within the justice department, how does this unusual pressure from the president feel? how does it affect the work of the department? >> you have tens of thousands of professionals, men and women working every day on behalf of the country doing their best to conduct fair minded impartial law enforcement investigations in my case the national security realm. they're putting their nose to the grindstone in doing what they can with admissible evidence under the rule of law. in this carnival like atmosphere that affects the rest of us is not impacting them that much. they're really focused on the mission at hand, very mission focused and that's what guiding them through this circumstance. as far as the attorney general goes, that's a horse of a different color. >> political appointee. >> the president is entitled to a cabinet of his choice, men and women he can work with to carry out his agenda. but i can't think of any policy area of the president's agenda that attorney general sessions is not ardently carrying out. so there's only one reason when you think about it for why

within the justice department, how does this unusual pressure from the president feel? t affect the work of the department? >> you have tens of thousands of professionals, men and women working every day on behalf of the country doing their best to conduct fair minded impartial law enforcement investigations in my case the national security realm. they're putting their nose to the grindstone in doing what they can with admissible evidence under the rule of law. in this carnival like atmosphere that affects the rest of us is not impacting them that much. they're really focused on the mission at hand, very mission focused and that's what guiding them through this circumstance. as far as the attorney general goes, that's a horse of a different color. >> political appointee. >> the president is entitled to a cabinet of his choice, men and women he can work with to carry out his agenda. but i can't think of any policy area of the president's agenda that attorney general sessions is not ardently carrying out. so there's only one reason when you think about it for why the presi

according to a top justice department official.r. >>> cooperation deal. a russian lobbyist with russian ties strikes a plea agreement and admits to arranging an illegal foreign donation to the trump inauguration. what else is he telling prosecutors as they investigate a potential money trail from moscow? >>> mueller's support. two-thirds of americans say they back the special counsel's probe in the first poll taken since the paul manafort and michael cohen convictions. this as the

i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in. ns the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. i demand the highest standards when where they are not met i take action. however, no nation has a more talented and dedicated group of law enforcement and prosecutors than the united states. have you ever seen a public battle like this between a sitting president, sitting attorney general where the president repeatedly huh milliates publically -- humiliates publically the attorney general. >> i have never. this is somebody whoover see ov cases. there are thousands of employees under the d.o.j. who look at a variety of issues. frankly, he has been really, really great for donald trump's platform on a whole variety of issues, drug cases, rolling back things. he has offended him by not kissing the ring which bolsters the credibility of james comey who said if i didn't have loyalty you don't have a job. it is not about competence for the president. it was about fidelity to only him. that is shockin

it would not be long before the main justice department in d.c. hired him away from the u.s. attorney's office in new york and at main justice, he rose to lead the racketeering department. his specialty was international organized crime. to run that section he became known as an intricate manager. he worked not just the fbi but other law enforcement and intelligence agencies all around the world. he built and maintained the contacts for the benefit of the justice department. and that makes sense. he was prosecuting international organized crime so you need intel and international law enforcement connections. in 2003 he oversaw the team that indicted the boss of all bosses in the russia mafia. that made big news at the time. i have to admit, the big news made at the time when the justice department indicted the godfather of the russian mafia, it was somewhat limited by the fact nobody could pronounce the name of the guy they just indicted. >> today we have some of the fbi's most wanted for you. this is simon. he is wanted for racketeering, wire and mail fraud and money launderi

according to a top justice department official. we're going to tell you what we're learning right now about bruce ohr testimony to congress about that infamous trump/russia dossier. >>> cooperation deal. a russian lobbyist with russian ties strikes a plea agreement and admits to arranging an illegal foreign donation to the trump inauguration. what else is he telling prosecutors as they investigate a potential money trail from moscow? >>> mueller's support. two-thirds of americans say they back the special counsel's probe in the first poll taken since the paul manafort and michael cohen convictions. this as the president's approval rating takes a new turn for the worse. >>> and tribute to mccain. a rare honor tonight for the late senator as he lies in state in the u.s. capitol. mccain's 106-year-old mother joining with top officials here in washington for an emotional good-bye. >>> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn bre

never took control of the justice department. it's an incredible thing. when you see muller with conflict. comey is his best friend. he had a nasty business transaction with me in which he never reported. i've been talking about it. he never reports it. you look at the bad things. he wanted the fbi job. that christopher wray has. christopher wray was recommended by rod rosenstein. the fbi -- i'll tell you what if you took a poll in the fbi i guarantee you one thing. i do very well. there's such corruption. before i got here it's from before i got here. it's the obama administration. and you look at what happened. they surveilled my campaign. very simple. the fisa report. the phoney fake -- >> rod rosenstein signed the last fisa report. >> it bothers me. >> will you fire him? will you fire session? >> i'll tell you what, i wanted to stay uninvolved but when everybody sees what's going on in the justice department -- i put justice now with quotes. it's a very sad day. jeff sessions recused himself which he shouldn't have done or he should have told me. even

but when everybody sees what's going on in the justice department, i always put justice now with quotes. it's a very, very sad day. jeff sessions recused himself, which he shouldn't have done or he should have told me. even my enemies say that jeff sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself and then you wouldn't have put him in. he took the job and then he said i'm going to recuse myself i said what kind of a man is this? by the way, he was on the campaign. the only reason i gave him the job i felt loyalty. he weighs an original supporter. he was on the campaign. he knows there was no collusion. and what's come out of manafort? no collusion. what's come out of michael cohen? no collusion. this is stuff that they got. how about with michael cohen, in all fairness to him, they raid his office at 6:00 in the morning? how about with manafort, they raid his home at like 5:00 in the morning, i think, on a weekend and his wife is in bed and they go in with guns? this isn't al capone.

it is the entire justice department. it is rod rosenstein managing a complex investigation with two extremely experienced and able teams. that just changes everything. we need to start thinking about the implications. they got this guy to flip and then it is like a news story and move on to something else. they now know who they have to go after. here is the evidence we have from these e-mails. you better tell us the truth. i think the justice department is just a whole different kettle of fish. >> and one of the things that is interesting is there has been a lot of talk of whether or not michael cohen is credible and reliable. it turns out according to the justice department at least there is another source. it's not just michael cohen. >> it is interesting news that we found this out because on tuesday when he was under oath and pleading guilty we were wondering, is there a deal? what is going on? now we know they were also talking to pecker. they had another piece of the pie as you were saying. every day i think we wi

, other parts of the justice department have pieces of it. it's a widespread, complicated puzzle. i understand that even lawyers for prosecutors like myself and people on the panel and others have a hard time paying attention to it. it's something i think is very difficult for the american people to under. i think what they need to think about, do you want when you cast your vote that to matter based on your own political views and who you want to be representing you in your government and not vladimir putin and his cronies. that's the issue right now. >> guys, i want all of you guys to stay with me just for another minute. we have another breaking story we're following tonight. the author of the trump russia dossier reportedly told a department of justice lawyer that russians had trump over a barrel. the "associated press" learning today bruce orr said christopher steele told him in july 2016 that russian intelligence believed they had trump, quote, over a barrel during the 2016 campaign. with me by phone is the reporter who broke that story

where he said that jeff sessions has lost control of the justice department. this is response to that. because he says i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in. so it's a direct response to that. and it basically says three things. number one, it praises the people in the justice department. number two, he says he won't be subject to improper political influence. and then the other thing that's notable about it, it's something that jeff sessions does every time he ever appears in public. he praises the president. so even though this is a response to the president, he also says "i'm carrying out the president's agenda. i think you have to say there's probably no cabinet member who is more faithful about -- in every public appearance, praising the president, saying he wants to do the president's agenda on fighting violent crime. but to chuck rosenberg's point, you know, jeff sessions has taken a lot of hits from the president ever since the president was elected on twitter, in public statements, and this statement is very interesting in

when everybody sees what's going on in the justice department, i always put justice now with quotes, sad day. jeff sessions recused himself which he shouldn't have done, or he should have told me. even my enemies say that jeff sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself. and then you wouldn't have put him in. he took the job and then he said, i'm going to recuse myself. i said, what kind of a man is this? >> moments ago, sessions released this statement in response. "i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the president's agenda. while i am attorney general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. i demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, i take

tonight the justice department had no reaction to the n ident. john? >> dickerson: paula reid. thanks, paula. a woman in texas was sentenced to return to prison today because she voted in the 2016 election. as omar villafranc identification, but her criminal past made voting a crime. >> and she said, put your hands behind your back. we have a warrant for your arrest. >> crystal mason still remembers the day she was arrested for wating in the last presidential election. >> my mom kept nagging, go vote, go vote, go vote, go vote. e.said, okay. i did what she said. i went to go vote. >> reporter: the 43-year-old was on supervised release for tax fraud when she cast her ballot. in texas, that's against the law. do you feel that since you served your time and you were out of prison, should you be able to cast a ballot? >> we should. we pay taxes. and that's what i believed. if i had a doubt in any way, i wouldn't have did it. >> reporter: here felons can't vote until they have completed their full sentence. now, mason faces five years in state prison for voter fraud and today was gi

never took control of the justice department. when everybody sees what's going on in the justice department, i always put justice now with quotes, it's a very, very sad day. jeff sessions recused himself, which he shouldn't have done, or he should have told me. >> earlier, sessions was seen leaving the white house after reportedly meeting with trump and his son-in-law, jared kushner, to talk criminal justice reform. that could make for an awkward and tense meeting since the attorney general took the unusual step, the very unusual step of pushing back against the president's statements this morning saying, quote, i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in. you often do not hear this attorney general pushing back against the president. sessions may not be the only loyalist that the president is concerned about. nbc news has confirmed a "wall street journal" report that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to this guy you're looking at, david pecker. the chief executive and chairman of american media, wh

>> yeah, i think that after we work through current department of justice employees like bruce ohr, we'lle folks like sally yates and james comey and loretta lynch that are no longer at the department of justice or the fbi and will be requesting that they appear either voluntarily or in voluntarily by subpoena if necessary because there's been a lot of documents and testimony that has come out since the last time that they testified under oath before congress that calls into question some of that prior testimony. maria: so just to be clear you will request or you are request ing that james comey and loretta lynch come back to congress to testify? >> yeah, that would be up to chairman gowdy and chairman goodlatte but i know that those conversations are taking place. i know those requests have been made and again, whether or not they decide to appear voluntarily or are compelled to appear involuntarily i don't know the answer to that. we can compel them to appear we can't compel them to testify because unlike any other witness they would have a fifth amendment right should they choose to ex

governing the relationship between the white house and the justice department such that the justice partment may contact -- i'm sorry, the white house may contact the justice department only through political appointees. paul: all right. thank you, judge i mukasey. very ill human nateing, appreciate it. when we come back, cohen's guilty plea and nanofort's conviction certainly raising the political stakes for president trump heading into the midterms. why some democrats are avoiding talk of impeachment at least for now. ♪ ♪ >> we're too early in the process to be using these words. ♪ we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. get your groove on with o

because the department of justice and the work that it does should be free from political influence. i mean it's ironic or hypocritical, whatever you want to call that the president is claiming the department of justice is politicized, and that's exactly what he's trying to do and it is so dangerous. he obviously could exert control in many way, one through personnel. if he really does fire jeff sessions he's doing it for one reason. to have somebody else put in he thinks will be more beholden and listen to what trump wants, which is to impede or shutdown or derail this investigation. he can do it by i suppose firing rod rosenstein and, you know, again having a deputy a.g. who would be, you know, less open to the things that perhaps mueller is asking permission to do in his investigation. because we do know they're consulting. so there are serious things he could do, but he is doing enough damage just by what he is saying even if he doesn't do anything. >> and barb, the fact is he's not saying that jeff sessions sticks around after the mid-term elections. the implication is that he's

he feels when he sees the double standard between the department of justice on the clintons and his department of justice. >> jason: chris, are you suddenly a fan of attorney general sessions? are you in his corner, rooting him on? >> [laughs] well, you know, prior to this, i have never agreed with jefferson sessions once. i disagree with him on about 75 fronts but when all is said and done, jefferson sessions has -- i am with him on this issue. he should be true to the office he has taken. >> jason: do you really think he had to recuse himself? this is a counterintelligence operation. there is nothing he had to recuse himself from. it was not a criminal investigation. >> he most certainly did, because he recuse yourself when there's appearance of a conflict. >> jason: chris, chris. then why doesn't rod rosenstein recuse himself and why doesn't james comey come forward with all of the conflicts of interest? if that is the standard, then rod rosenstein's name is on the fisa report. >> the president is making it up. if we had a congress that was half as interested as you were when you were chair

all russia-related matters and also this morning, the president seems to be calling on the justice departmento be loyal to him, brabove all others, askg why the department did not tell him that his former campaign chair was under investigation. that's paul manafort. despite paul manafort having that key role running the campaign for five months, the president is continuing this morning to distance himself from him, all of this as manafort's trial enters day two. we are on top of all of this. to the white house with abby philip. a direct call to the attorney general to end the russia probe. what do you know? >> reporter: that's right, poppy. this is a significant moment for from the making the subtext of all of his attacks on attorney general jeff sessions

the department of justice the day i was sworn in. ions was at the white house for a pre-planned meeting after unleashing his strongest pushback yet, declaring defiantly, while i am attorney general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. for months mr. trump ha has lambbased the entire agency as overrun by democrats. >> it is a very, very sad day. >> reporter: it is a remarkable inflection point. sessions was the first senator to endorse candidate trump. >> i am pleased to endorse donald trump for the president -- >> reporter: but once attorney general, things soured quickly after sessions recused himself in the russia investigation because he was a key figure on the trump campaign. ever since, the president has excoriated him in a barage calling him everything from beleaguered and missing in action and again -- >> he took the job and then he said, i'm going to recuse myself. i said, what kind of a man is this. >> reporter: and while sessions has at times subtly pushed b

never took control of the justice department. and it's a -- it's sort of an incredible thing. >> so in that same interview, the president, who's supposed to be defending the rule of law, said he considers the mueller investigation to be, quote -- this is a quote -- an illegal investigation. illegal? okay, so, listen, i just -- we showed this to you, but i need you to take a look at it again. the docket officially appointing robert mueller as special counsel. there it is on your screen right there. mueller authorized to investigate, quote, any links and/or coordination between the russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of president donald trump. and this, quote, if the special counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the special counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters. that document signed by trump's hand-picked acting attorney general. you can't get any clearer than that. so the fact is, mueller's investigation is 100, as we say. 100% legi

governing the relationship between the white house and the justice department such that the justice partment may contact -- i'm sorry, the white house may contact the justice department only through political appointees. paul: all right. thank you, judge i mukasey. very ill human nateing, appreciate it. when we come back, cohen's guilty plea and nanofort's conviction certainly raising the political stakes for president trump heading into the midterms. why some democrats are avoiding talk of impeachment at least for now. ♪ ♪ >> we're too early in the process to be using these words. liberty mutual accident forgiveness means they won't hike your rates over one mistake. see, liberty mutual doesn't hold grudges. for drivers with accident forgiveness liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty ♪ where we're changing withs? contemporary make-overs. then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. who has the upper hand now? start winning today. book now at lq.com. adults are just kids with muc

governing the relationship between the white house and the justice department such that the justice partment may contact -- i'm sorry, the white house may contact the justice department only through political appointees. paul: all right. thank you, judge i mukasey. very ill human nateing, appreciate it. when we come back, cohen's guilty plea and nanofort's conviction certainly raising the political stakes for president trump heading into the midterms. why some democrats are avoiding talk of impeachment at least for now. ♪ ♪ >> we're too early in the process to be using these words. ♪ ♪ ♪ paul: the manafort conviction and cohen plea raising the political stakes for president trump heading into the midterms. but house minority leader nancy pelosi told the associated press wednesday that impeachment is not a priority for democrats going forward, saying she prefers to conduct oversight and insure special counsel robert mueller can finish his work if democrats retake the house in november. let's bring in "wall street journal" columnists bill mcgurn and kim strassel and james freeman. so,

trump yet again blasting his own justice department.chairman is not to blame. in fact, he's just a victim. this comes as we're awaiting a verdict in the manafort trial. the jury is asked to finish up the second day of deliberations by the end of the hour because one of the members of the jury has an event he or she would like to attend tonight. former assistant u.s. attorney daniel goldman joins us from outside the courthouse in virginia. take us through the day's highlights. >> there are very few, nicolle. we surprisingly have not heard anything from the jury other than their request to go home at 5:00 p.m. today which came at about 2:40 when they sent a note asking to go at 5:00 instead of the usual 5:30. based on what we saw from the jury note at the end of the day which listed four questions, it does seem like they are very meticulously and carefully going through all 18 charges against paul manafort. and this is complicated law. the judge did not send the law back to the jury. he just sent a recording of him reading the law to them

quote, i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in. while i am attorney general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. i demand the highest stand ards, and where they are not met, i take action. >>> joining nick and me at the table, mara gay, "the new york times" editorial board. chuck and frank are still with us. i want to come back to you, chuck, you started the conversation in the last block. jeff sessions taking, as you said, a rare hard line against the president. has the president crossed some line for sessions, do you thin ? >> oh, dear god, nicolle, the president has crossed only lines so often. >> for you and me. sessions doesn't often rebuke the president he serves. >> right. hallelujah. so, what the men and women of the department of justice look for is leadership. and whether or not they personally like mr. sessions, they respect the office of attorney general. this is a person who has to stand up for the rank and file. and today he did. i'm not a huge fan. i

he's a justice department official. can you just flesh out your understanding of the president's strategy in targeting this justice department official? and talk about how they're trying to normalize the practice and then hone their targets. >> so i think that's exactly it. you said normalize the practice. it is sort of the president on a lot of issues, not just this, does sort of test just how far he can go. what can he say, what can he tweet, what will -- what can he do and is there ever a red line from his base of support, from the public and even from lawmakers in congress. often times the answer is no. he can sort of do what he wants and so i think that is part of that, getting a sense of how far he can go. one thing about bruce ohr that's interesting. we star started hearing his name a couple weeks ago from conservative ticks on the hill and conservative echo chambers like fox news and talk radio. i was waiting to see when would president trump mention his name. now obviously in comments today, and elevated him. t

>> these guys know this in the department of justice. why is the guy still working? he department of justice is run by a feckless attorney general named jeff sessions and rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who is obstructing congress, i believe, to cover up his own participation and wrongdoing. he filed and signed the renewal application for the wiretap on the trump campaign without the required evidence. >> and, judge, i wanted to make a point about what gregg just said. rod rosenstein won't tell us when he first learned that nellie ohr was working for fusion gps. i want to know from bruce ohr when did he tell his colleagues at the department of justice that in violation of the law that required him to disclose his wife's occupation and her sources of income, he did not do that. so when did all the other people at the department of justice find this out because rod rosenstein, i have asked him twice in open hearings and he will not give an answer. i think there is a real smoking gun there. >> judge jeanine: i think there is more than a smoking gun there let'

an event where he threatened the justice department with this. >> at some point, i wanted to stay out, but at some point, if it doesn't straighten out properly, i want them to do their job. i will get involved and i'll get in there if i have to. >> well, the president definitely has a justice department and his attorney general on his mind. and his own -- >> what would happen after that? as the face mourns john mccain tonight, president trump refused to back down from his failure to pay tribute to the late senator. we have a lot to discuss. i want to bring in first margaret, cnn political analyst and senior white house correspondent for "bloomberg news" and margaret, good evening to you. we're going to get to the rest of the folks in just a minute. margaret, you there? >> i'm right here. >> all right. good to see you. sorry. we brought up our --. you asked president trump about whether he would comply with a subpoena from robert mueller, what did he say about that and the investigation? >> don, he said he'd have to wait and see then quickly refrained, he said he didn't see it that way

to have the leader of the country, the leader of the justice department, everyday calling the justice department a witchhunt, specifically identifying prosecutors and agents and the attorney general himself and calling them not men and degrading them this way. i would just suggest if you thought about where you work everyday at if your boss came in and treated your senior staff, you individually, how would that be an environment to work? the good news is i believe those line prosecutors, career prosecutors and agents, will follow the law and the facts and take it where it leads them. host: daniel has been waiting in chicago on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i find this comical. this is totally ridiculous that i have to sit here and know that 40% of america is this backwards. they act like they don't see that this man lies to them every day left and right. he degrades his own justice department when they don't do what he expects to do. everything he does is criminal. everybody around him is criminal. face the facts, the man is a criminal and he is laughing at you. no mat

was being framed, is evidence that bruce ohr, back channeled forbidden information to the department of justiceso after christopher steele is terminated by the fbi, or ignores his own rules of his department and he meets with steele to peddle is fraudulent dossier to justice. the intent to tee up a special counsel investigation. after donald trump gets elected, he inserts himself into trump-russia to get steele in on the mueller team. bob, aren't you embarrassed by this whole fiasco around you? you actually have a 70-year-old man, paul manafort, put in solitary confinement 23 hours a day on a 2007 tax case having nothing to do with donald trump or russia collusion because you are trying to get him to rat on the president of the united states. you are panicking now, bob. because donald trump's legal team doesn't want him to talk to your team of trump haters. i mean, come on. everybody on your team hates the president. but what i don't get, gob, is how you can sit there under the sanctimonious veil that you are hole holier than thou. why don't you investigate james comey or peter strzok or andrew

tonight the justice department had no reaction to the president. john? >> paula reid. thanks, paula. >>> a woman was sentenced to return to prison because she voted in the 2016 election. as maria villafranca reports, she used her name, but her voefting past made it a crime. >> she said put your hands behind your back, we have a warrant for your arrest. >> reporter: crystal mason still remembers the day she was arrested for voting in the last presidential election. >> my mom kept nagging, go vote, go vote, go vote, i was like, okay, you did what she said, io >> reporter: the 43-year-old was on soup earn advised release when she was supervised for tax fraud. that was against the law. >>> you think you should be able to cast a ballot? >> we pay taxes. that's what i believe. if i had a doubt i wouldn't have did it. >> reporter: here felons can't vote until they have completed their full sentence. now mace son faces five years in state prison for voter fraud and today was given ten months in federal prison for violating the terms of her supervised release. >>> are you menta

everything about the fbi and justice department, it is an independent justice department, an independent fbi. they have an independent office, of professional responsibility, and as if at heart of our justice system and law enforcement system, no one trusts leadership of agency, the fbi, no one trusts leadership of the deputy of justice. and -- department of justice this wrong. >> we know that nobody trusts them, but, even more compelling to me is that fact they try to get this information christopher brawray and rod rosenstein, makt clear there was a cabal, an anti-trump conspiracy. lou: and devin nunes t to a dege david ho horowitz. >> you know. to a degree. lou: judge jeanine pirro it will ways, then some. catch justice with judge j. frederick motz eanine . great to see you. >> thank you. >> appreciate it up. >> next, more to fbi a long overdue tiring o smurking smug trump hating agent, peter strzok, we take up why fbi had to overturn their original decision, and just to demote, suss span him or you know -- suspend him or slap him on the wrist, that is not the way it worked out, we'll

when everybody sees what's going on in the justice department -- i put justice now with quotes.very, very sad day. jeff sessions recused himself, which he shouldn't have done. even my enemies say jeff sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself. then you wouldn't have put him in. he took the job and then he said, i'm going to recuse myself. i said, what kind of a man is this? >> joining me now, national security analyst and former fbi special agent, asha regatta. what kind of man is this, i don't know if that's questioning manhood or character. it's the same message. it's a constant drumbeat. is it starting to have an impact on the rank and file at the justice department or even with your former colleagues at the fbi? >> i don't think so, erica. you are right, this is groundhog day. every day he tweets about the witch hunt. at some point he complains about sessions. then he or rudy giuliani go on fox and friends and confess to a federal crime. i think it's actually being tuned out. i think the charges that you have seen from the southern district of new yor

he says in part, here, i took control of the justice department the day i was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the president's agenda, one that protects the safety and security and rights of the american people, reduces crime and enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances liberty. he goes on, wolf, to say, while i am attorney general, the actions of the justice department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. i demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, i take action. however, no nation has a more talented and more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the united states. finally, he says, i am proud to serve with them, proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule

this man -- the president, you know, fired the fbi director, a part of the department of justice.fter mccabe. he's going after individual civil servants on twitter. he's going after anyone who has a russia experience. right? anyone who understands the russia investigation. so he's already involved. the other thing is i let there -- watching this and thinking who hired these people? who hired the attorney general? who hired the u.s. attorneys? who hired the deputy attorney general? who hired the head of the fbi? these are his people. he's acting like they, like, fell from mars. these are his people. so, you know, this is a man whose desperation because -- because he think it's the lawyers that are the problem. right? it's not the lawyers that are the problem. it's his -- it's his legal vulnerability that's the problem for him. >> so, asha, it's not the first time that the president has threatened to get involved in the investigation into his campaign. what do these threats say to mueller, you think? what do you think he thinks about them? >> yes, don, this is groundhog's day. we --

seen. >> all these investigators, they're democrats. >> everybody sees what's going on in the justice department. i always put justice now with quotes. >> joining me now is elliott williams, a doj official under president obama, and former congresswoman donna edwards. elliott, let me begin with you, and talk about the president today, leaning on jeff sessions to investigate obama, to investigate mueller, a lot of people are watching this and saying the president is politicizing the justice department, going after political enemies. as we were just saying it is going to have a lasting damage -- lasting impact, negative impact on the rule of law in this country. >> no question about that. and frankly, you know, you said a lot of people are watching. you know who's watching? the 113,000 career employees of the justice department who need to go to work every day feeling that the entire executive branch has their back. look, the idea of disputes within the federal government or the executive branch are not new, you know, within the justice department historically the southern district of new york alw

>> these guys know this in the department of justice. why is the guy still working?> because the department of justice is run by a feckless attorney general named jeff sessions and rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who is obstructing congress, i believe, to cover up his own participation and wrongdoing. he filed and signed the renewal application for the wiretap on the trump campaign without the required evidence. >> and, judge, i wanted to make a point about what gregg just said. rod rosenstein won't tell us when he first learned that nellie ohr was working forie fusion gps. i want to know from bruce ohr when did he tell his colleagues at the department of justice that in violation of the law that required him to disclose his wife's occupation and her sources of income, he did not do that. so when did all the other people at the department of justice find this out because rod rosenstein, i have asked him twice in open hearings and he will not give an answer. i think there is a real smoking gun there. >> judge jeanine: i think there is more than a smoking t

i would hope he wouldn't continue to muddy the waters with the justice department and with also those who are trying to bring justice to this matter and make sure the appropriate parties are indicted and convicted but i think for him to weigh in on this i think it speaks to his inability to be presidential and, in fact, to be objective which furthers darkens the cloud around him and his administration and even his campaign. >> a critical question that came up today as the president was leaving is whether he would pardon paul manafort. he says -- he said earlier i don't want to talk about that right now. what would you do if the president pardoned paul manafort and what could be done about that? >> it's difficult for me to speak on it that point. >> do you think that democrats in congress would move in some fashion towards some kind of legislation to sanction the president to try to bring some sort of impeachment proceedings forward in the house or wait until after the midterms? what could be done at that point do you think? >> i think without question democrats will be fighting amongs

the justice department has kept us in the dark for 18 months.e will see tomorrow how sure he is. >> the manafort trial of the century. other freedom caucus members have been number one demanding transparency, demanding subpoenas that are complied with. there's been obstruction, delays, phony reductions, phony claims and national security. as we have now learned tonight from this reporting of john solomon, this is deeper, this is more corrupt. there's a bigger abuse of power and obviously they wanted -- the government tried their best. the highest levels of the fbi and doj to defeat and undermine the president of the united states. >> it's not wrong and obviously sean you have been on this from day one. what we are seeing tonight, bruce ohr with the department of justice actually was working as a go-between between him and the fbi. there was over 60 different contacts between bruce ohr and christopher steele and actually sell dirt on the president. we also have text messages that confirm that peter strzok actually worked with bruce ohr. so it is