WEBVTT - DOJ Opens Investigation Into FBI Over Clinton Email (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Now let's turn our attention to the FBI. On Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 1>FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that

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<v Speaker 1>he would quote never comment on investigations, whether we have

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<v Speaker 1>one or not in an open forum unquote. But members

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<v Speaker 1>of Congress in the public have complained about Director Comey

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<v Speaker 1>publicly commenting last year about the investigation into Hillary Clinton's

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<v Speaker 1>use of a private email server, and now, in response

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<v Speaker 1>to those complaints, the Inspector General for the FBI is

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<v Speaker 1>looking into how Comey handled that investigation and whether others

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<v Speaker 1>at the FBI improperly leaked information. Joining us to tay

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about the inspector General's investigation is Nick Ackerman,

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<v Speaker 1>a former federal prosecutor who is a partner Dorcy and Whitney. Nick,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for being here. We glad to have you. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>glad to be here. Why don't we start out by

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<v Speaker 1>talking about what the Inspector General of the FBI is

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<v Speaker 1>actually empowered to investigate. He's empowered to investigate improprieties by

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<v Speaker 1>employees of the Department of Justice, which would include Director Comey.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh and he pretty much has a wide ranging um

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<v Speaker 1>jurisdiction to really look at everything that might be either

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<v Speaker 1>un ethical, improper, or illegal that would bear on the

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<v Speaker 1>business of the Department of Justice. And how does the

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<v Speaker 1>investigation go forward. Does he start looking at emails? Are

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<v Speaker 1>they going to be interviews with employees? Is he going

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<v Speaker 1>to interview comey, all of those things. I mean, the

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<v Speaker 1>proper way to do an investigation will be to start

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<v Speaker 1>at the bottom, looking at the emails, invest talking to

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<v Speaker 1>other employees. In fact, I think one area you didn't

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<v Speaker 1>mention were people outside of the Department of Justice, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>that clearly should be looking at what was leaked to

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump campaign. Rudy Julianni at some point said that

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<v Speaker 1>he was talking to an active FBI agent. He later

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<v Speaker 1>retracted that, Um, it's clear he was at least talking

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<v Speaker 1>to retired agents who were talking to active FBI agents.

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<v Speaker 1>So all of those people, if you're doing a thorough,

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<v Speaker 1>comprehensive investigation, all of those people, all the emails that

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<v Speaker 1>communicated between and among those people, all of those should

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<v Speaker 1>be properly looked at. Well, Nick, you know, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>if you're gonna talk about a thorough investigation, you know

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking. We've been talking a bit about the procedures involved.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about the substance. Based on what the Inspector

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<v Speaker 1>General has said and what we know has happened over

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<v Speaker 1>the last year, let's say, or two years in this investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>what is it that we can expect the Inspector General

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<v Speaker 1>is actually going to be investigating here. I think he's

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<v Speaker 1>going to be investigating Director Comey's actions and doing what

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<v Speaker 1>he did, which was unprecedented and against all of the

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<v Speaker 1>rules of the FBI. I mean, just to give you

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of background, Uh, the FBI is that

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<v Speaker 1>arm of the Department of Justice that investigates cases. The

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<v Speaker 1>FBI does not announce indictments, It does not announce investigations.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the only truthful statement that Director call Me

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<v Speaker 1>has made is yeah, he cannot comment on investigations, so

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<v Speaker 1>that that you have to look at it in that context.

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<v Speaker 1>As to what happened here, it's clear that he went

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<v Speaker 1>beyond what he was well beyond what he was supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to do as director of the FBI. He's simply supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to take those investigative facts and turn them over to

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<v Speaker 1>the prosecutors in the Department of Justice, who in turn

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<v Speaker 1>then look at those facts that the facts puts. Put

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<v Speaker 1>it before the Grand jury if they think there's a crime,

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<v Speaker 1>and then make a decision as to whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>somebody should be charged. That did not happen. Here is

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<v Speaker 1>there wiggle room in the rules of the FBI or

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<v Speaker 1>in the procedures because the Inspector General didn't start this

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<v Speaker 1>investigation after Comy made the first announcement, he certainly should have,

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<v Speaker 1>because there is no wiggle room. I have never ever

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<v Speaker 1>seen an FBI director or agent make any statements about

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<v Speaker 1>what is going on in an ongoing investigation. Not even

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<v Speaker 1>JEdgar Hoover did that. The only time you ever ever

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<v Speaker 1>see a director of the FBI or an official in

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<v Speaker 1>the FBI show up to make a statement about an

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<v Speaker 1>investigation is when there's an indictment, and in that context,

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<v Speaker 1>all they can do is track the language of the

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<v Speaker 1>indictment that the grand jury has voted upon. What Comey

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<v Speaker 1>did was totally improper. I was a prosecutor for some

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen years. I was an assistant to Special Watergate Prosecutor

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<v Speaker 1>Cox and then Jaworski, and then was an assistant in

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of

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<v Speaker 1>New York. Never, at any time did any FBI agent,

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<v Speaker 1>director assistant director ever go out and make a statement

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<v Speaker 1>about what the status of an investigation is. And there's

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<v Speaker 1>good reason for that. That's because you want to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to protect people who are presumed to be innocent.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't make a statement until a grand jury, which

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<v Speaker 1>is provided for in the Fifth Amendment United States Constitution,

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<v Speaker 1>determines that there's probable cause to believe that there's a crime. Here.

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<v Speaker 1>There was absolutely no probable cause to believe there was

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<v Speaker 1>a crime. Even Director Comy had to say so much,

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<v Speaker 1>but then to go on and speculate as to whether

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<v Speaker 1>or not there was a classified information, speculate as to

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that he thought that Secretary Clinton had been

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<v Speaker 1>careless in some way. All of this was totally improper.

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<v Speaker 1>It's purely his opinion and has absolutely no business being

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<v Speaker 1>said by the Director of the FBI, or even the

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney General for that matter. We are talking with former

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<v Speaker 1>federal prosecutor Nick Ackerman, who's a partner at Dorsey and Whitney,

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<v Speaker 1>about the Inspector General of the FBI announcing that he's

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<v Speaker 1>going to open an investigation into Director Comy's handling of

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<v Speaker 1>the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation and also look

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<v Speaker 1>at a host of other things that happened at the FBI,

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<v Speaker 1>including whether people improperly disclosed information, uh, not just to

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<v Speaker 1>um the press or to the Trump campaign, but also

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<v Speaker 1>to the Clinton campaign. And it seems to be a

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<v Speaker 1>fairly wide ranging investigation. Nick. You know, at the time

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<v Speaker 1>that director called me testified before Congress, everybody knew that

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<v Speaker 1>this investigation was going on. It wasn't a secret. I know,

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<v Speaker 1>people knew about it, and he kind of had, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it was subpoena to go in. He had to go

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<v Speaker 1>in and tell tell the Senate about what it was

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<v Speaker 1>that he invested, you know, what had happened, at least

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<v Speaker 1>what his conclusion was. Well, let me let me stop

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<v Speaker 1>you right there, because he did not have to tell

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate what his investigation did. He did not have

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<v Speaker 1>to tell the Senate what his conclusions were. He should

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<v Speaker 1>have said the same thing that you started out this

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<v Speaker 1>broadcast with, that is that he cannot properly comment on

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<v Speaker 1>the status, scope, or results of any investigation by any

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<v Speaker 1>FBI agent. Well, let me let me ask you about

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<v Speaker 1>another part of it. Though. The at the time that

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<v Speaker 1>the right before the election, and this is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the more controversial things that happened right before the election.

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<v Speaker 1>Director Comey sent a letter to the to Congress saying

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<v Speaker 1>that there had been some emails found on Anthony. It

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<v Speaker 1>turns out Anthony Weiner's laptop, who's married to him, abbott

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<v Speaker 1>in an aide to Hillary Clinton, which might have been

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<v Speaker 1>relevant to the investigation. UM many have speculated the reason

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<v Speaker 1>he did that at that time was because there was

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<v Speaker 1>gone some FBI agents were gonna leak this information. Might

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<v Speaker 1>Might it be if he was really trying to get

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<v Speaker 1>ahead of a leak? Might that be a mitigating factor

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<v Speaker 1>in in why he did it? Absolutely not. If he

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<v Speaker 1>thought there was going to be a leak, as the

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<v Speaker 1>director of the FBI, he should have taken the bull

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<v Speaker 1>bother horns and immediately investigated who it was that was

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<v Speaker 1>leaking this who was spreading it out. The way to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with a leak is not to take the same

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<v Speaker 1>information and spread it out to the entire world. Look,

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<v Speaker 1>his motivation, we don't really know what it was, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's one of two things. Either the guy has got

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<v Speaker 1>terrible judgment, had no idea of what the consequences were

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<v Speaker 1>of what he was doing, or he was trying to

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<v Speaker 1>help the Trump campaign. I mean there's just two possibilities here.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what it is, but there's only two.

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<v Speaker 1>He has had a sterling reputation as as far as

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<v Speaker 1>being FBI director and in prior years for all that

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<v Speaker 1>he's done. And we've seen a lot of action by

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<v Speaker 1>the Justice Department lately, a lot of indictments coming down.

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<v Speaker 1>There's all different things going on, as if you're they're

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<v Speaker 1>trying to push things through before the end of the

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<v Speaker 1>Obama administration. And now we see this is the timing suspect.

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<v Speaker 1>The timing of this investigation. Well, the part with the

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<v Speaker 1>probably problem I have with the timing is this should

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<v Speaker 1>have been done in July when he had that press

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<v Speaker 1>conference where first of all, he basically grabbed the scene

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<v Speaker 1>when it should have been done not by the Attorney General,

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<v Speaker 1>who was conflicted out at that point because of the

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with Bill Clinton, but it could have been done

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<v Speaker 1>and should have been done by the Deputy Attorney General

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<v Speaker 1>or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division.

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<v Speaker 1>So if I were default anything on the timing, it's

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<v Speaker 1>just it he waited too late. This should have been

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<v Speaker 1>done immediately after that press conference. Perhaps perhaps Loretta Lynch

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<v Speaker 1>is meeting with President Clinton got things off to a

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<v Speaker 1>bad start for them and they had to pull themselves

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<v Speaker 1>out of it, and that might be the reason why

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't get investigated earlier. I have no idea, that's

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<v Speaker 1>pure speculation. But what we do know is that it

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<v Speaker 1>was totally improper, It was totally out of school, and

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<v Speaker 1>it should have been investigated at that point. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>if it had been investigated at that point, Hillary Clinton

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<v Speaker 1>might be president today. Well, our thanks to Nick Ackerman

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<v Speaker 1>of Dorcy and Whitney Farmer, federal Prosecutor, for being here

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<v Speaker 1>today in Bloomberg a Low to talk with us about

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<v Speaker 1>the FBI Inspector General investigating the FBI's handling of the

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<v Speaker 1>Hillary Clinton email scandal. Thank you for having me