you know rod rosenstein. he is someone you worked with in the past. the last 24 hours we had that bizarre, seemingly unprovoked statement from him which was warning allegedly the american people about believing what they read in the press too much about leaks. this morning, you see the president's tweet. then there's this additional reporting that the deputy attorney general is considering recusing himself. how do you see this being connected and laying out? >> well, i think what's ultimately going to happen is if and when rod gets confirmation that this is an investigation into obstruction of justice firing james comey, then you will see rod recuse and go to rachel brand who i know and share my panelist's opinion of her. she's very smart, very talented. new to the department of justice. she won't have any conflicts that seem to affect jeff sessions and mr. rosenstein. so i would expect that if it does fall to rachel to handle, she will do it very well. the expanding nature of this investigation that i talked about a couple of days ago on the show i t

he is fired up about rod rosenstein and robert mueller. one top democrat is expressing fears the president may try to get rid of both. first, the latest from inside the doj. evan perez joins us with that. what's the latest on whether rod rosenstein might recuse himself. >> we are edging closer to that point. the r the problem is he played a role in the firing of james comey. everything indicates that's where this investigation is going next. robert mueller is staffing up. he has a dozen lawyers now on his staff. part of what he is looking at is whether or not to launch a full-blown investigation into whether the firing of comey and whether the other aspects point to obstruction and interference by the president in this investigation. if that day comes where he gets a call from mueller saying that you are a witness in this case, it really makes the decision very difficult for him to remain involved in overseeing this investigation. >> you are getting new information tonight about infighting, tension inside the department of justice. what ca

a source says the tweet was aimed at rod rosenstein. rose tn stein also wrote the three-page letter laying out the reasons james comey should be removed as f.b.i. director. the tweet raised questions on whether rosenstein's job could be on the line. >> could you be terminated without cause? >> yes. >> who would appoint your replacement. >> the president. >> so that's a possibility. >> anything is possible report reports became swirling that rose tn stein may be a target of the investigation for his part in the comey firing and he may have to recuse himself. if there comes a point where he needs to recuse, he will. but nothing has changed. as leaks about the mueller investigation crew, including one that jared kushner's business dealings are under scrutiny. he issued a strange out of the blue statement about leaks. quote americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to among us in officials. kushner official say he has not been contacts by the f.b.i. or the special counsel's office. lou: judicial watch

a source says the tweet was aimed at rod rosenstein. rose tn stein also wrote the three-page letter laying out the reasons james comey should be removed as f.b.i. director. the tweet raised questions on whether rosenstein's job could be on the line. >> could you be terminated without cause? >> yes. >> who would appoint your replacement. >> the president. >> so that's a possibility. >> anything is possible report reports became swirling that rose tn stein may be a target of the investigation for his part in the comey firing and he may have to recuse himself. if there comes a point where he needs to recuse, he will. but nothing has changed. as leaks about the mueller investigation crew, including one that jared kushner's business dealings are under scrutiny. he issued a strange out of the blue statement about leaks. quote americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to among us in officials. kushner official say he has not been contacts by the f.b.i. or the special counsel's office. lou: judicial watch

today the president attacked rod rosenstein. and so as we approach the sixth month of the trump presidency, donald trump's impulse, his need to lash out has done nothing but leave his presidency with self-inflicted wounds. >> i am so thrilled to be back here with all of my friends in little havana. >> what is the president doing tweeting this morning about the investigation? >> i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch-hunt. >> i can just see the special investigator say make sure we got a copy of that one. >> he confirms he is under investigation and he seems to be threatening rod rosenstein. >> what he really seems to be doing is throwing gasoline on the fire. >> i don't mind that's it 110 degrees up here. >> obstruction of justice, potential financial crimes, and wrongdoing. the list keeps going and going. >> the vice president just got a lawyer. the president's own lawyer got a lawyer. >> it's very routine. >> very routine. >> it suggests a world of hurt for th

and number two, it is not rod rosenstein that is making those decisions. this investigation is being conducted independently by bob mueller, who's the independent prosecutor. and when we get into all of these details, we sometimes forget, this is about a foreign power trying to influence america. >> if rod rosenstein does recuse himself, rachel branwood would be the next person up to supervise the special counsel. you voted to confirm rosenstein, but voted against the confirmation of brand. why? >> i was concerned about her -- the hearing that we had, she answered very few questions. she actually -- she and rosenstein appeareding to and rosenstein answered most of the questions. i directly asked her some questions. i had a pleasant meeting with her in my office but i was concerned about her in this job and she now has a job and i respect that. and i think you've got to take the words of lindsynindsaey gra. and the words of lindsey graham this week is if the president were to fire rosenstein or mueller, it would be a disaster. mueller has not even started t

this is the statement right now that rod rosenstein issued late last night. it really warned americans not to accept as true stories based on anonymous officials. so, a bit of a head-scratcher there. it was a sharp statement, and it seemed to go to the heart of some of the complaints that the president has voiced about leaks and anonymous sources. however, rosenstein did not explain why he issued this statement, and a justice department official tells cnn the white house itself did not order the statement. so, the question is why was it issued? well, the timing is interesting here. it came right after the "washington post" released a story that the business dealings of jared kushner are being investigated by special counsel mueller as part of the russia probe, but really, you know, the details of this story aren't exactly new since cnn did report last month that kushner's business activities were of interest. so, rosenstein's sudden statement there, it seemed to lash out at media outlets about using anonymous sources but really still unclear as to what exactl

you know, rod rosenstein is the person who would fire bob mueller directly right there. it seems strange, but it really is reasonable to wonder right now if the president is not just attacking the special counsel, but also his deputy attorney general. >> certainly, if you listened to any of the testimony of rod rosenstein this week, many of the senators were actually most curious about not whether he would fire the special counsel, but what would happen in the event that the president fired him, right? so, it is reasonable to wonder and is perfectly within the president's constitutional authority to fire rod rosenstein and to fire robert mueller. i mean, we don't have a j. edgar hoover fbi anymore. but beyond this, what you just said and what the president said is that this is a political fight and he's going to fight it on his own terms. this is much more than a political fight. this is now a legal fight, this is a special investigation. because of the widening scope of this investigation and its broadened terms, the vice president now has a white-collar criminal attorn

rod rosenstein said he's not going to fire mueller. donald trump is starting to undermine rosenstein to he can fire rosenstein and put somebody in there who will fire mueller. that's what this is about. the beginning of a takedown of rod rosenstein that will let him do what he's eventually going to want to do inevitably which is fire his special prosecutor. >> okay. we're supposed to do this later in the show. >> sorry. >> no, no, let me tell you about the man he wants to fire, bob mueller. won a bronze star with valor. earned weeks after arriving in vietnam in 1968 after his platoon came under heavy fire. that was -- he also won a purple heart and a month later was back on patrol in the jungles of vietnam. talk to me about the political idiocy of trying to bring down a man like that. >> i mean, to really go after bob mueller, someone who has all kind of respects from -- respect from all quarterses i think is just like playing on the third rail. and i agree with john, i think that's the goal here. the reason you can't get normalcy in t

>> he hasn't expressed any opinion about rod rosenstein. let me say something here, you're asking me if i had a conversation, which i have not had, about robert mueller with the president of the united states, i could not and would not discuss that with you. unlike james comey, who leaks information to the press, i actually respect the attorney/client privilege. apparently, he did not. chris: well, you're speaking for

that implies rod rosenstein. where does this leave rod rosenstein?n jeopardy based on that tweet alone? >> i don't think he is in jeopardy. there is an important decision to make whether or not to recuse himself. many don't want him to recuse because he supports mueller and he went shutdown the investigation. i understand that. he is a known quantity on the hill and people trust him. he has tried cases and this is in the grand jury and he is obviously capable of supervising the investigation. on the other hand, he has a big problem. he is a witness in the third section of the investigation that has to do with whether or not the president obstructed justice. he did write the cover fake memo on why comey should be fired. he did have conversations with the president on the firing. he probably had con vargs versa with the attorney general on the firing. i believe he will end up recusing himself. what happens? the third person is not a prosecutor. she is a smart lawyer. she never tried cases. to my knowledge, never put a witness in grand jury. is not a cr

just on that basis alone, rod rosenstein is a key wrngs in this case. >> when you say rod rosenstein is a witness in mueller's russia investigation you're saying he's a witness to how president trump fired jim comey and why? >> and because it all resulted in obstruction of juflt. if you look at the pattern that occurred here from the time the trump white house was warned about michael flynn and the fact that he was subject to bribery and blackmail by the russians, the fact that trump sat on that for 18 days until the press finally put the heat on him and then he fires him. the following day he meets with comey, asked him to back off the investigation. when comey asks for more resources to put into the investigation and announces that there's an investigation before the u.s. senate, what does trump do? he fires him. >> you're a prosecutor. you know if you're going to make a case you need a statue the statute and a target. when you say there's an obstruction case here who's your target? >> the target would be 2 president of the united states and anybody else who was involved in that de

and today the president attacked rod rosenstein. and so as we approach the sixth month of the trump presidency, donald trump's impulse, his need to lash out has done nothing but leave his presidency with self-inflicted wounds. >> i am so thrilled to be back here with all of my friends in little havana. >> what is the president doing tweeting this morning about the investigation? >> i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch-hunt. >> i can just see the special investigator say ooh, make sure we got a copy of that one. >> he coirms he under investigation and he seems to be threatening rod rosenstein. >> what he's really doing is throwing gasoline on the fire. >> i don't even mind that it's 110 degrees up here. >> obstruction of justice, potential financial crimes and wrongdoing. the list keeps going and going. >> the vice president just got a lawyer. the president's own lawyer just got a lawyer. >> it's very routine. >> very routine. >> very routine. >> it suggests a worl

a white house source says the president was referring to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein who also hired special counsel robert mueller. the justice department confirms that rosenstein is prepared to recuse himself, if necessary, given his role in the firing of the fbi director james comey. that could open the way to a reoperationment seen as staunchly loyal to president trump. meanwhile, that special counsel mueller beefs up his team of investigators, democratic senator dianne feinstein fears that the president will try to fire both mueller and rosenstein and like colleagues on both sides of the aisle she warns that would be a critical mistake. but a white house official says the president is now taking matters into his own hands saying this is a political fight and the president plans to fight it. >>> the white house, meanwhile, is digging in. vice president pence has now hired an outside lawyer though he calls that, quote, very view teen. the president's personal lawyer also has hired a lawyer of his own and members of the trump transition team have been ordered to save records

that is rod rosenstein. you see him seated right there, papers in tow, binders in tow, about to testify this hour in public and out loud. and he will be certainly asked about reports that the president is considering an action so drastic, it could trigger outrage from both parties. >> we're going to hear some from lawmakers any second. speaker paul ryan and other house republican leaders are about to hold a news conference. they no doubt will be asked about the flurry of news, the white house, the president considering asking for the firing of robert mueller as special counsel. and then there is more huge testimony on capitol hill. attorney general jeff sessions will appear before the senate intelligence committee. he will face a flurry of questions, among them, what role did he have in the firing of james comey, did he have a third undisclosed meeting with the russian ambassador, did he offer his resignation to president trump last week? we have a lot to cover this morning. let's get straight to capitol hil

the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein in charge of the russia investigation. rosenstein admits that he could be next because of his oel in t -- role in the firing of the fbi director. quote f the quote, if there comes a point where he needs to recuse he will. however, nothing has changed. joining us now hawaii democratic senator, which has oversight over the fbi. thanks so much for joining us. >> aloha. good to be here with you. >> aloha to you too. let me put the latest tweet from the president up on the screen and we'll get your reaction. i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who tooled me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. what's your initial reaction when you see that latest tweet? >> i think it's, again, an example of the president taking no responsibility for anything he does. when somebody doesn't agree with him, he lashes out. and again, he's the one who fired comey. it wasn't rosenstein. and the memo that rosenstein wrote was the president said not the basis for his firing. and now he's saying that rosenstein is to blame. i

mueller, and if rod rosenstein refused, he would have to fire rod rosenstein, and then he would have to find his successor, someone in the department of justice who's been confirmed, and ask him or direct him or her to do it. so, it would be a blood bath. >> i mean, and if it went down the route a la watergate and how that played out, diane, what would the fallout be? what would happen to the investigation? >> well, if we look at history, we know that the firing of special prosecutors by president nixon was essentially the watershed moment that led eventually to his resignation. it really becomes as much as anything a political question of what the reaction would be, particularly from the members of congress who have the power to impeach to this kind of behavior. >> can we just take one moment? chris, as we're kind of -- we're three steps in, because that's where the news is -- let's take two steps back, if we could, chris. here is what we knew as of this morning. we basically knew that the president -- no one knows where the president's thinking is in terms of keeping or firing robe

is he trying to force rod rosenstein out?t bizarre cryptic memo from rod rosenstein last night. is he trying to pressure him maybe to resign? >> maybe. i think it is always trying to get inside the president's head and more dane rouse to try to get inside his tweets. but this could be part of laying the ground work for firing rod rosenstein and that of course would change who was in charge of overseeing special counsel bob mueller and the russia investigation. that honor would fall to the associate attorney general. so maybe what we're seeing is the president starting to sew the seeds of discord so when and if he wants to move rosenstein out, there has been some ground swell against him. >> the president has been i think it is fair to say, obsessed with proving to the american public that he is not under investigation. you'll recall his letter firing james comey. and by the way, thank you for three times saying i was not under investigation. why would he say this morning i am being investigated? >> obviously, he's had solid i

. >> the attorney general rod rosenstein. "the washington post" was saying trump was under investigation when he wasn't under investigation. now they are saying he's under investigation by a special counsel appointed by rosenstein. so now we are looking at this going, wait a minute. trump was following a memo you laid out to fire comey. now, you appointed a special counsel to follow your membership oh. only in d.c. does this happen in a world insulated from common sense and rational thought. i'm thinking, rod, did you overdose on stupid pills? now you have a clinton foundation lawyer fighting foia requests for information requests on hillary clinton's private email server. i think what rod rosen tine needs to do is go through congress and say i laid out a budget and i laid out parameters for mueller and i will report weekly the progress of what's going on with special counsel. steve: why didn't they just stop the thing? he hasn't taken a bribe. what's to investigate. all you have going to do dwsh karl rove pointed out when th

that was rod rosenstein.here is some conversation about whether or not the president himself or the white house in some way was trying to force rosenstein's hand to issue that statement. >> i see no indication of that. justice department officials say he did this entirely on his own, that he's been fed up with a number of anonymous stories he thinks are wrong. ever since he became the deputy attorney general, a story early on that he threatened to resign over the way the white house initially revealed his involvement in the comey firing. another story that said he had turned down a comey request for more resources to do the russia investigation. then some of these recent stories and he just wanted to get the word out, kind of as a warning to justice and fbi employees, don't be leaking. although it has to be pointed out that mr. rosenstein doesn't really know what robert mueller is up to, so he really isn't in a position to say whether the latest leaks came from justice or fbi officials. a couple points here.

how do you interpret that press statement tonight from rod rosenstein?u know, that is really highly unusual that he himself would make those statements. usually those statements are made by someone at the justice department who deals with the press and their direct inquiries from individuals like yourself who are inquiring to see if in fact those sources are true. for him to make the statement means that it really does disturb the department of justice, and we need to see where this trail is going the lead us. >> and ari, as we go forward here, just to go back for one second, if rosenstein has to recuse himself, who takes over and how does that change things? >> ms. brant would take over as the next person the senate confirmed. and she would then be for the purposes of this inquiry the acting attorney general. >> and she was confirmed on a real party line vote, 52-48, as i recall. >> she has a few more conservative legal links. but i don't think we know yet exactly how she would conduct herself in this. i think the larger question is what does the justic

then does rod rosenstein resign? with a president who is motived by the norms of political cost benefit analysis, we might be able to predict for you what might happen here. with any other attorney general, we might be able to predict what the attorney general would do. if the president wanted the special prosecutor fired. what we do know is that from the start, president trump has behaved not like a politician who is concerned with how things look and how they will look in the next election, he has behaved as senator franken said like he has something to hide, something big. and we know a lot about jeff sessions, but not enough to predict what he will do if the president orders the firing of the special prosecutor. and so tonight the investigation of the president and his associates has hit another stunning suspense point. will the special prosecutor be fired? it was a question that rod rosenstein thought he could ignore last week. and most of the media thought it could be ignored last week when kamala harris asked

>> first of all, rod rosenstein is a professional. and one of the reasons he yielded to and thought it was appropriate to hire a special counsel, because he did submit a memo that allegedly mr. trump read but then, of course, went on national television and said it was about the russian thing. i think what is important is rob rosenstein as a professional assess where he might be in this proceeding. i believe the special counsel mueller, as he precedes, will make it very clear that rob rosenstein recuse himself and if he feels it's appropriate under the law. the department of justice is a particular eat. it deals with laws by statue and it adheres to two documents, the stauchl tore documents and the constitution. >> and your committee -- oversight over the -- >> absolutely. >> do you think its inevitable he'll have to recuse? >> well, i think that as the proceeding proceeds he will determine that, but i think he might just have to recuse. he's right in the middle of it. he employed the special counsel, he wrote a memo, he's been engage

sekulow: the president has never said anything about rod rosenstein doing anything wrong.at's the legal situation here. there's a constitutional issue when you have the scenario. the president made a determination based on consult of advice he decided that ultimately he gets to make maka decision with james comey had a go. that's been coming from groups right, left, and center. it was put forward in a memorandum, that's what he's referencing from the deputy attorney general and the attorney general requesting the removal of james comey as the fbi director. ultimately it's the president's determination. here's the constitutional threshold. the president takes action based on numerous events, including recommendations from his attorney general and the deputy attorney general. he takes the action that they also recommended and now he's being investigated by the department of justice. the special counsel reports -- not an independent counsel. he's being investigated for taking the action that the attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended him to take by the agenc

. >>> then -- j-lo and a-rod's family getaway. >> jennifer is a role >> is an engagement next?>> forget those "bachelor" breakup rumors. we have the latest on nick and vanessa's next big move. >>> then, the big easy takeover with the cast of "girl's trip." >> i'm losing my mind right now. >> we're very proud. >>> the "spiden:r-maec homg"omin premiere. >>> plus "battle oe f thnetwork stars" is back. >>> and why harry styles is taking cover. >> there's an explosion happening over here. ♪ ow>> n for june 29, 2017, this is "entertainment tonight." >>> did adele just announce she is quitting performing for good? hi, everybody, and welcome. brook anderson is here with me tonight. always good to have you. >> always good to be with you. >> kevin frazier joining us from new orleans where he is feeling it. hey, kev. >> how are you doing? i'm here in new orleans with the cast from "girls trip." latifah, regina hall. jada pinket. that's coming up in a moment. but right now, we're going to do our thing. >> thanks, kevin. he is having a lot of fun. the band is rocking. >>> and let's get to o

the attorney general is recused so it would be up to rod rosenstein. rosenstein was asked repeatedly about this issue and said, i see no basis for firing robert mueller and i would only fire him for good cause. so i think he basically put to president trump today, if you want to fire robert mueller, i'm going to quick first. saturday night massacre style the way elliott richardson and william rucklehaus quit in 1973. so the chances of any attempt to fire mueller dropped considerably today after rosenstein's testimony. >> although, matthew, we should point out, president trump is a disruptor and does things differently. maybe two or three weeks ago if someone had said the same thing to you about firing james comey, perhaps you would have said the same thing. >> perhaps. >> who knows? >> who does know. and this president seems to use these types of situations to distract or change the narrative from whatever i guess is strengthening the workforce week, if i recall. >> apprenticeships. >> yes. but i could see this discussion play out and the department of

tweeting that he's being investigated as part of the russia probe angrily blaming deputy attorney general rod rosenstein for what he calls a witch hunt. i want to bring in the former prosecutor for the southern district of new york, matthew whitaker and cnn analyst richard ben-veniste a former watergate prosecutor and john flannery. we brought the heavy hitters here. we're not measuring around today. seriously. richard, i want to start with you. tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of when five men were arrested for breaking into the democratic national headquarters. there's been so many comparisons to watergate over the past weeks. do you think we're on the verge of another saturday night massacre? >> 45 years since then and it sure looks like it. it looks like we've got a simmering tea kettle here and the president is testing the waters here about whether he should fire bob mueller. he's received bipartisan acclaim. you look in the dictionary for public servant and you see bob mueller's picture. he was an outstanding choice and is doing his job. he's doing nothing other than doing his job. t

and sign in order to get someone fire rod rose and sign in order to get someone more fire rod rose andget someone more malleable to do his bidding. —— rod rosenstein. but that would provoke a crisis. one more thing from thejeff sessions testimony. he was asked directly with the president was recording conversations in the oval office or anywhere in the white house. he said, i don't know. he was then asked whether there was an obligation to preserve such records if they existed. he said, i don't know, probably. we are going to hear on sassoon, aren't we, on whether such tapes exist? —— here answers soon. well, we have had that promise from the president himself. he made that pledge in a press conference a view days ago. —— eight few days ago. but he has also suggested that he has recorded conversations with reporters, and her recordings were ever produced. we shall wait and see. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has announced that north korea has released an american student who was detained 18 months ago for stealing a propaganda banner. otto warmbier had been sentenced to 15 y

rod will be the person testifying on monday. i want to turn to some other issues. the senate continues the debate over health care. there has been some speculation of the senate republican leader is invoking rule 14, which bypasses the committee process, fast tracking the bill to the senate floor, but now politico is reporting that the timeline is shifting yet again. what can you tell us today? i think we are going to have to make a choice in how much when -- how much longer they will spend trashing the health care bill when it is in the way of other priorities were the president and her public and legislat -- of the president and republican legislature. reform, looking at tax and for structure, increasing the debt ceiling, all of those issues are under the radar because people are talking about health care. so republicans are facing the same challenge that the house did, in that you have this entitlement, which millions of americans get health care off of, but -- and you want to tear down obama care but do not want to leave mil

appearing to talk about rod rosenstein here.ct on this investigation from the president's tweets? >> well, one would hope not. i think the president would hope not because if there is an impact on the investigation, then the case for obstruction of justice just gets deeper and deeper. the question i have is whether the president would like to see rod rosenstein recuse himself, because what he has done by this tweet is to actually pull rosenstein deeper into the chronology and the history of the firing of comey and now that the president knows he's being investigated for the firing of comey as a possible obstruction of justice, by tweeting that way, he's saying by the way, look at rod rosenstein, too. so if the president had a strategy, it might be in trying to get rod rosenstein out of the way. >> ron, do you see a strategy here? are these just the comments from a frustrated president? >> i agree with tim. look, we have seen the precedent before. the president fired sally yates when she was investigating michael flynn, he fired

it will be up to rod rosenstein to make that decision and to step aside. i think ultimately that's what he has to do. >> when errol and i were discussing the president's tweets about 40 minutes ago, he says he is not subscribing to this theory that the president is playing four dimensional chess. i think we have the tweet to put up later. are these tweets strategic on the president's part? >> i don't know that we'll ever really know. some of the tweet are probably not, some may be. some may be a way to directly km communicate with the public and looking at this thing. i think one of the tweets that was out there that dianne feinstein said, we need to bring loretta lynch in. if president trump has obstructed, certainly loretta lynch, therefore president obama did in the hillary clinton investigation, if we measure all crimes with the same yardstick. i think there's a lot out there that if i was russia, if i was the czar himself, i would be looking at this with great amusement saying i have the americans in a circular firing squad. meanwhile, we are globe tr

>> he hasn't expressed any opinion about rod rosenstein.ing here, you're asking me if i had a conversation, which i have not had, about robert mueller with the president of the united states, i could not and would not discuss that with you. unlike james comey, who leaks information to the press, i actually respect the attorney/client privilege. apparently, he did not. chris: well, you're speaking for his legal team, so you're out here to represent him and tell us what the president's belief is, is that correct? >> no. i'm here to tell you what the facts are and the legal issues. i'm not the client's conscience, i'm his lawyer. chris: i understand that. have you spoken to the president at all? >> yes. but i'm not going to discuss those conversations with you. those are privileged under the attorney/client privilege. chris: well, i assume if he asked you to say something, for instance, mark cat wits said all kinds of things, i assumed he was speaking for the president -- >> he made a general statement to the press after the testimony of james

would interact with him on a regular basis, i know him well, and what i do know, though, if you read rod rosenstein's memo that outline the basis for firing jim, he was accurate. rod's case talks about how he took-- how director comey at the time took the hillary clinton e-mail server situation and made it not just a denial of prosecution, but made it kind of a little bit of a political circus and ultimately did things inconsistent with not only fbi policies, but also fbi traditions. so-- >> the criticism of james comey is that he went political and politicized the fbi and stuck the fbi into the middle of political debate and that's something you should not do, is that in a nutshell, that's the criticism? >> that is the criticism. it's also he took the role of the department of justice and the attorney general and made it his own and it explained why a prosecutorial decision was maids which is not his role to make. stuart: but he said he did that because he did not trust that meeting on the tarmac between then attorney general and the former president of the united states. i mean, he bas