if you want them. which is what we happily d. we had numerous lawsuits that these should have been turned over to us. and they are giving us the back. hand and this is the new administration and not the obama administration. >> lou: that raises the question, you must ask yourself the question. why would not president trump order these people, these servants of the american public to act in his interest and release that to the american people because it is our right to know? >> i think he's receiving advice not to get involved. i think he does want the information released and complained about it through tweets and things

department of justice. they are carrying out a campaign, not only a denying over site, they are constitutional responsibility, as it is yours to oversee the that agency and that department, they are just flaunting law and order in the constitution. and it is beyond the pail that it can be tolerated. this is not a time for an ig's inspector record this time for criminal michael security investigation -- national security investigation of two agents who bear responsible for national security. >> it is clear that fbi and doj will not be able to investigate themselves adequately, if you do a special counsel, it is imperative that somewhere counsel not be a swamp dweller. i want someone from outside of swamp what does not have a relationship with either agency, that can go in clean it up. think about bias against donald trump is very significant and important. but the fact that strzok and page, they are having thisly as liaison, they are texting about really sensitive matters, they are opening themselves up to bl

does your reporting about this hot war against the justice department reveil aal any consternation of any of the apintees at the department department at this point? >> it's unclear whether there's among the political appointees, whether they feel embattled or they feel that the president is after them, you know, certainly the rank and file at doj and the fbi, people who are the career employees would i think probably take it to heart, they would begin to think that the white house is at war with them. i mean this idea of the deep state is something that i think, you know, last year and in 2016, was this view that this was a political tack that the president was taking, a lot of people attribute it to steve bannon's thinking. but steve bannon is long gone from the white house. the fact that the president starts the year off this year, indicates this has sort of become pretty deeply ingrained in his thinking that the national security establishment is out to get him and the enemies need to be rooted out. >> jeremy bash, there's another word for it, a paranoid delusion, it started as on

>> the justice department recommends indictment. it's not like the grand jury is going to do it on their own. >> right. >> but if they did, i mean, then you would have an argument in court by the president saying he's a sitting president. his time would be taken up to a great extent having this sit through pretrial proceedings and a criminal trial and it should wait until he finishes his term of office or is impeached. the legal issue is not decided. the bottom line legal issue is the president is not above the law. he is not king george. in 1776, he made a determination that we were going to be run by a constitution and by laws. we did something pretty radical at that point. we got rid of the king. we have checks and balances and the president has to provide evidence as he's going to be required -- >> let me stop you there. one of the things people are concerned about, donald trump is a norm breaker. he doesn't agree he has to abide by rules and norms. what if a subpoena is issued to president donald j. trump he has to produce evid

, trump's justice department, why can't may guys at the justice department do what i tell them to do?? where is kevin mccarthy? where are members of the judiciary committee who understand that this is a dangerous, ignorant view of how american law enforcement works? >> the famous episode when lyndon johnson was about to fly off somewhere and he got to the airport and an aide said "your helicopter is over there, sir." and he said "they're all my helicopters, son." that's the way presidents think. in this case it seems to me if you have a unitary view of the presidency then the justice department serves at his pleasure and to carry out his duty to faithfully see the laws are executed. however, my experience in washington is that when you reach a certain critical mass of interest in something that's secret, it's not going to stay secret for very long. the nixon tapes come to mind. it was a long time between when mr. butterfield revealed the existence of the tapes during the urban committee hearings and when they came out, but come out they did. and in this case, if this memo exists and i

there's this pressure that the president has put on the justice department that is having real effectwhere the department is altering its processes and not just rejecting president's claims out of hand and saying you need to butt out of the department, we don't review prosecutions based on what the president wants us to the, we determine them based on the facts and the law. they're picking overall these clinton cases because they've been getting pressure and want to appease him and keep their jobs. >> obviously for the consumers of this, the viewers of fox news, the people who read breitbart, this is really satisfying because it allows them to go back to a familiar place which is that the clintons are evil and not have to focus on donald trump. i wonder to what extent this fog works and whether this can prevent people on the conservative side from this and from paying attention to it. and if it works, how long does that keep them sort of cloistered off from information that might be negative about donald trump? >> i've always observed that no one has a more unifying effect on the repu

the judge not given the full picture of why the justice department was seeking the information. this is according to the allegations in the memo drafted by the staff from the house intelligence committee devin nunes. whoever viewed this document. the president will have to decide whether or not to objectobjec object or approve its release. we expect the president to approve its release. something that democrats yesterday were saying could cause grave harm to national security. >> the white house has made it abundantly clear they want the memo published even though they have not read it. that should tell you all you need to know about the president's priorities. without reading it or without hearing from the agencies or the fbi over the damage it could do with public release. >> reporter: the republicans running the investigation, mike conroy pushed back, saying they are prepared to release the democratic memo that was drafted by adam schiff. it comes to the different conclusions than the nunes memo. they want to follow the same procedure that the full house has access to the cla

shut down all together >>> also tonight, some progress in the efforts to purge the deep state department of justice. the department of justice official demoted last month because of his contacts with fusion gps. as we have learned, been demoted for a second time. demoted. i will point out he has not been fired. why? we'll take that up here tonight. bruce orr is no longer the head of the organized crime and drug enforcement task force though he still works for the department of justice. some would ask why is he still there. we'll have the latest. >>> and president trump today working hard to bring prosperity to all americans. the president traveling to mash nashville to speak to the american farm bureau and sign a new executive order that expands the internet into rural areas. i'll take it up with ed rollins and byron work late york. >>> fox news confirming that the president's legal team is considering a possible interview with trump and special counsel robert mule per. the president addressed mueller's failed investigation into alleged russian collusion over the weekend at camp david. >> like when

these are justice department lawyers. these are public servants who have done and have been doing the due diligence that you would expect. the only high-priced lawyers are the ones that will be coming in with donald trump. and they had just better prepare their client for a conversation with justice department attorneys. that's the truth of it. that's his reality. >> now, one of the things, the phenomenon of the trump presidency so far, is there's a new nostalgia for george w. bush, can he saw captured in the cold open of "snl." >> i'm suddenly popular af. a lot of people are saying, man, i wish george w. bush was still our president right about now. so i just wanted to address my fellow americans tonight and remind you guys that i was really bad. like historically not good. so i get why you don't like this current guy. heck, i voted for jill stein all the way. but please, do not look back at my presidency and think this is how we do it. >> now, it was an off-the-record gathering, but i did see and hear the president, the

this is an act which the department of justice called extraordinary reckless. and this is done quite by design. there's no circumstance or error or mistake here. this is very deliberate. and as the department says, extraordinarily reckless. >> now, when the department describes this as extraordinary reckless, they're talking about the process by which the house republicans have decided to go ahead and move this forward. as far as i understand, the fbi hasn't been allowed to review -- the intelligence itself hasn't been able to review so they know exactly what the memo makes of the intelligence. do you think it will be damaging to national security if this is publicly released? >> i don't know, but i would like to find out from the department of justice and the fbi. what we made clear at the hearing today is if the majority voted to release our memo, we fully intend to have that vetted by the department, vetted by the fbi, so they can redact anything they think would be harmful. and that will be our process if the republicans allow this to see the light of day. t

this really is playing into the whole dynamic between the justice department and the white house and the fbi, because, look, this is extraordinary what's about to happen tonight and what could transpire over the next few days. if the house intelligence committee votes to make this public, this classified memo about one of the most secretive processes in the federal government which is fisa warrants, how we surveil u.s. persons and national security investigation, there are people at the fbi and the justice department who are very, very concerned about what secrets will be spilled if this memo is made public. but the question is, are they being allowed to weigh in and make -- and make the white house aware of those concerns and make that stick. or is the white house going to simply overrule them, make this memo public for political reasons then what will be the blow back and the implications of that, nicolle. >> hallie, let me bring you back in on that and ask you. there was a new york times reporting the secret memo hints at a new republican target as we've been talking about, rod ro

does that address at the justice department's concerns that it would be extremely reckless to release it without letting the department of justice and the fbi review it? >> i agree the justice department that it would be extremely reckless to release the memo. i think it is important fong there is reporting that the justice department does not want this released. the fbi director has read it. keep in meenind, it is highly inappropriate to release it without the democratic response. >> presumably they would both be released. the president of the united states has authorized to declassify whatever he wants. you know that, right? >> yes. he could. >> if he wants the republican memo released, irrespective of the others, the president could overrule it and say release and it then it is released. >> that's correct. the president can declassify. you have seen in the past the president has given up top secret information when talking to foreign nationals. he that power. >> on a separate issue, is the trump administration complying with the law that you passed overwhelmingly last year in the h