1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: There's been so much speculation about when Special Counsel Robert 2 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Mueller's Russia investigation will be completed. Well, yesterday Acting Attorney 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: General Matthew Whittaker said that should be soon right now, 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: you know? On the investigation is uh? I think uh 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: close to being completed, and I hope that we can 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: get the report from Director Muller as soon as we 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: as possible. Whittaker's answers about the Muller investigation raised more 8 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: questions than answers, and led some Democrats to express concern. 9 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: Joining me as Repert Mints, a partner at McCarter in English, Bob, 10 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: if you listen to Whittaker's entire answer was very halting 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: and disconnected. So what does I think the investigation is 12 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: close to being completed mean? In a lot of the 13 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: fact that Roger Stone has just been indicted in FBI 14 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: agencies a lot of material from his home, Well, those 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: do seem to be conflicting messages, and it was really 16 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: unclear whether the Acting Attorney General was speaking off the 17 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: cuff or whether this had been some kind of prepared statement. Typically, 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: prosecutors will not discuss the status of an investigation. They 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: shy away from discussing the progress of where they aren't 20 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: an investigation because they don't really want to tip off 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: people who may be the subject of the investigation as 22 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: to when this may be over. So it's quite unusual 23 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: and does seem to be in conflict with the recent 24 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: indictment of Roger Stone. Whitaker also upsets some Democrats when 25 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: he said decisions made by Muller's office are going to 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: be reviewed by the Department of Justice, and there was 27 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: some clarification by a Justice Department official after that. Where 28 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: does the report on Mueller's stand as you understand it 29 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: right now, Well, it's interesting because there are some technical 30 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: regulations which govern how that report will be handled. Under 31 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: Department of Justice regulations, Mr Mueller is required to give 32 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: the Attorney General a confidential report which explains his prosecutorial 33 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: decisions and the results of his investigation, and then the 34 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: Attorney General in this case, the acting Attorney General Matt Whittaker, 35 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: must send report to Congress explaining why the work has concluded. 36 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: And the real question is how much of Mueller's report 37 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: will Whittaker be sharing with Congress? Will it be the 38 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: full report except to the extent that it has to 39 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: redact information that may be confidential, or will he try 40 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: to simply provide some type of summary to Congress? That 41 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: is really what has some people on Capitol Hill concerned. 42 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: Is there anything that Mueller can do to make sure 43 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: that the report, except the redacted portions, is seen by 44 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: the public. Can you do something with the grand jury 45 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: for example? Well, he can certainly release information as he 46 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: has been doing throughout the investigation, through what are called 47 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: speaking indictments. So, for example, in the Stone indictment, there 48 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: was information that went beyond so will be the charges 49 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: and included text messages and included emails, and so Mueller 50 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: can release information through indictments. But really the heart of 51 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: his investigation is going to be found in that report. 52 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: And I think there will be tremendous pressure on the 53 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: Department of Justice to pass along the bulk of Mueller's 54 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: findings to Congress and ultimately to the public. And you 55 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: mentioned Roger Stone. This morning, Roger Stone, longtime friend and 56 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: confidante of President Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges of 57 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: witness tampering, lying to Congress, and obstructing its investigation into 58 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: Russian interference with the election. And he said nothing this 59 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: time outside the courthouse. What do you make of his 60 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: sort of it seems conflicting statements about whether he'll testify 61 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: and whether he whether he'll tell the truth, and whether 62 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: he won't testify. Well, he has been, as you as 63 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: you know to June, all over the lot on this. Uh. 64 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: He's someone who has historically enjoyed the limeline. He's been 65 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: speaking a lot to the press about this, which is 66 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: something that you don't see defendants in his situation typically doing. 67 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: What he essentually said is I'm happy to cooperate, but 68 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: I'm not going to implicate the president. Prosecutors would say, well, 69 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: you know, if you're going to cooperate, you just have 70 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: to tell the truth. You can't put any kind of 71 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: limitations on that. And so at this point it doesn't 72 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: seem like he's interested in cooperating, but that may change 73 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: looking at potential jail time, particularly someone of his age, 74 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: has a way of sometimes changing people's minds, And we'll 75 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: just have to see how this plays out. Would Mueller 76 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: even want his cooperation or testimony because of his past, 77 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: because of the fact that he is happy to call 78 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: himself and a person who exaggerates the truth and and 79 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: brings press upon himself. Does he want that kind of 80 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: a witness, Well, he does have a tremendous amount of baggage. 81 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: He has made so many public statements about what he 82 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: knows and what steps he may have taken in connection 83 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: with the campaign and reaching out to wiki leagues, and 84 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: then he retracted those statements, and then he has obviously 85 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: given statements in the form of emails and text messages 86 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: which contradicts public statements. So he is somebody who who, 87 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: if he does decide to cooperate, would have to have 88 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: corroboration of what information he's providing, and he may be 89 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: able to lead Mueller's investigation to other witnesses. So there 90 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: is some potential value there, But I agree that it 91 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: would be difficult to use his testimony on his own 92 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: because he has taken so many contradictory positions in the past. 93 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: There is a lot of information, as you mentioned in 94 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: this talking indictment about emails and text messages. Do you 95 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: see a defense for Stone when you read that indictment, Well, 96 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: it does seem to be a pretty strong indictment because 97 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: the most powerful evidence against Roger Stone are Roger Stone's 98 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: own texts and emails, and it's very hard to sort 99 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: of walk away from those. Typically the defendant will say 100 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: they were taken out of context, and there's certain things 101 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: that the jury needs to know in order to fully 102 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,799 Speaker 1: appreciate what he was trying to say there. But those 103 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: text messages seem to be pretty damning and they certainly 104 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: do not paint Roger Stone in a particularly flattering light. 105 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: We have about a minute here. We know that Manaforts 106 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: sentencing was put off and Flinn sentencing was put off. 107 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: We know why that happened. But what about Rick Gates? 108 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: Is Mueller probably still getting information from him? I think 109 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: we can safely assume him that he is. I mean, 110 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: Rick Gates is somebody who played guilty a long time ago, 111 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: and if he had no further benefit to Robert Mueller, 112 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: he would have been sentenced by this point. Yet that 113 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: hasn't happened, so I think it safe to assume that 114 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: he's continuing to provide useful information to Robert Mueller. And 115 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: it's typical the prosecutors will not sentence a cooperating witness 116 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: until they have extracted all the useful information that they 117 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: can from them. So we must be continuing to help 118 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: the Muller investigation. All right, thanks so much, Bob. That's 119 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: Rerobert Min's a partner. McCarter in English.