WEBVTT - Mintz on Mueller Investigation Timeline

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<v Speaker 1>There's been so much speculation about when Special Counsel Robert

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<v Speaker 1>Mueller's Russia investigation will be completed. Well, yesterday Acting Attorney

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<v Speaker 1>General Matthew Whittaker said that should be soon right now,

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<v Speaker 1>you know? On the investigation is uh? I think uh

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<v Speaker 1>close to being completed, and I hope that we can

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<v Speaker 1>get the report from Director Muller as soon as we

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<v Speaker 1>as possible. Whittaker's answers about the Muller investigation raised more

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<v Speaker 1>questions than answers, and led some Democrats to express concern.

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<v Speaker 1>Joining me as Repert Mints, a partner at McCarter in English, Bob,

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<v Speaker 1>if you listen to Whittaker's entire answer was very halting

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<v Speaker 1>and disconnected. So what does I think the investigation is

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<v Speaker 1>close to being completed mean? In a lot of the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that Roger Stone has just been indicted in FBI

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<v Speaker 1>agencies a lot of material from his home, Well, those

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<v Speaker 1>do seem to be conflicting messages, and it was really

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<v Speaker 1>unclear whether the Acting Attorney General was speaking off the

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<v Speaker 1>cuff or whether this had been some kind of prepared statement. Typically,

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<v Speaker 1>prosecutors will not discuss the status of an investigation. They

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<v Speaker 1>shy away from discussing the progress of where they aren't

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<v Speaker 1>an investigation because they don't really want to tip off

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<v Speaker 1>people who may be the subject of the investigation as

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<v Speaker 1>to when this may be over. So it's quite unusual

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<v Speaker 1>and does seem to be in conflict with the recent

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<v Speaker 1>indictment of Roger Stone. Whitaker also upsets some Democrats when

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<v Speaker 1>he said decisions made by Muller's office are going to

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<v Speaker 1>be reviewed by the Department of Justice, and there was

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<v Speaker 1>some clarification by a Justice Department official after that. Where

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<v Speaker 1>does the report on Mueller's stand as you understand it

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<v Speaker 1>right now, Well, it's interesting because there are some technical

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<v Speaker 1>regulations which govern how that report will be handled. Under

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Justice regulations, Mr Mueller is required to give

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<v Speaker 1>the Attorney General a confidential report which explains his prosecutorial

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<v Speaker 1>decisions and the results of his investigation, and then the

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney General in this case, the acting Attorney General Matt Whittaker,

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<v Speaker 1>must send report to Congress explaining why the work has concluded.

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<v Speaker 1>And the real question is how much of Mueller's report

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<v Speaker 1>will Whittaker be sharing with Congress? Will it be the

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<v Speaker 1>full report except to the extent that it has to

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<v Speaker 1>redact information that may be confidential, or will he try

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<v Speaker 1>to simply provide some type of summary to Congress? That

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<v Speaker 1>is really what has some people on Capitol Hill concerned.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there anything that Mueller can do to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that the report, except the redacted portions, is seen by

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<v Speaker 1>the public. Can you do something with the grand jury

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<v Speaker 1>for example? Well, he can certainly release information as he

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<v Speaker 1>has been doing throughout the investigation, through what are called

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<v Speaker 1>speaking indictments. So, for example, in the Stone indictment, there

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<v Speaker 1>was information that went beyond so will be the charges

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<v Speaker 1>and included text messages and included emails, and so Mueller

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<v Speaker 1>can release information through indictments. But really the heart of

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<v Speaker 1>his investigation is going to be found in that report.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think there will be tremendous pressure on the

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Justice to pass along the bulk of Mueller's

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<v Speaker 1>findings to Congress and ultimately to the public. And you

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned Roger Stone. This morning, Roger Stone, longtime friend and

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<v Speaker 1>confidante of President Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges of

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<v Speaker 1>witness tampering, lying to Congress, and obstructing its investigation into

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<v Speaker 1>Russian interference with the election. And he said nothing this

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<v Speaker 1>time outside the courthouse. What do you make of his

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<v Speaker 1>sort of it seems conflicting statements about whether he'll testify

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<v Speaker 1>and whether he whether he'll tell the truth, and whether

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<v Speaker 1>he won't testify. Well, he has been, as you as

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<v Speaker 1>you know to June, all over the lot on this. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>He's someone who has historically enjoyed the limeline. He's been

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<v Speaker 1>speaking a lot to the press about this, which is

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<v Speaker 1>something that you don't see defendants in his situation typically doing.

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<v Speaker 1>What he essentually said is I'm happy to cooperate, but

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to implicate the president. Prosecutors would say, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, if you're going to cooperate, you just have

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<v Speaker 1>to tell the truth. You can't put any kind of

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<v Speaker 1>limitations on that. And so at this point it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem like he's interested in cooperating, but that may change

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<v Speaker 1>looking at potential jail time, particularly someone of his age,

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<v Speaker 1>has a way of sometimes changing people's minds, And we'll

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<v Speaker 1>just have to see how this plays out. Would Mueller

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<v Speaker 1>even want his cooperation or testimony because of his past,

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<v Speaker 1>because of the fact that he is happy to call

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<v Speaker 1>himself and a person who exaggerates the truth and and

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<v Speaker 1>brings press upon himself. Does he want that kind of

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<v Speaker 1>a witness, Well, he does have a tremendous amount of baggage.

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<v Speaker 1>He has made so many public statements about what he

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<v Speaker 1>knows and what steps he may have taken in connection

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<v Speaker 1>with the campaign and reaching out to wiki leagues, and

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<v Speaker 1>then he retracted those statements, and then he has obviously

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<v Speaker 1>given statements in the form of emails and text messages

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<v Speaker 1>which contradicts public statements. So he is somebody who who,

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<v Speaker 1>if he does decide to cooperate, would have to have

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<v Speaker 1>corroboration of what information he's providing, and he may be

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<v Speaker 1>able to lead Mueller's investigation to other witnesses. So there

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<v Speaker 1>is some potential value there, But I agree that it

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<v Speaker 1>would be difficult to use his testimony on his own

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<v Speaker 1>because he has taken so many contradictory positions in the past.

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<v Speaker 1>There is a lot of information, as you mentioned in

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<v Speaker 1>this talking indictment about emails and text messages. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>see a defense for Stone when you read that indictment, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it does seem to be a pretty strong indictment because

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful evidence against Roger Stone are Roger Stone's

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<v Speaker 1>own texts and emails, and it's very hard to sort

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<v Speaker 1>of walk away from those. Typically the defendant will say

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<v Speaker 1>they were taken out of context, and there's certain things

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<v Speaker 1>that the jury needs to know in order to fully

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<v Speaker 1>appreciate what he was trying to say there. But those

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<v Speaker 1>text messages seem to be pretty damning and they certainly

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<v Speaker 1>do not paint Roger Stone in a particularly flattering light.

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<v Speaker 1>We have about a minute here. We know that Manaforts

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<v Speaker 1>sentencing was put off and Flinn sentencing was put off.

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<v Speaker 1>We know why that happened. But what about Rick Gates?

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<v Speaker 1>Is Mueller probably still getting information from him? I think

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<v Speaker 1>we can safely assume him that he is. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>Rick Gates is somebody who played guilty a long time ago,

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<v Speaker 1>and if he had no further benefit to Robert Mueller,

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<v Speaker 1>he would have been sentenced by this point. Yet that

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't happened, so I think it safe to assume that

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<v Speaker 1>he's continuing to provide useful information to Robert Mueller. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's typical the prosecutors will not sentence a cooperating witness

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<v Speaker 1>until they have extracted all the useful information that they

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<v Speaker 1>can from them. So we must be continuing to help

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<v Speaker 1>the Muller investigation. All right, thanks so much, Bob. That's

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<v Speaker 1>Rerobert Min's a partner. McCarter in English.