mr. mccabe in a pending proceeding, yet mr. sed the criminal investigation of flynn and allegedly wanted it pursued very aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flynn before and during the russian investigation, yet mr. mccabe never recused himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership -- to the people elected representatives. that's why the fbi director has a ten-year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director, as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit is a ceiling, not a floor. and while independent

mr. mccabe should have been reviewed from the clinton investigation based upon mr. cabe's financial ties to the clinton political network. mr. mccabe was also named in a sex discrimination lawsuit by a female fbi agent who alleged retaliation just last week it was reported that lieutenant general michael flynn wrote a letter in support of the female agent. that means lieutenant general flynn is an adverse wit to mr. mccabe in a pending procedure. and allegedly wanted it pursued very aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making dis paraging remarks about flynn before and during the russian investigates investigation yet mr. mccabe never reduced himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he is handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the d

mr. mccabe. but i use mr. mccabe as an example. as i noted in my opening statement, the department refused to provide an unredacted copy of mr. mccabe's recusal memo. and the deputy attorney general has failed to explain to this committee what he's doing to deal with the conflict of interest. in a general matter, do you think it is appropriate for any fbi official to participate in a criminal investigation of someone who is an adverse witness in a pending eeo proceeding, and if not, what would you do if confirmed to assure that that does not happen on your watch? >> well, senator, mr. chairman, obviously, i want to make sure that i understand the facts appropriately. i think that one of the first things i would do upon being confirmed is to try to take stock of the situation with the senior leadership and try to understand better the circumstances. there is, of course, inspector general investigation into acting director mccabe's conduct. and i know, mr. chairman, your own strong support for the inspector general function is well,

mr. mccabe, but i use mr. mccabe as an example. in my opening statement, i mentioned that -- the deputy attorney general has failed to explain to this committee what he's doing to deal with the conflict of interest. in a general matter, do you think it's appropriate for any fbi official to participate in a criminal investigation of someone who was an adverse witness in a pending eeo proceeding, and if so, what will you do to confirm that that does not happen on your watch? >> mi want to make sure that i understand the facts appropriately. one of the first things i would do upon being confirmed is to try to take stock of the senior leadership. there is of course a senate investigation into acting director mccabe's conduct and i know mr. chairman, your own strong support for the inspector general function is well known and i obviously would want to respect that and not comment here out of school. >> i'm going to put some letters in the record again in support for you, from various law enforcement organizations. and they support your

mr. mccabe any pending proceeding. yet mr. mccabe supervised the criminal investigation of flint and allegedly wanted it pursued very aggressively. according to press reports three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flynn before entering the russian investigation. yet mr. mccabe never refused himself from the flint investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he is handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i've asked inspector general to add this to the ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with tremendous amount of power.ns that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership and to the people elected representatives. that's why the fbi director has a ten year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to firi any director as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit is a ceiling not a floor. and while independen

mr. mccabe in a pending proceeding and mr. mccabe supervised that criminal investigation of flynn and alleged lead wanted to pursue it aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about flinn before and during the russian investigation, yet mr. mccabe never recused himself from the flinn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled that investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspect or general to review this, and it is trusted with a tremendous amount of power and that power is unsubject to appropriate checks with the abuse of the civil liberties. the directors are accountable to his leadership and to the people elected representatives. that's yet fbi director has a ten-year term limit and why there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director as president trump did former director james comey. the term limit is a sealing and not a floor and while independence from partisan influe

mr. mccabe and attending proceeding. mr. mccabe allegedly wanted this pursuit very aggressively. according to press reports, three fbi employees personally witnessed mccabe making disparaging remarks about michael flynn before and during the russian investigation. yet mr. mccabe never recused himself from the flynn investigation. his failure to do so calls into question whether he has handled the investigation fairly and objectively. i have asked the inspector general to add this to their ongoing review. the director of the fbi is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. that power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties. the director is accountable to his leadership. and to the people elected representatives. that is why the fbi director has a 10 year term limit and there are no restrictions on the ability of any president to fire any director as president trump did to former director james comey. the term limit is a ceiling, not a floor. while independence from partisan influence is critical in this committee and it tends to closely examine

mr. mccabe but i use him as an example. the deputy attorney general has failed to explain to this committee what he is doing to deal with the conflict of interest. in a general manner, do you think it is appropriate for any fbi official to participate in a criminal investigation of someone who is an adverse witness in a pending eeo proceeding, and if not, what would you do if confirmed to assure that that does not happen on your watch? >> mr. chairman, obviously i want to make sure i understand the facts appropriately. i think one of the first things i would do on being confirmed is try to take stock of the situation with the senior leadership and understand better the circumstances. there is of course the investigation into acting director mccabe's conduct and i know mr. chairman, your own strong support for the inspector general function is well-known and i would want to respect that and not comment here out of school. >> i am going to put some letters in the record of support for you. from various law enforcement organiz

mr. mccabe's wife. he -- and it guess on to talk about that in governor who was a close friend of hillary clinton and bill.clinton and on and on. so who was he happy with? anyone who was close to the investigation and people he appointed and people he hired he's not happy with them already and it's just six months in. >> i think look -- as i said for him in his mind jeff session's recusal was an original thing. he's very frustrated. remember, there was a whole -- what set off that whole scene of events where he was tweeting about his phone being tapped by president obama. days earlier he venued in his frustrations that jeff sessions had recused without they willel. it is not a prisurprise to me t he feels this way. >> as usually maggy great reporting. thank for joining me i appreciate it. >>> i want to bring in laura, borger and jeff zeleny. where do we start here. we were suppose to talk about -- i thought the big day was about healthcare and the president was finally going to get something done. also

mr. mccabe a wife received nearly $500,000 during a losing campaign for the virginia state senate and goes on to talk about that and governor terry mccollum and on and on. who is he happy with? anyone close to the investigation and people he appointed and people he hired, he's not happy with them already and it's just six months in. >> i think that -- as i said, i think for him in his mind, jeff sessions recusal was sort of an original. jeff sessions botching that testimony was an original sin. he was very frustrated that week. there was a whole -- what set off that whole chain of events where he was tweeting about his phone being tapped by president obama was a day earlier he had vent vented in frustration that jeff sessions had recused himself without telling him. he's been very, very angry about this for quite some time. having cover thd aed this and w about it before, it is not a surprise he feels this way. it all comes back to one thing in his mine. it was surprising he said it as forcefully. >> as usual maggie, great reporting. thank you so much for joining us. >> i'll bring in lar r

mr. mccabe, but i use mr. mccabe as an example. as i note in my opening statement, the department refused to provide an unredacted copy of mr. mccabe's recusal memo. and the deputy attorney general has failed to explain to this committee what he's doing to deal with the conflict of interest. in a general manner, do you think it is appropriate for any fbi official to participate in a criminal investigation of someone who is an adverse witness in a pending eeo proceeding, and if not, what would you do if confirmed to assure that that does not happen on your watch? >> well, senator, mr. chairman, i -- obviously i want to make sure i understand the facts appropriately. i think that one of the first things i would do upon being confirmed is try to take stock of the situation with the senior leadership and try to understand better the circumstances. there is, of course, inspector general investigation into acting director mccabe's conduct. and i know mr. chairman, your own strong support for the inspector general function is well known.

mr. mccabe. >> mr. larson? >> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. i want to thank all the witnesses and join in the accolades for chairman archer, for his service here. i like to say from the outset, mr. chairman, i never tire of listening to the story by pat teaberry of his immigrant parents, because actually you know in the committee there are so many stories to be told. that make up the fabric of this nation and what we're all about. and i would like to say that in echoing mr. doggett's comments that we do need to have more hearings, and we need more stories like mr. teaberry's. so that we can actually get to the gut of what we need to do. in terms of tax reform and why we may have our disagreements and procedures. that would allow me to quote my irish grandfather, who would say well you know, trust everyone, but cut the cards. because oftentimes you may need a reshuffle and in some cases, as mr. roosevelt said, a new deal. and oftentimes, as the havingva of society that leave government in a position where we have to do things. missed out specif

he questioned why mr sessions hadn't sacked the fbi's acting director — andrew mccabe — because of hisclinton. it's the latest in a flurry of critical tweets — following mr sessions' decision to recuse himself from the ongoing russia investigation. so are the days numbered for the president's top law officer? the bbc‘s emily maitliss is in washington — and asked the new white house communications director anthony scaramucci. this will resolve itself over the next week and what i would say to colleagues and cabinet members is you must understand the personality of the president, he is a straight shooter, he likes to express himself and let people know how he feels, sometimes those are tough conversations. why is he tweeting? letting rumours take over? he is a very tough person and i mean that in a good way, he is trying to use the pulpit in the oval office presidency to execute an agenda on behalf of the people. do i think he will stay? wait for the president. would like to see the sessions staying? i do not want to interrupt the outcome, between the attorney general and the president.

mr. sessions again today, this time asking, why didn't ag sessions replace acting fbi director andrew mccabe, a comey friend, in charge of clinton investigation, but got big dollars, $700,000, for his wife's political run from hillary clinton, and her representatives. drain the swamp. the validity of the latter claim, notwithstanding, the president could fire mccabe or sessions for that matter, if he wanted to. which is why some have wondered, why mr. trump continues to publicly attack the very first senator to back him during the campaign. >> he is trying to get sessions to quit. and i hope sessions doesn't quit. and the president wants to fire him, fire him. >> he is a man of substance, but the president should know, i know he knows, that he, jeff sessions is attorney general is not the president's lawyer. he is the lawyer for the united states of america. >> what you're seeing is an expression of frustration, not a decision. if he made a decision, sessions would have resigned by now. >> leading a justice department that's looking into russian meddling in the 2016 election, though he has r

mccabe or sessions if he. ed to, why some have wanted why mr. trump continues to publicly attack the very first senator to back him in the campaign. >> he is trying to get sessions to quit, i hope sessions does not want to quit. >> he is a man of substance, but president should know, i know high knows, that jeff sessions is attorney general is not the president's lawyer, he is the lawyer of the united states of america. >> you see an expression of frustration not a decision, if he made a decision, sessions would have resigned by now. reporter: leading a justice department looking into russian meddling, he has recused himself from that probe, a decision that has angered mr. trump, who white house aides say still wants mr. sessions for however long he may be around to do his job. >> he wants him to focus on thin like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues, i think that is what his focus is. reporter: fox news learned that sessions will soon announce several criminal leak investigations. which a source claims has been in works for some tim

sacked the fbi‘s acting director, andrew mccabe, because of his wife's political ties to hillary clinton. it is the latest in a flurry of critical tweets since mrsions stood aside from the russia investigation. so are the days numbered for the president's top law officer? the bbc‘s emily maitlis is in washington, and asked the new head of white house communications, anthony scaramucci. tell us first of all, what we should understand about the relationship with jeff sessions? i think this will resolve itself over the next week or so. and what i would say to colleagues and cabinet members is you must understand the personality of the president. he is a straight—shooter, he likes to express himself, and let people know how he feels. sometimes those are tough conversations. why isn't he talking to jeff sessions? why is he tweeting, letting rumours take over? he is a very tough person, and i mean that in a good way. he is trying to use the bully pulpit in the oval office, and his presidency, to execute an agenda on behalf of the people. do i think he will stay? it will be up to the president. would like to see sessions staying? i do not want to inte

mr. president. it says this. why didn't a.g. sessions replace acting fbi director andrew mccabe? comey friend? got big dollars, $700,000 from his wife for hillary clinton. drawn the swamp. now, the validity of the later part of the tweet not withstanding. it's not entirely accurate but that's a story for another time. the truth is this. if you don't want the man, let him go. if you listen to sarah huckabee sanders today, that's not necessarily the president's idea. >> the attorney general launches a meat probe. would that help the status with the president? >> i don't think that is the nature of the relationship. i think the president is disappointed. he stated that. i don't think there's nothing more to add at this point. >> all right. disappointed because he hasn't done more to stop the leaks. the prosecutors said there could be something percolating on that end. as we learn more, we'll share that with you. meantime, jeff sessions has a job but one that doesn't seem to be on entirely stable footing. >> neil: what a humiliating process. >> i agree. >> neil: thanks, my friend. kevin corke at t

mr. trump in a pair of tweets saying, why didn't a.g. sessions replace acting fbi director, andrew mccabe, a comey friend, who was in charge of the clinton investigation, but got big dollars? $700,000 for his wife's political run from hillary clinton and her reps. drain the swamp. john mclaughlin, former cia acting director, msnbc acting security analyst and paul butler, former federal prosecutor, also an msnbc analyst. john mclaughlin, let me start with you, sir. first of all, what do you make of these attacks by the president against his own attorney general? >> well, craig, you know, it's really deeply regrettable. i see three implications here. they're going to tell us a lot about this presidency. first, how this turns out will tell us whether president trump can learn anything. he's got the entire world telling him, stop this. apparently even from within the white house. and if he goes ahead, it will show that he can't take advice. second, it's symptomatic of what i think is a dangerous attitude toward the judiciary generally. call his comments sometime ago about belittling so-called

mr. trump leveled another broadside to his attorney general. the president criticized him for not removing andrew mccabe as acting director of the fbi. why didn't agent sessions replace acting director andrew mccabe? i got big dollars for his wife's political run from hillary clinton and her representatives. drain the swamp. >> look, you can be disappointed in someone but still want them to continue to do their job, and that's where they are. >> reporter: would you wadoes h that job? >> i think i made clear if there comes a point that he doesn't, we'll let you know. >> reporter: from senator hatcher in utah. >> i don't fully understand why the president said what he said, but i think jeff deserves better treatment. >> reporter: to senator richard shelby who, like sessions, is an alabama republican. >> he's not the president's personal lawyer, he's attorney general of the united states. he took an oath to the constitution, not to the president. and i think the president needs to realize that. >> reporter: now, wolf, this evening several republican senators are also raising sharp questions and criticism o

mr. trump blasted sessions again, this time he hit him nor not firing the acting fbi chief andrew mccabe because of his wife's old financial ties to democrats. so if you're scoring at home, the president is now on the record saying he thinks sessions, quote, shouldn't have recused himself, is damaging the presidency, should be investigating hillary clinton's, quote, crimes, should be probing collusion between democrats in ukraine, isn't tough enough on leaks and should fire the acting fbi director. amid this onslaught sessions is keemg his own head down, but his former senate colleagues are not. >> i would fire somebody that i did not believe could serve me well rather than trying to humiliate them in public, which is a sign of weakness. i hope sessions doesn't quit. and if the president wants to fire him, fire him. you have -- >> do you think the president is demonstrating weakness by his handling of sessions? >> absolutely. >> jeff sessions is an honorable man. is he did whatible any ethical attorney general would do under the circumstances under the rules of the justice department. >>

mccabe as well. again, hillary clinton did win, so maybe you want to tweet about what's -- what you're in control of, mrctly. big show ahead. admiral james is with us this morning. secretary of state for the ukleam fox is here to walk us through brexit and white house legislative affairs director mark joins us. ceo and cofounder of affirm max levchin and eric cantor. in a few hours to move forward with overhauling obamacare will take place this as president trump turns pressure and senator john mccain returns to washington this morning. doug, good morning to you. >> good morning, maria, with the key procedural vote at 2:15 this afternoon on whether to proceed with repeal and replace bill is yet to be determined, the white house is putting tremendous pressure republicans to get on board, republicans as you know have only a 52 to 48 majority and can they afford to lose two votes in this particular case. yesterday in a sign of urgency for republicans to pull together president trump joined four families, 22 people in all who are what the president called victims of obamacare. >> every pledge that washingto