WEBVTT - Lewandowski Defiant at Trump Obstruction Hearing

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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. There are moments

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<v Speaker 1>of high dramat the first House Judiciary Committee hearing explicitly

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<v Speaker 1>tied to the potential impeachment of President Trump. Korey Lewandowski,

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's campaign manager, defiantly refused to answer many questions, stalled

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<v Speaker 1>by repeatedly asking to see the Muller Report, and demean

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<v Speaker 1>the process and the Democratic committee members. Here's an exchange

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<v Speaker 1>between Democrats Chila Jackson, Lee and Lewandowski. Again, kars when

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<v Speaker 1>I recognize that the privilege is not mine, but I've

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<v Speaker 1>been asked by the White House to honest want I'd

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<v Speaker 1>be happy to answer your question, or you can just

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<v Speaker 1>have a conversation by yourself, But if you'd like to

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<v Speaker 1>ask me a question, I'll be happy to answer me

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<v Speaker 1>to continue, the reason is you don't ask me a question,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want to hear my answer to time. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a House diuditiary, not a House Party joining me

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<v Speaker 1>is Brad Moss, a partner at Mark Zade Brad. It

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<v Speaker 1>was not pretty, but the Democrats did confirm much of

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<v Speaker 1>what Lewandowski said the Muller report. What's your take on

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<v Speaker 1>the hearing? Yeah, I mean, look, Korey Lewandowski is a

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<v Speaker 1>very epitome of Trump style politics. This no holds barred,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, political counterpunching. UH is very much in line

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<v Speaker 1>with how the President handles it. You saw that throughout

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<v Speaker 1>the hearing, what I think ultimately was relevant was important,

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<v Speaker 1>and you mentioned this a bit. Was what was confirmed,

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<v Speaker 1>namely the involvement of Mr Lewandowski as outline of the

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<v Speaker 1>Vollar Report with respect to one of the acts of

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<v Speaker 1>obstruction in terms of the order from President Trump to

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Lewandowski to go to then Attorney General Jeff Sessions

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<v Speaker 1>order him to limit and narrow the scope of the

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<v Speaker 1>Mueller investigation and basically dankle his job at him. And

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Lewandowski confirmed that those facts. Racker. He disputed some

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<v Speaker 1>of the details of, you know, certain nuances, but by

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<v Speaker 1>and large what was in the Mula report on that front.

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Lewandowski confirmed yesterday in that hearing, the White House

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<v Speaker 1>Counsel's office notified the committee late Monday that Lewandowski was

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<v Speaker 1>forbidden from discussing confidential conversations he had with Trump aside

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<v Speaker 1>from what was already public in the Mueller Report. They

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<v Speaker 1>called it executive branch confidentiality interests. What kind of privilege

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<v Speaker 1>were they asserting here? Yes, so they're trying to try

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<v Speaker 1>this theory out that's always been pushed by past White Houses,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's never been actually challenged in court, which is

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<v Speaker 1>the idea that a president's communications with non government officials

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<v Speaker 1>can still be covered under executive privilege, that the White

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<v Speaker 1>House has an interest in shielding those communications from being

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<v Speaker 1>compelled to be disclosed to either Congress or to the public.

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<v Speaker 1>Now there's you know, long standing president with respect to

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<v Speaker 1>executive branch officials, if they're that communications with the president

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<v Speaker 1>been that dates back the Nixon era, but there's never

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<v Speaker 1>been a case to litigate that question. We come to

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<v Speaker 1>someone like Mr. Lewandowski, who was a private citizen and

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<v Speaker 1>never worked in the US government, and so they have

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<v Speaker 1>pushed forward this view. Mr Lewandowski, of course, was happy

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<v Speaker 1>to follow the White House's guidance because it meant different things.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't have to disclose um. It remains an unresolved

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<v Speaker 1>question though, is a legal matter how court would view

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<v Speaker 1>this in terms of that the legitimacy of that assertion

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<v Speaker 1>of privilege. The committee also subpoenaed two other former Trump

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<v Speaker 1>aids who did work in the White House, former Deputy

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<v Speaker 1>Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn and former Staff Secretary Rob Porter,

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<v Speaker 1>but they didn't attend after the White House Council notified

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<v Speaker 1>the Judiciary Committee that they have constitutional immunity from compelled

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<v Speaker 1>congressional testimony in order to protect the prerogatives of the

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<v Speaker 1>office of president, going beyond the claim of privilege there,

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<v Speaker 1>how can Democrats proceed with this, you know, sort of

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<v Speaker 1>variation on impeachment hearings if they can't get witnesses to testify. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so this is a bit of the problem the Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>have been facing for months now, ever since the Muller

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<v Speaker 1>report came out, and never since Mr Muller testified, and

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<v Speaker 1>they want to move forward on this quasi impeachment route.

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<v Speaker 1>They were struggling to get people who had uh testified

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<v Speaker 1>the Mr Muller and provided information that was outline of

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<v Speaker 1>the report to get to them to come before Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're seeing some litigation on it. With respect to

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<v Speaker 1>Don McGann, the former White House counsel, you know, there's

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<v Speaker 1>pending litigation to compel him to come before to Congress

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<v Speaker 1>and testify. What you're waiting to see the results of

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<v Speaker 1>that litigation. I think that will provide a roadmap but guidance.

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<v Speaker 1>But as far as the White House is concerned, they're

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of dragging this out right now. They're happy

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<v Speaker 1>to let this be, you know, dragged out in the

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<v Speaker 1>courts and take months, if not years, because by the

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<v Speaker 1>time it gets to a resolution, it won't matter one

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<v Speaker 1>way or the other. And so even if this were

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<v Speaker 1>a traditional impeachment inquiry, if they had drawn up articles

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<v Speaker 1>of impeachment, these witnesses still wouldn't be allowed to testify.

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<v Speaker 1>So again, I mean, what happens then, so yeah, So

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<v Speaker 1>if so, if the courts ultimately ruled in the government's favor,

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<v Speaker 1>which I don't think in the end, especially the context

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<v Speaker 1>of appeachment, I don't think they would. But even if

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<v Speaker 1>they did, Congress can certainly still utilize the ridden text

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<v Speaker 1>of the Mole report itself, and they always could do

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<v Speaker 1>that in the context of impeachment, recommending articles of impeachment.

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<v Speaker 1>What they wanted, for purposes of grassroots support from American

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<v Speaker 1>public was to have those live moments, to have Don

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<v Speaker 1>McGann talk about what Trump did, to have any Donalds

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<v Speaker 1>Retiefer staffed Domigan talk about what she took notes on.

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<v Speaker 1>It was meant to build public momentum, not necessarily for

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<v Speaker 1>purposes of evidence. So the committee's chair, Jerry Nadler, said

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<v Speaker 1>that Lewandowski's conduct was completely unacceptable and he's considering holding

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<v Speaker 1>him in contempt of Congress. Has several of the Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>Committee members said he should. So even if he's held

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<v Speaker 1>in contempt of Congress, if you have h Justusice department

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<v Speaker 1>that will not go any further on this, what would

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<v Speaker 1>that really mean to him? Ultimately nothing at all, um,

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<v Speaker 1>And there is an inherent criminal contempt authority that Congress

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<v Speaker 1>has technically to start to get arms, can you know,

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<v Speaker 1>execute an arrest, But that's not going to happen. So

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<v Speaker 1>and Korey Lewandowski knows this. In the White House knows,

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<v Speaker 1>they know that. Ultimately for Natler, this is a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of huffing and puffing, but nothing's going to come of

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<v Speaker 1>those contempt citations, which is why now they're debating to

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<v Speaker 1>what extent he's even going to waste his time with

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<v Speaker 1>it because nothing is going to transpire that the Just

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<v Speaker 1>Justice Department isn't going to pursue the case. And this

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<v Speaker 1>is the unfortunate reality of how the institutions and sort

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<v Speaker 1>of the customs and norms of how we used to

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<v Speaker 1>handle these types of matters have really been broken down

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<v Speaker 1>over the last few years. Political analysts were criticizing the

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<v Speaker 1>Democrats for going forward this way, but I wonder what

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<v Speaker 1>other way can they go forward? About a minute here, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is the only route they had. They

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<v Speaker 1>had to try to build some additional momentum to put

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<v Speaker 1>a face and video to the text of that for

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<v Speaker 1>the page report. They've gotten some progress. I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>if they're going to be able to pull this off

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<v Speaker 1>in the end, but you can still expect this will

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<v Speaker 1>drag on till the end of this year, and we

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<v Speaker 1>will talk with you more as it does. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>so much, Brad. That's Brad Massey is a partner in

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<v Speaker 1>mark Z. Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law Podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>You can subscribe and listen to the show on Apple podcast, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com. Slash Podcast. I'm June Brosso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Ye