Speaker 1: The multiple investigations into possible Trump campaign collision with Russia
Speaker 1: continue making headlines on the congressional front. Donald Trump Jr.
Speaker 1: Has agreed to a transcribed interview with the Senate Judiciary
Speaker 1: Committee about the meeting he attended with Russian operatives after
Speaker 1: being told in emails that they had negative information about
Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Muller has subpoenaed the
Speaker 1: spokesman and the former attorney of Paul Manafort, who for
Speaker 1: a time was the campaign manager for the Donald Trump
Speaker 1: for President campaign, here to talk with us about where
Speaker 1: the investigations may be headed. As Bradley Moss, a partner
Speaker 1: at Marks A p LC, Brad, let's start with the
Speaker 1: Manifort associate subpoenas it's unusual to subpoena an attorney um
Speaker 1: and many people thought that the Manifort investigation, which has
Speaker 1: been going on for a while about his possible tax
Speaker 1: and financial crimes allegations against him, might you know, might
Speaker 1: have stalled a while back. What does it say now
Speaker 1: for it sort of this overall Russian collusion investigation that
Speaker 1: investigators seem to be uh looking for information from his
Speaker 1: attorney and a spokesman absolutely, that's some very good questions.
Speaker 1: So Paul Manta four along with Michael Flynn, are probably
Speaker 1: the two most exposed individuals from a legal uh context,
Speaker 1: in terms of individuals who have separate potential criminal liability
Speaker 1: problems that they have to worry about and that are
Speaker 1: almost certainly currently being reviewed and investigated by Special Counsel
Speaker 1: Mueller and his team. The fact that the subpoena was
Speaker 1: issued for Mr Manafort's former attorney is in fact rather surprising.
Speaker 1: It's a rather unusual move, and it's it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see the context in which this subpoena was issued
Speaker 1: in terms of what particular testimony Mr Mueller is pursuing,
Speaker 1: because a lot of obviously the conversations that an individual
Speaker 1: has with his attorney are going to be privileged, and
Speaker 1: the subpoena can't override that. With certain exceptions. One of course,
Speaker 1: would be if there is evidence indicating that the attorney
Speaker 1: was helping to perpetuate criminal activity. If, in fact, the
Speaker 1: if Mr Mueller has evince indicating that Mr Manafort's attorney
Speaker 1: was helping Mr Manafort to attack fraud or wire fraud,
Speaker 1: that'd be one exception of the privileged rule. The other
Speaker 1: part this is will be were I think some of
Speaker 1: us are looking to see where this subpoena goes, is
Speaker 1: whether or not they're simply using the attorney to try
Speaker 1: to verify some peripheral facts to verify as the maniforts
Speaker 1: UH interactions with various foreign bankers or foreign government officials
Speaker 1: from a purpose of a context, a contextual on a
Speaker 1: timeframe standpoint, those conversations wouldn't be privileged, doesn't involve third parties,
Speaker 1: so it could be used in a rather limited context
Speaker 1: that where this plays out, Where this goes and how
Speaker 1: it plays out makes to be seen. Brad Andrew Weissman,
Speaker 1: who is one of the lawyers on Mueller's team, is
Speaker 1: known for aggressive tactics, and it seems as if they're
Speaker 1: putting more and more pressure on out of fort You
Speaker 1: have the dawn raid on his home, subpoenas to Global banks,
Speaker 1: now subpoenas to his lawyers. It seem like they're doing
Speaker 1: a the classic prosecution move of trying to put enough
Speaker 1: pressure on him so that they'll have someone to testify.
Speaker 1: Correct very much going after the low hanging fruit, the
Speaker 1: easy ones that you can yeah, you know pins in
Speaker 1: the beginning and apply some pressure then dangle a deal
Speaker 1: in front of them, you know, to minimize or limit
Speaker 1: some scope of their ultimate criminal liability in exchange for
Speaker 1: the relevant testimony that they would be one of the
Speaker 1: few people to actually be able to provide, for instance,
Speaker 1: in terms of both Mr Flynn and Mr Manafort, given
Speaker 1: the very prominent roles they held in the campaign, the
Speaker 1: very personal knowledge that they are probably one of the
Speaker 1: two people to have they can provide context into the
Speaker 1: inner workings of the campaign in any potential conclusion, potential
Speaker 1: allusion that may have occurred with Russian government officials. Using
Speaker 1: that type of leverage be a very standard prospector tactic,
Speaker 1: and it appears to be what they're at least trying
Speaker 1: at the moment. Brad, Let's turn to Donald Trump Junior.
Speaker 1: In the minute or and a half we have left
Speaker 1: the the you know, there's been a lot of reporting
Speaker 1: lately that uh, Donald Trump, that the Trump organization is
Speaker 1: more has had more business dealings with Russia than um
Speaker 1: they were saying before UM and that some Trump associates
Speaker 1: believed that getting uh Donald Trump elected would be helped
Speaker 1: by some business deals they could do with Russia. Is
Speaker 1: the when when Donald Trump sits down. Is is the
Speaker 1: just Senate Judiciary Committee only going to interview him about
Speaker 1: the meeting he had with Russian operatives about getting dirt
Speaker 1: on the Clinton campaign, or is it going to be
Speaker 1: a more broad, uh interview about a lot of the
Speaker 1: subjects we've been hearing about lately. Well, it's part of
Speaker 1: the answer. Is it depends on what comes out that
Speaker 1: discussion and whether or not the disclosure is made by
Speaker 1: Donald Trump Junior lead Judiciary Committee investigators down alternate paths
Speaker 1: if it exposes alternative angles of investigatory interest that they
Speaker 1: want to pursue. I don't necessarily view this type of
Speaker 1: interviews being limited in the sense of of Mr Sorry
Speaker 1: Trump juniors lawyers being able to cut it off and
Speaker 1: stop it. Certainly could be rescheduled if they want to
Speaker 1: pursue a particular angle that the lawyers are uncomfortable with
Speaker 1: at that time. But whether it's the Senate Judiciary Committee
Speaker 1: or it's mister Mueller's investigators, if Trump Junior details information
Speaker 1: that is of relevant investigative interest, it's going to be
Speaker 1: pursued no matter how it was originally viewed. Brad, We're
Speaker 1: gonna have We're gonna have to leave it there are
Speaker 1: thanks to Brad Moss of Mark's PLC for being with
Speaker 1: us today on Bloomberg Law