zelinsky. i want to follow up on what mr. deutch was talking about and that is to really understand why roger stone got such special treatment, but make sure we focus on the context of his crime. so what his crime was, was lying to congress about his dealings with the trump campaign. one of the convictions, right? mr. zelinsky: that was one of his crimes, yes. mr. richmond: and the summer before the elections, stone told the trump campaign that he had, quote, a plan to save trump's butt and he knew how, but -- to win, but it wouldn't be pretty. do you recall that? mr. zelinsky: yes, congressman. i think you've replaced the pro fanity with another one. but that is correct. mr. richmond: then also, mr. zelensky, what was mr. stone's plan? mr. zelinsky: testimony at trial indicated that this was elated -- [indiscernible] -- -- rich did he mr. richmond: did you find evidence that stone was talking to trump directly? >> yes. mr. richmond: in fact, witnesses also testified that they were present when

zelinsky. mr. zelinsky, before you worked at the department of justice, clerked for judge thomas griffith of the d.c. circuit. a republicanted by president, correct? mr. zelinsky: that's correct. by president ed george w. bush. then you clerked reagan.president mr. zelinsky: that's correct. before you became a judge you had to take an oath before the united states correct?ion, mr. zelinsky: before i became an assistant united states attorney on d to take a similar oath a number of occasions, including clerkships you just said, congressman. mr. lieu: so your client is not barr. trump or bill it's the constitution of the united states and the american people, isn't that right? correct.sky: that is mr. lieu: on behalf of the american people you and career submitted a sentencing memo of seven to nine roger stone, is that right? mr. zelinsky: that aptly describes the sentencing yes.andum, you ieu: when judge asked to support that recommendation, she said -- zelinsky: the sentencing memo complied wit

zelinsky. i want to follow up on what mr. deutch was talking about and that is to really understand why roger stone got such special treatment, but make sure we focus on the context of his crime. so what his crime was, was lying to congress about his dealings with the trump campaign. one of the convictions, right? mr. zelinsky: that was one of his crimes, yes. mr. richmond: and the summer before the elections, stone told the trump campaign that he had, quote, a plan to save trump's butt and he knew how, but -- to win, but it wouldn't be pretty. do you recall that? mr. zelinsky: yes, congressman. i think you've replaced the pro fanity with another one. but that is correct. mr. richmond: then also, mr. zelensky, what was mr. stone's plan? mr. zelinsky: testimony at trial indicated that this was elated -- [indiscernible] -- roich rich did he >> did you find evidence stone was talking a trump? >> yes. mr. richmond: in fact, witnesses also testified that >> mr. gaetz testified that a and mr. manna f

zelinsky: mr. kuehne. mr. jordan: ok. tell me about joseph -- mr. zelinsky: congressman, i apologize that it took me a moment to come up with the name. aless yo, the first assistant's name is evangelista. mr. jordan: tell me why the special counsel didn't charge joseph with lying to the f.b.i. he lied three times. you charge everybody else, you charged flynn and stone and 13 russians, no one had ever seen. we know that the flynn charge was wrong. as evidenced by what happened today. but why didn't you charge joseph who lied to you guys back in february of 2017?

zelinsky? mr. zelinsky: he had done a number of things. he told a witness to prepare to die, he threatened a witness' dog, he had written a slew of nasty messages to the witness. we. deutsch: and i know that have been talking about these for a while. it is worth pointing out -- he told the witness to "prepare to die." did the threats get worse? did they impact the witness' testimony? mr. zelinsky: they did. rep. deutsch: mr. zelinsky, would you say that these are serious offenses? mr. zelinsky: yes. rep. deutsch: help me understand, how do you come up with a seven year to nine year recommendation? and what were the enhancements that increased the sentencing range? mr. zelinsky: in coming to the recommendation we did, we do in every case, we consult a report that is prepared by the court. the relevant department of justice policies, and then we look at the guidelines. it is important to understand that the guidelines in this case is clear and the applications are readily apparent. it was not a tough calculation. after looking at that, we de

zelinsky: they did. mr. deutch: would you say these are serious offenses? mr. zelinsky: yes. mr. deutch: and help us understand, how did you come up with the seven to nine-year recommendation? did you follow the guidelines? was it at the top or bottom of the range? and what were the enhancements that increased the sentencing range? mr. zelinsky: so, in coming to the recommendation we did, and we do what we do in every case. we consult a report that's prepared by the court. we consult the relevant department of justice policies and then we look at the guidelines. it's important to understand that the guidelines in this case were clear and the application was readily apparent. it was not a calculation. after looking at that, -- [indiscernible] -- we determined what a reasonable sentence would be in this case. mr. deutch: normally the department defends recommendations within the guidelines range, don't they? mr. zelinsky: it is the policy of the department and reiterated in 2017. mr. deutch: in your written testimony, you stated the team was pressured to submit inaccurate guideline

zelinsky says, i responded, thanks for the message.to believe as i previously expressed to you that changing a sentencing recommendation based on political considerations and the fact that the u.s. attorney was afraid of the president, in your words, was wrong, contrary to doj policy, and unethical at a minimum. he's saying he put it in writing that he heard from a supervisor in the u.s. attorney's office that the only reason this sentencing recommendation was being changed was because the u.s. attorney was afraid of the president. he's effectively calling out the supervisor to say, i've got your number. you knew this was wrong, and is what he's saying here you could get in trouble, and maybe you ought to speak up too? >> i think so, rachel. i think whoever that person is or persons, if i were reading this testimony, i would be running to get my story out there immediately because whoever this person is, is portrayed at least in aaron zelinsky's testimony as someone who got along to get along, did what he thought he needed to do to kee

that led zelinsky to resign from the case. roger stone got a three-year sentence, and the president has talked about firing him. -- pardoning him, rather. zelinsky's latest accusations have drawn no reaction yet from attorney general bill barr, who just this week fired a u.s. attorney who was overseeing other cases involving trump friends. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. john bolton's long-awaited book was released today to bipartisan criticism. objections from the white house rhat say he's puttir tr national security advisor tells us that in th "in the room whert happened" president trump put personal interest ahead of national security. >> i think with respect to china, which for me is the existential threat to america in the 21st century, we are in much worse shape. china continues to be an increasing global threat for the united states. >> o'donnell: what capabilities does china have? >> well, national wealth alone gives them the kind of potential in cyber space and in many othe. russia is a one-horse economy, and w

that led zelinsky to resign from the case.n a statement tonight, the department of justice says attorney general bill barr determined that the recommended sentence was excessive and that's why he intervened. they insist he did not discuss the sentence with the president or anyone else at the white house. roger stone was ultimately sentenced to three years in prison. the president has talked about a pardon. norah. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. john bolton's long-awaited book was released today to bipartisan criticism. objections from the white house anat say he discloses classified information and scorn from democrats who say he's putting financial gain over country. well, tonight, the former national security advisor tells us that "in the room where it happened," president trump put personal interests ahead of national security. >> i think with respect to china, which for me is the existential threat to america in the 21st century, we are in much worse shape. china continues to b

zelinsky said he feared he could be fired. >> and i was told that the acting u.s. attorney was giving stone a break, because he was afraid of the president of the united states. >> reporter: barr told me that the president was not involved. did you talk to the president at all about your decision regarding the recommendations? >> never. >> reporter: david, the justice department says zelinsky had no evidence of anyone pressuring him about stone's case, but this fight is far from over. house democrats demanding barr appear before congress and late today, we learned that he will, on july 28th. david? >> pierre thomas with us again tonight. thank you, pierre. >>> and next this evening, nascar driver bubba wallace is now speaking out. nascar and the fbi revealing wallace was not targeted. tonight, wallace saying he's relieved, and that's not all. here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: federal investigators tonight say that what happened at this alabama racetrack was not a hate crime, and are pointing to this video of the same garage stall where the crew of nascar's only e

the announcement came as aaron zelinsky was testifying in regard to roger stone.ing to dismiss the case against michael flynn because the justice department wished to drop the case even though flynn had pleaded guilty not once but twice to lying to the fbi. with me now, former acting solicitor general, professor of law at georgetown university, nbc news legal analyst. neil, it wasn't just aaron zelinsky that testified about one action. other people testified. i want to play an astonishing quote here that was unlike, aaron zelinsky was careful not to name barr. this next person wasn't. take a listen. >> i was privileged to serve in the department of justice under two republican and one democratic president, and i am here because i believe that william barr poses the greatest threat in my lifetime to our rule of law and to public trust in it. that is because he does not believe in its core principle that no spurn above the law. >> neil, we heard both in big ways and in minute ways how at least accusations basically of personal, political interference? >> absolutely.

aaron zelinsky revealed that he was testifying remotely today because he was being extra cautious, as cautious as possible, about exposure to the coronavirus because he has a newborn baby at home. and when louie gohmert finally got his precious five minutes to question witnesses, here is everything, and i mean the totality, of what he had to say to the biggest witness of the day, aaron zelinsky. >> and the fact that mr. zelinsky, i was going to ask him questions but -- and i understand family matters and by the way, i'm grateful for my wife for sticking with me for 42 years today, and there are family matters. yeah, she's a lot more fair than we're getting around here. but, so, 42 years. thank you, kathy. some of us have family matters, too, that are very pressing. but this is very pressing, too. and i won't try to compare those. >> that's it. that's everything he had to say to and about the most important witness in that hearing today. that's how louie gohmert used his valuable time. he did not ask a single question, not one. he did not make a single coherent point other than it was

zelinsky's allegations are based on his own interpretation of events and hearsay. >> i want to address today's sentencing of a man, roger stone. i want to see it play out to its fullest. roger has a very good chance of exoneration, in my opinion. >> even after stone's sentencing, the president did not relent and he targeted for criticism a private citizen who had served as a forewoman of the jury. >> it is my strong opinion the forewoman of the jury, the woman who was in charge of the jury, is totally tainted. when you take a look, how can you have a person like this? she was an anti-trump activist. >> the president, roger stone's allies, have again done an extraordinary thing which is to take aim at a specific member of the jury, the forewoman, to say she was tainted. this was an unfair process to suggest that somehow she was out to get president trump from the beginning.

zelinsky's alles concern asarsay at best, not firsthand knowledge. zelinsky and his team recommended that stone receive between seven and nine years in president but following tweets from president trump describing the recommendations as a miscarriage of justice attorney general william barr stepped in reversing the team's recommendation. stone was ultimately sentenced to three years. stone is scheduled to report to a federal prison in georgia next week. now, the president hasn't said whether he'll pardon stone, but he did recently say that stone can, quote, sleep well at night. kenneth and mona. >> thank you, alex. >>> bill cosby's wife says there's hope that her husband will be vindicated. the pennsylvania state supreme court has agreed to hear the appeal of his sexual assault conviction. the 82-year-old is currently in prison near philadelphia. his wife says she has not visited him, a mutual decision, but says they talk each day by phone. camille cosby claims her husband was unfairly convicted by a, quote, mob of women. >>> coming up, a new crackd

zelinsky come forward was encouraging. because i believe courage like that will beget courage from other witnesses who will also come forward and tell us about corruption going on the inside. >> there is some -- there is this question of what to do about william barr. i think he has established himself as -- as dangerous and probably, you know, the worst attorney general since the nixon era. but he's there. there is all kinds of nightmare scenarios where you can imagine him using that power for even worse ends. today the chair of your committee said the house may very well pursue impeachment of attorney general william barr. what is your thoughts on that and absent that, what is the accountability for him? >> i called for impeaching attorney general barr before i support impeaching president trump for the way he mischaracterized the mueller report. i believe he gave untruthful testimony to congress during, you know, questioning about the report. chris, and he's worthy of it. two, you have to hold people accountable. otherw

but a year into the job and zelinsky is finding that political promises are one thing the reality on the ground is another. tanks on the roads and shifting front lines may now be a thing of the past but the dying and on boss has never stopped the most recent fatality just one week ago a 24 year old ukrainian soldier. civilian casualties are rare and now that the people of donbass a paying a very real price for this war millions have been forced to leave their homes and those many older ukrainians who stayed in separatist controlled territory must cross a heavily weaponized frontline just to pick up their pensions. 6 years of negotiations are founded on one key question who should make the 1st concession russia ukraine even a face to face meeting in paris didn't help it's a standoff that's put a stable ceasefire out of reach let alone negotiated end to this conflict but do ordinary ukrainians still believe this conflict can be resolved by negotiation. it's only joint talks won't achieve anything put in has his goals and he's not going to change it when there's no political i don't thi

zelinsky was remarkably explosive, frankly, for prepared testimony ahead of one of these hearings.you know well, oftentimes we get the more explosive moments in a q&a or something that comes out unexpectedly. but here this prosecutor was extraordinarily state forwary i. the background being prosecutors wanted to give roger stone a much longer sentence than the doj ultimately recommended, and the prosecutor saying that happened specifically because stone has this relationship with the president and they came under pressure based on that relationship. so we're already hearing the politics of this come to the surface in this hearing. they're just introducing the witnesses now. but you heard the chairman, jerry nadler, talk about his reasons for bringing mr. zelinsky in and jim jordan, the ranking member, respond by talking about actions taken under the obama justice department. so i think that's how you can see this continue to play out today, andrea. >> and kasie, there's also another whistle-blower who is claiming that decisions were made by william barr regarding the marijuana that

we'll see shortly what zelinsky has to say. a dramatic day ahead. george. >> extraordinary situation, pierre, thanks very much. will increase the pressure on the attorney general to testify as well. thank you. michael. >>> george, now to the surprising result of that investigation into the apparent noose hanging in nascar driver bubba wallace's garage. nascar and the fbi finding the driver was not the victim of a hate crime and that rope had been there since at least last year. steve osunsami is in atlanta with more. good morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. this is now a different story than it was a day ago, and the people who want to believe that this was a hoax and not some racist gesture are even farther down that road. bubba wallels strongly that at was found in his garage at talladega this past weekend was a racially offensive symbol and not some accident. >> it's a straight up noose. the fbi has stated it was a noose over and over again. nascar leadership has stated it was a noose. >> reporter: he went on cable news and

aaron zelinsky was one of four attorneys, you may recall, who quit the case after they were pushed toecommend a shorter sentence. according to his prepared statement to be delivered tomorrow, zelinsky will tell the judiciary committee, quote, what i heard repeatedly was that roger stone was being treated differently from any other defendant because of his relationship to the president. we were instructed that we should go along with the u.s. attorney's instructions because this case was not the hill worth dying on and that we could lose our jobs if we did not toe the line. well, back with us again tonight is our friend maya wiley, who happens to be a former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, a veteran of the new york city mayor's office, who is now with the new school in new york. maya wiley, how significant is this, and forgive my pessimism. will it matter in the end? >> this is extremely significant, and let me just draw one comparison. we laid rayshard brooks to rest today. the nation watched that happen. it's called equal justice under the law, and rays

yet everything in zelinsky's opening statement speaks to exactly what we -- everything against our values for those of you unfamiliar with sentencing guidelines, as you're an assistant u.s. attorney, you look through the sentencing guidelines. they're fairly rigid, they lay out the case. sometimes you have enhancements for bad behavior. so for example, what mr. stone did, painting a target on the face of the judge, lying to the judge, lying to congress, and yet here in this, we see because of political pressure, they were being -- the assistant u.s. attorneys were being asked not to enhance the sentence or make it longer, but rather to lower the sentence, which, you know, here's someone who was showing nothing remorse whatsoever. i see no evidence that any u.s. attorney's office would somehow lower that sentence. so this concerns me and should really concern every american. >> i want to read more from what aaron zelensky is going to say tomorrow. he is still a prosecutor working in this justice department with william barr technically as his boss. he's going to say tomorrow in his opening

aaron zelinsky is expected to testify as well. he resigned from the roger stone prosecution after barr took a wrecking ball to the u.s. attorney's office in d.c., sidelined the real u.s. attorney, inserted his own handpicked flying monkeys instead, and then swiftly intervened to roll back prosecutions of stone and one other of the president's friends. so i mean this is the last three weeks. i know time has no meaning anymore and it's hard to figure out what day it is let alone what week it is. but over the course of three weeks, all of this has been rolling downhill faster and faster. and then friday night, late friday night, just days before this upcoming hearing about bill barr intervening in the course of justice to try to benefit the president, late friday night, classic friday night news dump, attorney general barr rolls out this absolutely botched effort to try to fire the head of the other most important federal prosecutor's office in the country. he succeeded in decapitating the u.s. attorney's office in d.c. and getting r

aaron zelinsky, the lead d.o.j. prosecutor in thwa case, said told to back off a tougher sentence recommendation for stone. he ultimely quit over the handling. >> the acting u.s. attorney for e district of columbia w receiving heavy pressure from the highest levels of the department of justice and that his instructions to us wer based on political considerations. and i was told that the acting u.s. attorney was giving stone a break because he was afraid of the president of the united states. >> desjardins: for stone, zelinsky had recommended seven to nine years. ultimately a jge disagreed, sentencing stone to three years in prison. but former attorney general michael mukasey, who served under former president george w. sh, said the doj and barr operated with integrity. >> the justice department is not politicized because senior officials disagreed with the sentencing recommendations for mr. ste. plosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not to the sentencing guidelines like some sort of pinball machine to see how ma

example of ukraine's that we can elect our own president and parliament we'll let the president zelinsky who was quite naive to believe since he may start a really good she can start. negotiations with president selenski said it's very simple. just stop killing just stop shooting and it's not stocked yet so 01 whale nations of cease fire and the presidents lenski by russia which was under previous presidents so each shows that the russian definitely doesn't want to stop its aggression so it's a question is yes minsk agreements are not actually say we're signed by ukraine and there's a barrel of the gun because the russians started in violation of all agreements russia started its aggression and they wrecked intervention into the deep of ukrainian territory so again minsk agreements are not favorable for ukraine but to be added to food fuel just one thing is to be done number one stock shooting cease fire and that's what doesn't want to do so the important thing is to preserve sentients and to increase as i have said now we see so it's kind of you know you have shelling every day owns a f

attorney aaron zelinsky said his team was pressured to recommend a lighter sentence for longtime trumpy roger stone. >> and what were you told could happen to you if you refused to go along with this lower recommendation? >> we were told that we could be fired. >> reporter: d.o.j. lawyer john elia ht rs one dayerto investi prt complaed about them on twitter. >> personal dislike of an industry is not a valid basis upon which to ground an antitrust investigation. >> reporter: republicans defended barr. >> he's cleaning up the mess of the previous administration. >> reporter: but democrats argued it's part of a pattern, pointing to barr's recent firing of a u.s. attorney overseeing trump-related cases. >> he has a personal belief that the president should be above the law. >> reporter: former deputy attorney general donald ayer: >> the drumbeat of his misbehavior is accelerating as we get closer to the election. >> reporter: barr has insisted he took all of these actions on his own because he thought they were right, and without consulting with the president. he has repeatedly refused to

zelinsky was going to raise his hand and say, there's something that stinks.> no. i'll agree with what joyce just said and i'll add, not only is this a divergence from the norms, it is specifically prohibited under the justice manual. this is the bible that applies to every justice department across the country. it is something that new prosecutors are taught when they join the department. one of the things it says is decisions should not be made on the basis of political association, activities or beliefs. that is a basis for misconduct. if anyone besides the attorney general were involved in this, they would be reported to office of professional responsibility for misconduct. one thing i'll be looking for today is for aaron zelinsky to name the supervisors involved in this chain of command that suggest he go along to get al g along. it's not just appropriate, willie, it absolutely destroys the independence and integrity of the justice department. i think that's why joyce and i and all of our colleague canning around the country are so outraged to see the jus

zelinsky's allegations concerning the u.s. on his own interpretation of events and not firsthand knowledge. william barr will be asked about this when he appears before this same committee july 28th if that goes through. after last weekend's firing of geoffrey berman the u.s. attorney, now former for the southern district of new york, the justice department's new york office. berman's office is investigating several of the president's allies, including but not limited to trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani. barr said on friday night that berman was stepping down. a short time later during our broadcast in fact, berman said he was not resigning and he would leave when the senate confirms his replacement. the next day, barr 1k8d the president to remove him and did so, later the president said he wasn't involved. this hearing comes after a huge development in the first of the first national security adviser michael flynn. a federal court appeals order e the judge to dismiss the case outright. after the department filed a moti

. >> aaron zelinski was a prosecutor in the roger stone case, he quit during the investigation duringcommended sentence after he was convicted of lying to congress. >> roger stone was being treated differently from every other defendant and what i heard repeatedly was that this leniency was happening because of stone's relationship to the president and i was told that the acting u.s. attorney was giving stone a break because he was afraid of the president of the united states. >> that acting u.s. attorney was timothy shea. stone was supposed to report next week, he's pushing for a delay due to covid concerns. for democrats that hearing was really about bill barr and 2020. >> mr. boris work at the department of justice has nothing to do with correcting injustice. he is the president's fixer, he shown us that there is one set of rules for the president's friends and another set of rules for the rest of us. >> republicans turned the tables on democrats. >> the obama-biden department of justice, politics and the previous administration, bill barr is i doing the lords work trying to clean

zelinsky, oh, i think this guy mr.y, turns out he's the same guy who told andy mccabe we're not going to prosecute you. so i want to talk to mr. cooney at some point. we learn all that in one day in a hearing where the democrats are supposed to be awe tacking bill barr. it fell flat because the facts show that bill barr's doing good job. lou: these radical dems, i don't think they have a full understanding of just what fools they look like before the american people. and if they aren't fooling many folks, in my opinion. i want to go to, in -- if we may, the strzok note because it is fascinating to me. if we could, put this up, the full screen. this is the president as strzok records, memorializes the meeting expect conversation. the president saying make sure you look over things and have the right people -- >> right. lou: -- on it. is there anything, is there anything -- we've got the wrong full screen up there. but nonetheless, we're going to try again because we are undaunted by such things. well, here -- that's the

zelinsky, a prosecutor currently in the maryland u.s.ey's office. >> the acting district attorney for the district of columbia was receiving hipressuring from the highest levels of the department of justice, and it was based on political considerations and i was told that the acting u.s. attorney was giving stone a break because he was afraid of the president of the united states. >> joyce, you know, i think to a lot of people this activity sounds a lot like nixon's second attorney general, who ended up going to jail. it's hard to believe that what barr is doing is legal. could he face criminal sanctions for obstruction of justice, interfering in cases? could that happen to him after donald trump is gone? >> so i think congresswoman dean hits the nail on the head when she says barr is acting like the president's fixer. there is certainly more than enough information in the public domain for congress to investigate and engage in oversight. and we don't know what kind of evidence, frankly, that might turn up, joy. so i don't think we can t

>> i would ask him why does aaron zelinski say all this cam from the highest levels if it's not true.right, that they sometimes disagree, but that is not what he is charging, he is charging something that if it's true, i think anyone would agre as the absolute derogation of what the department of justice is supposed to be doing, justic without fear or favor. he's a very well-respected guy and if he is telling the truth, it is a terrible blackeye for the department of justice. it's good that after skipping t hearings, the ag is coming forward next month to testify. >> tom, how do you think he handled that line of questioning ? >> i think what he will do, he will reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that dod charging decisions, sentencing decisions everything he does in his roles as attorney general is done in the best interest of the law go for political consideration. i expect them to get tough questioning on these lines, bu this is a man who served as attorney general, knows the department, knows what his role is, he has professed a commitment to being impartial administration of the

zelinsky was like seven or eight years but i think interesting things. number one is he is stepping forward to say all of this which is gutsy. he is still an unlike one of the four prosecutors who stepped down and quit the government altogether, he is a prosecutor. he is now at the u.s. attorney's office in maryland but secondly the justice department reviewed and completely cleared his testimony. that's interesting, too. >> it is. you have an update by the way on a fbi investigation involving the nascar driver bubba wallace. i don't mean to take a bit of a turn here but we got this breaking news and it's -- well, it is important to get it out there. what do you got? >> i think it's interesting because remember bubba wallace said he found this noose and the fbi investigating whether there was a hate crime here now saying that there wasn't and said they have concluded that that noose was in the garage four as early as last october, october of 2019. bubba wallace didn't get assigned that garage until last week and the justice department said there's no way

evidence showed today in the hearing, roger stone got special favors according to the prosecutor, aaron zelinsky, that no one else ever could. he got a reduced sentencing recommendation because donald trump went nuts on twitter after the first recommendation was made public by the darrel of justice. >> is that a legal term? he went nuts on twitter? >> that is a legal term and we've seen it unfortunately happen quite a bit with this president. >> let me play. you bring up stone and what he was in trouble for. there are things he was convicted of. so a jury of his peers found that. and there were other things that and he the white house and the trump campaign had made about what mueller was investigating. which is how much foreign coordination was there. and even if it didn't rise to the level of a crime, congress has an interest in pregnanting against the foreign interference in our free democracy. take a look at this exchange from today. >> there were dozens of calls between stone and the top trump officials. correct? >> correct. >> witnesses testified they were present when trump spoke to then

zelinsky testified yesterday they were under pressure in the roger stone case to ask for a more leniententence for political reasons, the justice department asked for dismissal of the michael flynn case for the same political reasons, which is that michael flynn was a -- is a friend of the president, is a former associate and his conviction looks bad for the president, right. and by getting rid of it, you can cast apier aspears on the l russia investigation. in the d.c. circuit case, the one that was decided yesterday -- or at least the panel decided it, is whether the courts get to do anything about that and have any oversight function with respect to the justice department's decision to dismiss a case. and this panel said, no, they don't when the justice department says we want to dismiss a case, the court just has to say, you know, yes, sir, to the attorney general. i expect that this will probably not be the last word on that from the d.c. circuit. there are a number of other judges on the court and this was a particularly friendly panel to the justice department. i suspect some of

from aaron zelinski is an assistant u.s. attorney for the district of maryland. previously coming he served as a special assistant to the u.s. attorney in the district of columbia, as an assistant special counsel and special counsel robert mueller's office and as an advisor in the state department. previously come he clerked for justice kennedy before his retirement from the supreme court. and for stevens after his retirement, as well as for judge griffith. rom yceived his b.a. fo ale. zelensky's personal counsel is participating in the hearing on the webex software platform. attorneyes is a trial in the antitrust division of the department of justice. since joining the department into thousand six, he has served in a variety of roles, including acting chief of staff. in 2015, following a detailed to the white house's presidential personnel office, he joined the office of the associate attorney general, where he had served as counsel and chief of staff. he received his j.d. from stanford and b.a. from yale. michael mukasey served as a u.s. as the u.s. attorney ge

attorney aaron zelinsky described how his team was pushed to recommend a lighter sentence for longtimerump friend roger stone. >> i was told there was heavy political pressure from the highest levels of the department of justice to cut roger stone a break. >> reporter: republicans argued barr was being maligned. >> now they're targeting administration officials. in this case, attorney general barr, for merely acting within the scope of their duties. >> reporter: barr will have a chance to defend himself next month after several false starts. he has agreed to testify before the house judiciary committee on july 28th. but the chairman of that comittee, jerry nadler, now says he may pursue impeachment charges against barr. anthony? >> nancy, thank you. >>> a grand jury in georgia has handed down murder indictments against three white men in the killing of ahmaud arbery. a black man shot while prosecutors say he was out jogging. gregory mcmichael, travis mcmichael and william "roddy" bryan face nine separate charges but could face life in prison if they are convicted. the suspects allegedl

zelinski, who actually never had a conversation and they will be ranting and raving. >> ed: they wille attorney general of all kinds of things. he had concerns about the coronavirus at his age and some underlying conditions and we will watch with all of that. we appreciate you rolling with the breaking news. sandra? >> sandra: there are coronavirus cases spiking in some areas of the country including the south and west. those are the hardest hits of the country. plus i'm a preliminary vote expected moments from now on the senate floor. on the republicans police reform bill. what to expect, senator tom tellis. but first, majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> because they do support senator tim scott's reform bill we are all "trying to get away with murder?" the murder of george floyd? that's the speaker of the house? >> sandra: fox news alert in arizona where at least five wildfires fires are burning. and, scorching tens of thousands of acres there. >> ed: in the meantime, thousands of governors are ordering a mandatory 14 day quarantine from people traveling into the state from areas th