WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law: Henning and Coffee on Bharara(Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Manhattan U S Attorney pret Berrara is the highest profile

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<v Speaker 1>U S Attorney of the ninety three across the country.

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<v Speaker 1>He earned his name as the Sheriff of Wall Street

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<v Speaker 1>with his aggressive prosecution of insider trading in the financial world.

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<v Speaker 1>His most recent assault on public corruption New York has

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<v Speaker 1>been equally aggressive. Barrara, a Democrat, was appointed by President

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<v Speaker 1>Obama in two thousand nine. The U S Attorney serves

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<v Speaker 1>at the pleasure of the President, and usually there's a

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<v Speaker 1>shuffle with the change in administrations. But President elect Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump asked Barrara to remain as U S Attorney and

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<v Speaker 1>he accepted, making it clear to the press in a

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<v Speaker 1>typical Barrara way, that it was on his own terms.

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<v Speaker 1>President Elect asked, uh, presumably because it's in New Yorker

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<v Speaker 1>and is aware of the great work that our office

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<v Speaker 1>is done over the past seven years. Asked me with

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<v Speaker 1>me to discuss whether or not I'd be prepared to

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<v Speaker 1>stay on as the United Attorney Um to do the

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<v Speaker 1>work as we have done it independently without fear of

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<v Speaker 1>favor for the last for seven years, Barrara's office has

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<v Speaker 1>convicted the leaders of both legislative houses in New York,

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<v Speaker 1>and there are ongoing investigations focusing on the administrations of

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<v Speaker 1>New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor

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<v Speaker 1>Bill de Blasio. Our guests are Peter Henning, a professor

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<v Speaker 1>at Wayne State University Law School, and John Coffee, a

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<v Speaker 1>professor at Columbia Law School. Peter, the Manhattan U S

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney is considered the most powerful of the U S

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<v Speaker 1>attorneys in the country, and there's been a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>speculation about who Trump would appoint to this high profile position.

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<v Speaker 1>Did this announcement come as a surprise to you, Not really,

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<v Speaker 1>I know it had been leaked out a little bit before,

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<v Speaker 1>and typically the president looks to local Republican leaders UH

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<v Speaker 1>to guide this decision, but of course there aren't that

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<v Speaker 1>many senior elected Republicans in New York, and picking Berrara

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<v Speaker 1>gives him some political cover. Yeah, there's concerned been expressed

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<v Speaker 1>about the people he's putting into his cabinet, that these

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<v Speaker 1>are members of the Wall Street ELDE and certainly Barrar's

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<v Speaker 1>reputation as someone who is willing to take on Wall Streets,

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<v Speaker 1>so there's some real benefits here to keeping him on. Jack,

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<v Speaker 1>How about you would you have expected Donald Trump to

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<v Speaker 1>pick his own guy for this position. Well, now, for

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<v Speaker 1>these two people, Bahara and Trump, this was a marriage

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<v Speaker 1>made in heaven for both of them. Mr Trump, loved

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<v Speaker 1>him or hate him, has shown a unique ability to

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<v Speaker 1>understand and even exploit the new populous sensibility of the

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<v Speaker 1>American public, and he's written that to the White House. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Part of this new popular sensibility is the public sense

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<v Speaker 1>that senior financial executives escaped just punishment for the two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and eight crisis, and also a sense that public

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<v Speaker 1>corruption is rampant. Most of those people who disliked Hillary

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<v Speaker 1>Clinton believed that she somehow crossed the line and committed

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<v Speaker 1>a legal act or was at least captured by Wall Street.

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Bahara is the single clearest figure of someone who

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<v Speaker 1>has been vividly willing to prosecute financial crime and public corruption.

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<v Speaker 1>So I agree that Mr Trump gains greatly from this association,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly when his cabinet will have some former executives from

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<v Speaker 1>Goldman Sex. For Mr Barrara, it's a little speculative. Many

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<v Speaker 1>people think he's got a future political plans, and this

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<v Speaker 1>would be a wonderful way to maintain that ability to

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<v Speaker 1>move to higher public office. Remember that Rudy Giuliani moved

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<v Speaker 1>from U S Attorney Bahara's current job to mayor. Earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>Tom Dewey, a repeated presidential county for Republicans, moved from

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<v Speaker 1>being a special prosecutor of the mob to governor, and

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<v Speaker 1>both Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo moved in the attorney

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<v Speaker 1>general's position to being governor in New York State. So

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<v Speaker 1>if he stays in the limelight, I think Mr Bhara

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be an obvious candidate for some higher

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<v Speaker 1>political office. I don't know which, but he is. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>As long as he's in the limelight, he's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be an obvious candidate for higher office, and he may

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<v Speaker 1>want that. Peter, there are ongoing investigations focusing on New

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<v Speaker 1>York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill

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<v Speaker 1>de Blasio's administration, and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlan, who is a Republican,

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<v Speaker 1>tweeted that Barrara has unfinished business and quote, how's your

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<v Speaker 1>day going, Governor? How much did those investigations play into

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<v Speaker 1>this decision? I think they were significant. I mean, over

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<v Speaker 1>and above the Wall Street aspect here that pre Berrara

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<v Speaker 1>is the Sheriff of Wall Street. Um, cover of Time magazine.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the man busting Wall Street. Where he's really

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<v Speaker 1>made an impression in New York and politically, I have

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<v Speaker 1>been the corruption prosecutions, and I guess in a sense

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<v Speaker 1>you could almost say that Trump's view is the enemy

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<v Speaker 1>of my enemy is my friend. Um, that the scariest

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<v Speaker 1>person in Albany is pre Barrara, and so keeping him on,

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<v Speaker 1>and especially someone wi ties to Senator Schumer and the Democrats,

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<v Speaker 1>avoids a lot of the claim that any future prosecutions

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<v Speaker 1>are politically motivated, and so again Berrara gives good cover

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<v Speaker 1>to the Republicans. Generally, he can continue an aggressive campaign

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<v Speaker 1>on public corruption which has embarrassed Democrats and Republicans alike. Jack,

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<v Speaker 1>what would you expect to see from pre Bara over

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<v Speaker 1>the next few years when it comes to Wall Street

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<v Speaker 1>and corruption there. Well, I think he has a number

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<v Speaker 1>of investigations underway, and the nature of these kind of

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<v Speaker 1>investigations is that people who are mid level often flip

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<v Speaker 1>and give you higher level officials. So there have been

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<v Speaker 1>people in the broader Cuomo administration who have recently been indicted.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not suggesting that anyone has a conceivable theory against

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<v Speaker 1>the governor. But enough prosecutions around an individual and the

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<v Speaker 1>administration gets tainted. And I can see why Mr Trump

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<v Speaker 1>would want that, and I can see why'm Mr Bahara

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<v Speaker 1>thinks he's just continuing his job of prosecuting these cases

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<v Speaker 1>as far as the evidence leads. Peter about a minute here,

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<v Speaker 1>tell us about Barrara's independence. Well, I mean, he's shown

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<v Speaker 1>that he's willing to take on Republicans and Democrats. He's

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<v Speaker 1>willing to, uh claimed at least to go after Wall Street,

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<v Speaker 1>although insider trading is not actually getting at all that

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<v Speaker 1>many important Wall Street practices. But he is perceived, and

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<v Speaker 1>independence is a lot about perception. He is perceived as

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<v Speaker 1>someone who will be independent and will be aggressive. His

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<v Speaker 1>office has a history of being aggressive, so he simply

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<v Speaker 1>fits in with that and is continuing the tradition and

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<v Speaker 1>in fact probably heightening that repute. The Sheriff of Wall

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<v Speaker 1>Street is not riding off into the sunset, so corrupt

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<v Speaker 1>politicians and financial criminals had better be on guard. Preet Berrara,

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<v Speaker 1>whose aggressive prosecutions put him on the cover of Time magazine,

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<v Speaker 1>will remain as the Manhattan u s attorney and the

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<v Speaker 1>Trump administration. He undoubtedly will be holding more of those

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<v Speaker 1>no holds barred press conferences with the showmanship he's known for.

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<v Speaker 1>Good afternoon. My name is Preet Berrara, and I'm the

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<v Speaker 1>u S Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>yet another privileged hedge fund professional stands accused of insider trading.

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<v Speaker 1>The charges unsealed today described cheating, coming and going. That

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<v Speaker 1>was Barrara's announcement of charges against the hedge fund s

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<v Speaker 1>a C Capital Advisors. In We've been talking with John Coffee,

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<v Speaker 1>professor at Columbia Law School and Peter Henning, professor at

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<v Speaker 1>Wayne State University Law School. Jack. Preet Barrara is known

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<v Speaker 1>for having a flair. He has these press conferences that

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<v Speaker 1>are actually enjoyable to watch. He always has the right SoundBite.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there any criticism of him because of that? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think there has been much criticism from the

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<v Speaker 1>public academics, editorialists. But there has been a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>of friction with the second circuit you mentioned earlier, the

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<v Speaker 1>Newman decision, which came down in two thousand and fourteen

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<v Speaker 1>and which did greatly curb the ability of federal prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>to prostate insider trading. In that decision, there was an

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<v Speaker 1>unusual rebuke of the U. S attorney. They suggested they

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<v Speaker 1>were bringing cases with little evidence and not in compliance

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<v Speaker 1>with the traditional law. That kind of rebuke is unusual.

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<v Speaker 1>In truth, Rudy Giuliani also got criticized, and both Mr

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<v Speaker 1>Giuliani and Mr Bihara knew how to maximize the public

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<v Speaker 1>attention they received as you as attorneys. So while I

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't criticize Mr Newman, Mr Mr Bihara, I do think

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<v Speaker 1>that there was a little bit of friction there, And

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<v Speaker 1>now that President Trump has reappointed him, I think he

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<v Speaker 1>really has the last left because he's got the support

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<v Speaker 1>of both a Democratic and a Republican president, and and

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<v Speaker 1>it's somewhat impregnable. Peter, do you see any chance that

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<v Speaker 1>barras independence could come back to bite Trump? For example,

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<v Speaker 1>imagine a situation where he was investigating a Trump owned

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<v Speaker 1>business in the in the southern district, of which there

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<v Speaker 1>are there are some How do you think that would

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<v Speaker 1>go down? Well, certainly, I guess it could be a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, that that nickname the Sovereign District of New

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<v Speaker 1>York is the sign that it doesn't really take much

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<v Speaker 1>direction from main Justice, the Justice Department in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>And of course Barra is standing now is probably even higher.

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<v Speaker 1>With the new Attorney General coming in. Uh, he could

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<v Speaker 1>well be close to untouchable. Would he pursue a case?

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<v Speaker 1>I guess if the evidence was there, And of worse,

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<v Speaker 1>the Manhattan is where you could establish jurisdiction and venue

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<v Speaker 1>for almost any case. So much money flows through New York.

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<v Speaker 1>The banks are there, the exchanges are there. Um, that

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<v Speaker 1>would be a possibility back. I don't know if that's

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<v Speaker 1>very likely. Um. I guess it's something that could come up.

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<v Speaker 1>But Barrara's independence here is pretty well established and so

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<v Speaker 1>he can look at whatever he wants, although I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think the priorities in that office are going to change much.

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<v Speaker 1>Jack about a minute here. He had a meeting with

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's pick for the new AG, Jeff Sessions, last week apparently.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there any potential clash in the views of Sessions

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<v Speaker 1>and Barrara? Well? Mr Sessions was also a U S attorney,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think most of US attorneys believe in giving

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<v Speaker 1>a great deal of discretion to US attorneys, So I

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<v Speaker 1>think on his track record he is not going to

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<v Speaker 1>expect to greatly constrain a person as strong as Mr Barhara.

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<v Speaker 1>And by the way, I think it's very desirable that

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Barr has this reputation for independence, because if I

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<v Speaker 1>was legal counsel of the President, I would tell the President,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't dare risk it. We've got to be Caesar's

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<v Speaker 1>White and cut an absolutely clean path around conflict of

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<v Speaker 1>interest issues because no one can control of Mr Barhara.

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<v Speaker 1>So this could well be a very desirable uh influence

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<v Speaker 1>that constrains the President, who sometimes seems a little bit reckless.

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<v Speaker 1>We will see this all play out over the next

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<v Speaker 1>few years. Thank you both for being on Bloomberg Law.

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<v Speaker 1>Two of our favorite guests, that's John Coffee, professor at

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<v Speaker 1>Columbia Law School and Peter Henning, professor at Wayne State

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<v Speaker 1>University Law School. Coming up on Bloomberg Law. The prosecutor

0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.880
<v Speaker 1>in North Carolina decides not to press criminal charges against

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<v Speaker 1>the police officer who shot and killed Keith Scott in September.

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<v Speaker 1>There were demonstrations over that and the family has expressed

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<v Speaker 1>some misgivings and there may be a civil trial ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm June Grosso with Greg Store you're listening to Bloomberg Law.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg