it's also patrick fitzgerald. those of us in the criminal defense business -- >> the prosecutor. >> two of the most despicable, december spiced, unethical prosecutors -- >> are you saying, you're talking about unfettered power and i want to talk more about that, but it is with reason. but first, are you saying he would pardon them? we're taco win, manafort, flynn. you're saying -- >> i have no idea. why would i know? i have no idea. he hasn't pardoned them yet, and he could have. so i'm saying that the lawyers for these people don't need to see a pardon for somebody else to figure out that the president has pardon power. they already know it. we learn it the first year in law school. >> so when you talk about his unfettered power, i want to ask you about that. first of all, i did mention the last three presidents for a reason, and that is, it is unusual to do it this way. there are plenty of pardons, we could go through everybody and say, what about that one, what about that one? people don't all agree and they mi

talking about this guy, patrick fitzgerald? it goes back into the 80s, and he went back to scooter libby. outrageous prosecution, and he went after conrad black. the court part of that conviction overturned by the supreme court. and of course not once but two times, they tried blagojevich. the court sadly didn't take the case a couple of weeks ago and they could have cleared up this ridiculous federal bribery statute which is extremely confusing, wide enough to drive a truck through. and yet he is praised for being -- is the most esteemed person. he did the enron investigation and the enron case. but there were problems there, too. arthur anderson ends up getting exoneration exonerated, meanwhile they laid off 85,000 people in the interi interim. in some cases, they are protecting them but they have unchecked power often times and it can be out of control. and i'm sorry, but as i speak of the former criminal defense attorney, i don't want to be on my high horse, and say the defense is always right because it's not. but if they

but i have to say to the people watching, bob mueller, jim comey and patrick fitzgerald. just because they're smart guys and went to great schools and have done good stuff in their careers doesn't mean they always get it right. and if you're overzealous and have a history of being overzealous in high profile cases, patrick fitzgerald with conrad black and scooter libby and comey and his involvement in this. you is to start asking tough questions. and patty, i'll let you speak. you have a heavy heart and a lot on your mind. but if you can tell donald trump one thing other than pardon your husband, what would you tell him about bob mueller, your experience with him? >> well, i think the president knows when people have unchecked power it's a very dangerous thing. and we believed in the courts and we believed that the court system was going to work properly. and so if -- and unfortunately, our trust was misplaced. we thought the justice system was going to work. we believed people operated with true and honest motives and we were sadly mistaken. this is something he has seen

mueller, comey, or their close friend patrick fitzgerald, and the charges that they went to jail for our familiar to the cases that we are following now. stewart, like general michael flynn was convicted of lying to a federation, but not for the underlying crime. and the campaign finance issues that were raised and are raised in the michael cohen situation, sounds like a lot of what dinesh d'souza went through, and what sent him to jail, so is the president trying to send a message with any of these moves. we start with a look back at the famous case of the phones have to governor whose calls were heard across the country. jonathan hunt covered it then. and with us tonight now. good evening. >> good evening, martha. blagojevich serving as 14 years in 2012, he was arrested in december 2008 while still serving as governor of illinois and was impeached and removed from office in 2009. then convicted in 2011 on a total of 17 counts of corruptio corruption. including trying to sell president obama's former u.s. senate seat. a central piece of evidence was this secretly recorded clip of a

because patrick fitzgerald said they miss letter about salaries undercover and she didn't understandher own notes until she saw that she had been at the bureau undercover and, therefore, she recanted and said i helped convict an innocent man. she came out and applauded it is that somebody who commit a a ce was given a pardon. this is ideally what pardons are for. >> host: victoria toensing, we learn in the book that scooter libby was at one point mark which is attorney. >> that's with the prosecute was all about because james comey and patrick fitzgerald would wee together in the southern district of new york when marc rich got his partner from none other than bill clinton, by the way. .. . >> well, she did, she gave bill clinton hundreds of thousands and i know because i represented jack quinn. >> i think it's not an unfettered, you cannot achieve-- >> when james comey tells the story about scooter libby in his book, do you agree with what he was writing? >> look, victoria obviously knows a lot more about the indicates than i do, but everything i have seen shows that he perjured him

my client scooter libby had the same problem when comey and patrick fitzgerald went to scooter will youy's lawyers saying if you give us something about vice president cheney this will go away. but not everybody is that strong when they are looking at spending the rest of their time in prison they can do what alan dershowitz talked about, composing what the facts are. judge jeanine: can the president even be indicted? >> he cannot. under two separate opinions, one in 1973 after nixon written by a republican justice department and 2000 written by a democratic justice department. the president cannot be indicted. but also on policy ground. the opinions, the president is busy. you cannot take a criminal process or indictment. you cannot take a criminal process to the point where the president becomes untoday pass 8ed to run the presidency. if he cannot be indicted, judge, your honor, to what purpose does mueller want to untear gait, question the president. what will he do with it? judge jeanine: i remember this from bill clinton. he can be sued civilly but he cannot be indicted. we already

he was arrested during patrick fitzgerald's tenure. he is a close friend of comey's and a member of comey's legal team to investigate the valerie for lying to the fbi. that's another individual president trump pardon. she was prosecutored by bharara. in their view, they are constantly trying to undermine the rule of law. one might note that they were prosecuted by the u.s. attorney's office by the southern district of new york, the same office criminally investigating president trump's lawyer/fixer, michael cohen. so, the big question, of course, is the signal being sent here, at all, by the president about his feelings about that office, the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of new york and the president's willingness to forgive the crimes of those law enforcement officials? they note there's a theme emerging with the patterns and pardons and potential pardons. the u.s. government is treating people unfairly. that is the explanation given by the president. quote, he was treated very unfairly. blagojevich today, quote, i

was presidented by james comey and illinois governor rod blagojevich who was prosecuted by patrick fitzgerald. what's going on here? >> yeah, the law gives the president the authority and the power to issue pardons, to commute sentences at his own personal discretion. there is a process, a formal process the department of justice to review pardon applications and go through a bureaucratic process but that did not happen in the case of dinesh d'souza. i assume it's not happening in the case of rod blagojevich or martha stewart. he feels like he wants to act to help them. the first pardon he issued was last year for maricopa county sheriff. he seems to be trying to pardon people who he is close to politically who are icons for his base. dinesh d'souza a prominent commentator who got to know trump years ago at trump tower. there's a relationship there. he's making these decisions politically and personally as opposed through a formal process at the doj. >> you already had scooter libby and joe arpaio. phil, to you, is this a signal to some of his associates who are under investigation. some of h

blagojevich was done by patrick fitzgerald who was appointed by comey. i mean, i think there is a pattern here, and i think that the president is making it very clear there is no nuance to donald trump, we've learned over this year, and what he's saying is, you know, i've got a lot of power and i can use it where i want, and you guys had some big wins here, you thought you did, well, guess what? i'm undoing it, and for the future i can do that, too. >> carrie, you're a former assistant general for security. how do you see it? >> i was county assistant general, but thanks for the promotion. i think the president, beyond just messaging, i think he is testing the boundaries of the presidency. i think he's potentially trying to use the presidency in ways that we haven't seen, really, in modern times. if we go back to the history of pardons, the president making pardon decisions alone are concentrating the use of pardons in the white house alone dates back to the 19th century. ever since the late 1800s, actually, the justice department has had some kind of of

i don't think patrick fitzgerald sent the bush white house questions in advance. it is an enormous benefit to know where the prosecution is going. >> one thing for the president to know and his team to know, the legal team had these for a while, it seems, it is another thing to have them out there. that's i guess what i'm asking about. why have them out there? >> that's the best way to lobby as president, through the magic box. mr. president, don't listen to all the lawyers, testify. you have nothing to hide, you've done nothing wrong. go in there under oath, answer all the questions, you never lie. that's my advice to him. >> so scott jennings, let me establish for our viewers who didn't quite get the fact that paul was being facetious there, to me, is the message to the president, look, you got to be very careful here. there are a lot of questions that could put you in serious danger. does this, you know, really lower the possibility the president will sit down and answer questions? >> yeah, that's a good question. i mean, number one, if you look at the list, i

. >> you appointed patrick fitzgerald to the case with what do you make of donald trump's pardon of scooter libby and was that a message to michael cohen or others? >> is an attack on the rule of law, the way he worked. a deep review of all the facts. the rule of law system worked here, and 14 years later. he deserves to be pardoned with no review and no consultation with prosecutors and investigators. i can't think of a reason consistent with rule of law to do that. whether it is a message, somebody asked me, my wife reminded me it is not about you, dear. i don't know whether it is a message. even if it is not a message it is an attack on rule of law. it is really important people be prosecuted for lying blatantly which is what that was, in the criminal justice system. without that the rule of law melts away. >> donald trump issued preemptive pardons. >> i don't know. >> all the time we have, thank you. can you imagine that happening? does it sound, does it look possible to you? >> sure. the world we are in i can't imagine saying that in any other environment but it is possible. i don't kn

patrick fitzgerald was a good friend of james comey who prosecuted rhod rod dagovich. they're saying the president is out of line doing the pardons. rob's why have who has been pressing to have her husband released by the president, so he's really encouraged by the president's words. >> woodruff: makes everyone wonder whether signals were being sent in all this. >> mm-hmm. >> woodruff: a lot going on today. thank you both. >> woodruff: we return to the brewing trade war between the u.s. and some of our closest allies. john yang has that. >> yang: judy, u.s./european relations took another hit today when commerce secretary wilbur ross said the administration would impose tariffs on european steel and aluminum. this comes after president trump withdrew from the deal to contain iran's nuclear program, a deal the e.u. helped negotiate and remains committed to. to talk about this, we're joined by david o'sullivan, the european union's ambassador to the united states. mr. ambassador, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. e president of the european commission said today what

i think at some point, farrow, if he has a prosecutor as aggressive as patrick fitzgerald was with the press, that he can expect a subpoena, and he'll have to make a decision about whether or not he's willing to go to prison to protect a source. because it's a very big deal to leak one of these. i completely agree with seth, the information is there. the information isn't going to be lost. but also if you read that report, many of the people farrow talked to, at least half the people, i think, said, well, there could be an explanation for this other than the theft or the -- >> and i appreciate that nuance. and indeed nbc's reported on the possible counterintelligence reasons, which is to say, it was put to the side for the right reason, not the wrong reason. although i did read the allegation of the whistle-blower. seth, when you look at these reports breaking over the last five minutes, that paul manafort's estranged former son-in-law has flipped, as far back as january, is cooperating with investigators and that we don't know whether that directly comes from the mueller probe or sepa

because patrick fitzgerald had missed letter about the boundaries under cover and she understand herown notes until she saw that valerie had been at the bureau undercover and, therefore, she recanted and said i helped convict an innocent man on that last night and applauded. this estimate who committed a crime. this is idea what pardons are for, that is essential. >> victoria toensing of women in the book "a higher loyalty" that scooter libby at one point was mark rich is attorney. >> that's what that was all about. they were together in the southern district of new york when mark rich got his part from none other than bill clinton, by the way, after gave him lots and lots of money. actually comey opened up an investigation and as a constitutional i think that would give you pause. i posted the position that an unfettered authority, that is an unfettered -- >> could you pay the president $1 million? do to think that would be -- >> she did. she gave hundreds of thousands of dollars. i know because i represented jack any case so i know the very well. >> i do not think it is unfettered

attorney patrick fitzgerald and kelly. they're acting as comey's attorneys.t comey admitted once he was alerted by the f.b.i. there was classified in the information in the memos all three men returned the memos. that on its face would fit the definition of a classified leak or classified spill of information, bill. >> bill: thank you, more to come on that. >> sandra: for more on this let's bring in guy benson political editor and fox news contributor. joins us on set. good morning to you. first up is this threat real? >> well, i think what you are seeing from the house freedom caucus is an attempt to step up pressure on rosenstein to get documents that they've been asking for -- demanding for a long time. and so this might be their way of sort of lighting a fire under the d.o.j. saying if you continue not to comply with what we're asking for, we have tools at our disposal to remove you from office. i think rosenstein may have been wise to basically ignore that or say we're doing it as quickly as we can as opposed to ratcheting up and raising the temperature

attorney patrick fitzgerald and david kelly. >> did the inspector general interview you about your handling >> yes. has already. i expect a report from them not on the handling of classified information, that's frivolous, but did i comply with policy and my employment agreement? >> mccabe told the inspector general he believes comey is being investigated as a liar on those matters. >> bill: new information about this columbia professor did some work on behalf of james comey at the f.b.i. what do you have on that? >> according to documents reviewed by fox news the columbia law professor director comey used to help leak at least one memo to the media worked as a special government employee for 18 months and during that same time period he also appeared in the media to defend comey's handling of the clinton email case. records reviewed show daniel richman began working as a special government employee or sge as early as june 30th, 2015. he left the position according to comey in february of 2017. f.b.i. records reviewed by fox also show richman's responsibilities included terrorist communicati