WEBVTT - AG Barr Ignores Full Mueller Report Subpoena Request

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. The second deadline

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<v Speaker 1>has passed and the Attorney General has ignored it. Attorney

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<v Speaker 1>General William Barr defied the Monday deadline imposed by a

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<v Speaker 1>House subpoena to provide lawmakers with the full text of

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<v Speaker 1>the Mullah report, and he is as he ignored the

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<v Speaker 1>deadline last week. What happens when the top law enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>official in the country ignores legal process. Joining me is

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<v Speaker 1>brad moss apartment Mark zad so Brad The Chairman of

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<v Speaker 1>the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, has scheduled a vote

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<v Speaker 1>on Wednesday on whether to hold the a G in contempt.

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<v Speaker 1>If they do hold him in contempt and the House

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<v Speaker 1>also votes on contempt, Canada enforced the contempt citation on

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<v Speaker 1>its own by its inherent Contempt authority, So this the

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<v Speaker 1>honest answer is, yes, it can, but it's highly unlikely

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<v Speaker 1>they will. Congress has not relied upon its inherent contempt

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<v Speaker 1>authority in a criminal context since the nineteen thirties. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just something they don't do. This is a lot about

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<v Speaker 1>political posturing right now, and this is somewhat normal for

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<v Speaker 1>Congress and the executive branch when one party controls the

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<v Speaker 1>Oval Office and one party controls at least one or

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<v Speaker 1>two of the branches of Congress. We saw this with

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<v Speaker 1>Eric Holder during the Obama administration. This is all about leverage,

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<v Speaker 1>negotiating stanzas, and trying to get as much out of

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<v Speaker 1>the just Department as House Democrats can do. We'll see,

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<v Speaker 1>certainly the contempt vote. There will be a bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>political hyperbolean writer that comes out of it. What will

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<v Speaker 1>matter in the end is what change in legal position

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<v Speaker 1>the o J ultimately takes to try to de escalate

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<v Speaker 1>the situation, reduce tensions, and bring this to a point

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<v Speaker 1>where the two sides can find a consents. I assume

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<v Speaker 1>there'll be some additional information. House Democrats will budget, will

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<v Speaker 1>a bid on their spot, and DJ will do the same.

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<v Speaker 1>There's not going to be a criminal prosecution of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think it may end up with Congress going

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<v Speaker 1>to a federal judge to enforce its subpoena. If they do,

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<v Speaker 1>it will be only in a civil context, which I

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<v Speaker 1>certainly expects some manner of a fight on this again,

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<v Speaker 1>just like just like we did had with Eric Holder

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<v Speaker 1>on the Fast and Furious documents. There's going to be um,

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<v Speaker 1>some legal wrangling and some fights in court about it.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's certainly, you know, the way the system is

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<v Speaker 1>expected to work. It's the way it's set up. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's part of the Trump administration's game planet.

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<v Speaker 1>They know they'll ultimately lose to some extent on the

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<v Speaker 1>law and on the merits, but they're dragging it out.

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<v Speaker 1>They're delaying things as long as they can to try

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<v Speaker 1>to push it off until after. Holder was the first

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney General I believe to be held in contempt of Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>So if bar is the second, have we reached a

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<v Speaker 1>point where, you know, congressional subpoenas don't really matter, where

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<v Speaker 1>the process is just to ignored by the highest law

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<v Speaker 1>enforcement official in the country. I think it speaks somewhat

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<v Speaker 1>to the d function of the subpoena process. Yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean it's gay. I mean there's always been politics to

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<v Speaker 1>play with any you know, Congress in presidency. That's not new,

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<v Speaker 1>that's nothing out of the ordinary, but I think it's

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<v Speaker 1>become so tribalistic and the use of congressional oversight has

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<v Speaker 1>gotten to such a ridiculous point of over politicization that

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<v Speaker 1>you have what you've gotten out, just as you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I think holding Eric Holder in contempt was just political posturing.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's the same year with William Barr. It's

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<v Speaker 1>really more about negotiating tactics and prepping you know, talking

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<v Speaker 1>points for you know, yours, for your five minutes segments

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<v Speaker 1>on cable news at night, more than so that it

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<v Speaker 1>is about any true legal position. And like I said,

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<v Speaker 1>in the end, there'll be more documents of will come out.

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<v Speaker 1>This is all politics. Let's talk a little bit more

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<v Speaker 1>broadly about the subpoenas and President Trump's vow to fight

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<v Speaker 1>every congressional subpoena. One of the articles of impetement against

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<v Speaker 1>Richard Nixon was ignoring subpoena's basically, will this lead to

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<v Speaker 1>impeachment proceedings and perhaps give Congress more push for enforcing

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<v Speaker 1>their subpoenas. I certainly think, you know, if the president

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<v Speaker 1>maintains this current position, which I think is you know,

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<v Speaker 1>completely ridiculous, Yeah, I think it'll it'll egg on certain

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<v Speaker 1>Democrats to push a little harder towards appeachment, if only

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<v Speaker 1>to try to exercise some true oversight. I mean, look,

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<v Speaker 1>every Congress will overreach, will always get a little excessive

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<v Speaker 1>in their attempt to scrutinize an opposing party in the

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<v Speaker 1>White House. But never have I seen a presidency so

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<v Speaker 1>completely and categorically refused to apply with anything this whole.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not going to comply with any Subpoena's nonsense. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just not how the system works. So you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>I said, a lot of us is poppic. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of its delaying things, trying to push off through oversight

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<v Speaker 1>until after when the president does have to worry about

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<v Speaker 1>re election anymore. There will be a lot of fights

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<v Speaker 1>in court over it. The President team ultimately lose on

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<v Speaker 1>aspects of it, and they'll end up turning over documents.

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<v Speaker 1>This is just about delayed tactics, also defying requests by

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<v Speaker 1>Congress to have various people testify. Let's deal first with

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<v Speaker 1>the White House. Former White House counsel Don McGann, who

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the most notable people repeatedly mentioned in

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<v Speaker 1>the Mueller Report. Can the President now say, as he

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<v Speaker 1>has said that he doesn't want to let him testify.

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<v Speaker 1>Can he assert executive privilege when Don McGann has basically

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<v Speaker 1>testified in the Mulla Report. Yes, so my my view,

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<v Speaker 1>especially now that the even beyond McGann having simply testified,

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<v Speaker 1>but having that testimony outlined and repleases the public due

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<v Speaker 1>to Muller Report, as far as I'm concerned, waive the privilege.

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<v Speaker 1>But will the president is still try to argue that

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<v Speaker 1>he can still invoke it. Yes, Will he try to

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<v Speaker 1>delay things by doing so? Yes? Will he likely lose

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<v Speaker 1>in the end pretty much, But if he can kind

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<v Speaker 1>of pressure McGann to hold off, make McGan uncomfortable, and

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<v Speaker 1>make him wait till the presidents fought this legal war

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<v Speaker 1>over executive privilege, it delays the time frame for McGann

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<v Speaker 1>to ultimately testify. In the end, you know, Congress has

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<v Speaker 1>its leverage. It can bring over former officials like McGann

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<v Speaker 1>that can't bring on existing officials like William Barr. They can,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, can they can hold McGann in contempt. They

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<v Speaker 1>can try to find him and McGann might decide he

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't care what the President says, But ultimately again, more

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<v Speaker 1>than anything else, this is just trying to hold off

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<v Speaker 1>these guys testifying during trying to push it to just

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<v Speaker 1>about forty five seconds here. But McGann, who the President

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<v Speaker 1>has called him a liar basically what he said about

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<v Speaker 1>about trying to stop the investigation, the Muller investigation. So

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<v Speaker 1>if McGann wants to, he can testify before Congress. He

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't have to have the president's permission, correct, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I certainly think the McGann team could conclude that he

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<v Speaker 1>has the ability that there's the president that can't truly

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<v Speaker 1>prevent him from doing. Though now there might be some

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<v Speaker 1>legal wrangling over what he can discuss to lead, depending

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<v Speaker 1>on whether it's in the court flight or executive privilege.

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<v Speaker 1>He just got to worry about his own existing bar

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<v Speaker 1>our license picture. He isn't doing to break any ethic

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<v Speaker 1>about all right. Thanks so much, Brad. That's Brad Moss

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<v Speaker 1>of partner at mark Z. Thanks for listening to the

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Law Podcast. You can subscribe and listen to the

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<v Speaker 1>show on Apple podcast, SoundCloud, and on Bloomberg dot com

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<v Speaker 1>slash podcast. I'm June Brosso. This is Bloomberg