1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,199
Speaker 1: Well, now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Lab Brief,

2
00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:04,640
Speaker 1: exploring legal issues in the news. It's brought to you

3
00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,600
Speaker 1: by American Arbitration Association. Business disputes are inevitable, resolve faster

4
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,320
Speaker 1: with the American Arbitration Association, the global leader in alternative

5
00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,800
Speaker 1: dispute resolution for over ninety years. More at a dr

6
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,760
Speaker 1: dot org. Today Bloomberg, Lahs, stud Rosso and Greg Sture

7
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,840
Speaker 1: discussed the election of Robert Muller to lead the Justice

8
00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,080
Speaker 1: Department investigation into Russian interference in the US presidential election.

9
00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,160
Speaker 1: They speak with former Massachusetts Governor William Weld and William Banks,

10
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,880
Speaker 1: director of the Institute for National Security and counter Terrorism

11
00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:41,120
Speaker 1: at Syracuse Law School. Director Banks, the office into which

12
00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,760
Speaker 1: he is stepping is different from the office occupied by

13
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,239
Speaker 1: independent councils like Kenneth Starr and Lawrence Walsh, and I

14
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,080
Speaker 1: wanted you to explain just what the differences are, how

15
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: he is not entirely separate from the Justice Department. It's

16
00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:02,520
Speaker 1: a good question because of is Bob Mueller. The differences

17
00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 1: that we can identify now aren't going to matter so

18
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,920
Speaker 1: much because of his tremendous integrity and the reputation that

19
00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,160
Speaker 1: he brings to this assignment. That said, the regulations now

20
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,639
Speaker 1: are Justice Department regulations. So unlike the independent councils of old,

21
00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,440
Speaker 1: the Lawrence Walsh and ken Starr investigations and others, this

22
00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,480
Speaker 1: one is not authorized by statute. It's authorized by the

23
00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,800
Speaker 1: department itself. So in theory and in practice, Mueller will

24
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,560
Speaker 1: report to the Attorney General Governor. Well, one difference is

25
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,680
Speaker 1: that ken Starr could not be fired by the president.

26
00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,360
Speaker 1: Um As if I understand this correctly, Donald Trump could

27
00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,200
Speaker 1: actually direct that that Bob Muller be fired. Do you

28
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: think that will affect his work, make it more difficult

29
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: for him? No, it's not going to slow him down

30
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,120
Speaker 1: one iota because he wouldn't care if somebody did the

31
00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,440
Speaker 1: wrong thing and and fired him. He's just going to

32
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 1: get to the bottom of it. He would be a

33
00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,120
Speaker 1: complete terrier. Uh. And as I say, it's gonna be,

34
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: it's gonna be even handed, I would expect. And by

35
00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,920
Speaker 1: the way, special counsel don't have to indict anybody just

36
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,359
Speaker 1: because they have that power. And and you know, when

37
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,280
Speaker 1: I was head of the Criminal Division and Main Justice,

38
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,520
Speaker 1: I operated under that uh independent council statute and my

39
00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,120
Speaker 1: memory is more often than not no charges were filed,

40
00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: So people shouldn't rush to assume that they're going to

41
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,720
Speaker 1: be criminal indictments out of this. Uh my, My guess

42
00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 1: is that under all the circumstances, uh, Mr Mueller might

43
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,799
Speaker 1: find it appropriate to issue a report of his findings

44
00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,200
Speaker 1: with the FBI's findings at the end of the investigation,

45
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,280
Speaker 1: which he certainly has the power to do. I mean,

46
00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,560
Speaker 1: even a grand jury can issue a report of its

47
00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,399
Speaker 1: findings if it if it wants to, and that would

48
00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,040
Speaker 1: I think make everybody feel better. And that's former Massachusetts

49
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,119
Speaker 1: Governor William Wild and William Banks, director of the Institute

50
00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,000
Speaker 1: for National Security and counter Terrorism at Syracuse Law School,

51
00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,200
Speaker 1: speaking with Bloomberg Lahost doing Grass and Gregg's Store. You

52
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,519
Speaker 1: can listen to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall

53
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,639
Speaker 1: Street Time here on Bloomberg Radio Now. Among the top

54
00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,120
Speaker 1: legal stories from Bloomberg Law, Huber has threatened to fire

55
00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,200
Speaker 1: the engineer at the center of the driverless car technology

56
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,119
Speaker 1: legal battle with Weymo. The ride hailing company has told

57
00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,000
Speaker 1: Anthony Lewandowski to either deny taking files from Weimo, his

58
00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,480
Speaker 1: former employer, or turn them over. Lewandowski has told the

59
00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,519
Speaker 1: court he's being forced to choose between his job or

60
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,120
Speaker 1: his constitutional rights against self incrimination. A federal judge says

61
00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,400
Speaker 1: he's inclined to approve Wells Fargoes one forty two million

62
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,960
Speaker 1: dollars settlement with customers over fraudulent accounts. The bank is

63
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,480
Speaker 1: trying to move past the scandal that erupted last year.

64
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,200
Speaker 1: More than five thousand employees are fired for creating millions

65
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,640
Speaker 1: of fake accounts over several years. Wells Fargo already agreed

66
00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,240
Speaker 1: to pay a hundred eighty five million dollars in fines.

67
00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,560
Speaker 1: And that's this morning's Bloomberg Lawbrary. If you can find

68
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 1: more legal news at Bloomberg Law dot com and Bloomberg

69
00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,760
Speaker 1: b NA dot com. Attorneys will find exceptional legal research

70
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,000
Speaker 1: and business development tools there as well. Visit Bloomberg Law

71
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,440
Speaker 1: dot com and Bloomberg b and A dot com for

72
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 1: more information