WEBVTT - Mueller Expands Investigation into UAE Contact (Audio)

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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. Is special counsel

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Mueller broadening his investigation on Russia's influence over the

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<v Speaker 1>election to include influenced by the Emirates. According to The

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times, George Nader, and Lebanese American businessman who

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<v Speaker 1>was an advisor to the de facto ruler of the

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<v Speaker 1>United Arab Emirates, is now a focus of Mueller's investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>with investigators questioning him and other witnesses for information about

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<v Speaker 1>any possible attempts by the Emirates to buy influence by

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<v Speaker 1>directing money to Trump's presidential campaign. Joining me as Andrew kNN,

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<v Speaker 1>professor at Fordham University Law School. Andrew, there's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of sketchy information about Nader um including under the radar

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<v Speaker 1>interference in the Middle East and a guilty plead to

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<v Speaker 1>a misdemeanor charge of providing one million dollars in illegal

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<v Speaker 1>gifts to New York State pension authorities. What do we

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<v Speaker 1>know about him generally in his connections with the Trump campaign.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's been a little bit of reporting about this

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<v Speaker 1>in the last month and then the big New York

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<v Speaker 1>Time story, um, you know, just over the past days,

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<v Speaker 1>but it doesn't provide that much information about his his

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<v Speaker 1>relationship with the Trump campaign. What what it's been saying

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<v Speaker 1>is that he was a visitor during the early months

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<v Speaker 1>of the White House and frequently was there either because

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<v Speaker 1>Bannon or Jared Kushner wanted him to be, and was

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<v Speaker 1>seen a number of times at the White House. But

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of his involvement in the campaign, there really

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been uh, you know, public reporting that's fleshed out

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<v Speaker 1>what that might have been. The Times reported that he

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<v Speaker 1>received that he received a detailed report from a top

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<v Speaker 1>Trump fundraiser, Elliott Proidy, who has hundreds of millions of

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<v Speaker 1>dollars in contracts allegedly with the U. A E. Asking

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<v Speaker 1>for and he wanted a private meeting with the President

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<v Speaker 1>and the Saudi Crown Prince. What what about the connection

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<v Speaker 1>there and that report that he got. It's you know, again,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a bit sketchy, but it seems that that Nader

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<v Speaker 1>has a business relationship with this American security company that

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<v Speaker 1>apparently has a very large contract for providing you know,

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<v Speaker 1>some types of security contracting for the United Arab Emirates

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, you know, the United Arab Emirates and and

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<v Speaker 1>the Saudis have have been quite close and obviously there

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<v Speaker 1>was a lot of sort of diplomatic back and forth

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<v Speaker 1>between the Trump people in the Saudias and the Emirates

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<v Speaker 1>a little while ago when they were blockading Cutter, their neighbor.

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<v Speaker 1>That the that the Saudis and the Emiraties were upset

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<v Speaker 1>about because of the Cutter support, as I thought for

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<v Speaker 1>sort of politicized Islam. So there's sort of a a

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<v Speaker 1>murky mix of money and Middle Eastern politics here that

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<v Speaker 1>may have some intersection with the you know, with with

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump scandals that Muller has been looking at, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's a little unclear yet what that might be. We

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<v Speaker 1>keep hearing about different aspects of or we think they're

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<v Speaker 1>different aspects that could have been there from the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>for all we know of Mahler's inquiry. Would this be

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<v Speaker 1>a broadening of these investigations or just another avenue he's

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<v Speaker 1>looking down if you certainly could be a broadening, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's absolutely within the scope that he's been authorized to have.

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<v Speaker 1>From the beginning of the order by Deputy Attorney General

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<v Speaker 1>Rosenstein that appointed Muller made quite clear that Muller had

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<v Speaker 1>the authority not just to investigate links between the Russian

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<v Speaker 1>government and the Trump campaign, but also, as the order said,

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<v Speaker 1>any matters that would arise directly from that investigation. So

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<v Speaker 1>we saw for example, with Paul Manaford and with Rick

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<v Speaker 1>Gates and you know, their indictments for or you know,

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<v Speaker 1>money wandering in bank fraud and tetra. You know, those

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<v Speaker 1>those were not directly about the you know, the Trump

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<v Speaker 1>Russa relationship, but arose out of Muller's investigation. And certainly,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's possible that you know something about you

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<v Speaker 1>a e influence on the Trump campaign or perhaps even

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<v Speaker 1>illegally giving money to the Trump campaign was something that

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<v Speaker 1>Mueller came across while, you know, while interviewing people, and

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<v Speaker 1>therefore decided to pursue I want to turn to a

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<v Speaker 1>Muller grand jury subpoena. According to Axios, UH they got

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<v Speaker 1>ahold of a grand jury subpoena given to a witness

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<v Speaker 1>and it was for all communications, emails, text, handwritten notes

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<v Speaker 1>that this witness sent and received from November one to

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<v Speaker 1>the President regarding ten top Trump campaign officials, including I

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<v Speaker 1>mean they go from Korey Lewandowski, Donald Trump, Junior, Hope Picks,

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Man of Fort Rick Gates, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone,

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<v Speaker 1>and tell us. I mean, is this unusual to have

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<v Speaker 1>this broad and inquiry and to have it, uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>sort of focused on ten specific Trump campaign officials present reformer. No,

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<v Speaker 1>that sounds quite normal. I mean they've you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>core of the of the Mueller inquiry is about possible

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<v Speaker 1>coordination between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, and

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<v Speaker 1>that sounds like a subpoena seeking you know, the communications

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<v Speaker 1>and other kinds of documents about Trump campaign members. So

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<v Speaker 1>I mean that that sounds like a like a reasonable

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<v Speaker 1>kind of request that you had seen an investigation of

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<v Speaker 1>this type. So we didn't have any indictments last week

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<v Speaker 1>at last Friday. So where where does where do you

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<v Speaker 1>see Mueller's investigation standing now? Some people say, well, it

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be you know, reaching the White House, and

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps it will be over soon, and others say, no,

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<v Speaker 1>it has a long way to go. Well, I guess, sure,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess the first thing, that's just a note of humility.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the Muller team has been very leakproof. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>we saw that, you know, we had guilty please from

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<v Speaker 1>a number of people come without any advance you know,

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<v Speaker 1>leaking or press reporting about it at all. So I

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<v Speaker 1>think the first thing is that, you know, we really

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<v Speaker 1>don't know, um what what Mueller is doing. They've been

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<v Speaker 1>very good at keeping secrets, but um, you know, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>be surprised if this is wrapping up quickly. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>the Gates and and Papadopoulis and Michael Flynn, the former

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<v Speaker 1>National Scarity advisor all got generous plea deals, presumably because

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<v Speaker 1>they can provide information and lead to more prosecutions. All right, well,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you as always for being here with us and

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<v Speaker 1>helping us to sort through this and and try to

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<v Speaker 1>figure out where that investigation is going. It's certainly going

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<v Speaker 1>in many different directions as at once. Thanks Andrew. That's

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<v Speaker 1>Andrew Kent. He's a professor at Fordham University Law School.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law podcast. You can

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<v Speaker 1>subscribe and listen to the show on Apple podcasts, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brasso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg