Transcripts For CNNW CNN Special Report 20200629

That obama and biden were involved. With an attorney general willing to do his bidding. Attorney general barr misrepresented the work of the special counsel. He believes the president ought to be all powerful. Tonight a cnn special report. Trump and the law after impeachment. Two recent bombshells have confirmed the longstanding attitude President Trump has toward the law. Truly explosive allegations about President Trump first former National Security adviser john bowlon announced in his new book that trump had a pattern of obstruction of justice as a way of life and was willing to give personal favors to dictators he liked. The president is willing to do favors in his mind for turkeys erredigan, the president of turkey. Then just days after that revelation, trump and attorney general bill barr pulled the trigger. President trump forcing out the u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york. Trump fired the well respected and republican appointed u. S. Attorney jeffrey berman. The man leading the investigation into that turkish bank. An investigation that bolt only says trump promised turk ish president erdogan he would stop. It helped evade u. S. Sanctions. Beryl ans office has also investigate ad number of Trump Associates including trumps former Attorney Michael Cohen and trump confidante rudy giuliani. Giuliani has said he had no evidence he was under investigation. The president doesnt like oversight. The president doesnt like inspectors general. He doesnt like the Southern District of new york. He runs rough shod over government. He said he doesnt like it unless it is fully in service of his personal interests. This is bombshell after bombshell. Explosive claims. Boltons shocking memoir, the room where it happened, not only painted a troubling yet familiar picture of his former boss, erratic and stunningly uninformed, but alleged that trump with ukraine, china, and in other matters, shoved aside law and National Security in exchange for anything that might help him politically. Bolton said this on abc news. I dont think hes fit for office. I dont think he has the competence to carry out the job. Trump fired back on twitter saying that, quote, the book is made up of lies and fake stories. The Trump Administration sued bolton to block the books release, though a judge ruled against it. All of this after the senate acquitted President Trump in his impeachment proceedings. This is what the end result is. Bolton told the reporter he didnt learn lessons from it other than he could get away with it. Two weeks after trump acquitted of obstruction of congress is that abuse of power charges in the Senate Impeachment trial, the president declared im actually, i guess, the chief Law Enforcement officer of the country. Not acting as if he is above the law, as democrats repeatedly asserted during the trial, but that he is the law. This is President Trump totally unleashed after he got out of the impeachment trial. It tells us that he thinks that he is king. That everything call all the shots at the Justice Department. And the chief Law Enforcement official of the land, attorney general bill barr, has seemed willing and eager to do the president s bidding. He believes the president ought to be all powerful. Donald served as Deputy Attorney general under president george h. W. Bush. Bill barr believes these checks and balances that have affected and limited other president s shouldnt apply to his president , donald trump. And he is working hand in hand with donald trump to realize that goal. Even many conservatives who had high hopes for barr have said that he is being more focused on helping trump than justice. There was no collusion. No collusion. There is no collusion. As he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. It started with the Mueller Report led by former fbi director and long time prosecutor rob mueller. The special counsel indicted 34 people including some senior Trump Associates during his 22month probe into alleged ties between the Trump Campaign and the russian government during the 2016 election. Before the report was released to the public, barr misrepresented muellers findings, in a fourpage summary. Barr said as the president often said, no obstruction, no collusion. What mueller said was, i cant prove collusion and there was plenty of evidence of obstruction of justice. Weeks passed before americans could read the redacted report. And that gave the president an incredible gift. Weeks of a false public understanding that there was no obstruction and no collusion. The report concluded that while the mueller team could not find prosecutable evidence of conspiracy, there was evidence of at least ten potential separate instances of obstruction of justice. What do you say to people who say you were trying to protect the president . Decidedly not the no collusion, no obstruction spin that barr gave the public. Attorney general barr is over the course of the president s term, trying to undo major activities that the special counsel engaged in. Carrie cordero was a National Security lawyer under president s george w. Bush and barack obama. He has unwound substantial parts of that investigation and it certainly seems that his intent is to try to unravel as much of that investigation as he can. A year later, a federal judge said that barrs handling of the report caused, quote, the court to seriously question whether attorney general barr made a calculated attempt to influence Public Discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump. But even that was not enough for trump. He sought to hit back harder, claiming the investigation itself was politically motivated. I call it the witch hundred. All a big hoax. This was an attempted coup, an attempted takedown of a president. The department of justice inspector gentle Michael Horowitz disagrees with those claims. His investigation found while the fbi made mistakes in the russia probe, it was legally justified. That debumpings one of the key conspiracies from the president and his allies, that there was a deep state plot against him. But barr entintervened again rejecting key parts in the report saying the fbi launched an intrusive investigation on, quote, the thinnest of suspicions. And barr ordered his own criminal inquiry headed by u. S. Attorney john durham. Bill barr did not want to be stuck with the results of the i. G. Investigation. So he created his own investigation. Around the time trump tweeted, investigate the investigators. And that is one of the problems with the president s tweets. Is that it looks like the attorney general is following the president s instructions. In april, barr said this on fox. Theres something far more troubling here and were going to get to the bottom of it. If people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted. While we wait for the results of the durham investigation, the fbi counter investigation and the Mueller Probe did turn up massive russian interference in the u. S. Election and filed dozens of criminal charges. One of the great ironies is that after complaining for three years that the rusch investigation was overshadowing his presidency, they keep talking about it, they say there will be a report on john durham some time before the election and they believe this is one thing they can use to his advantage. Attorney general barr did not respond to our request for an interview. Coming up, barr intervened in the case of a trump ally and ignited a firestorm. What happens next is a revolt by the prosecutors. Not even our competitors best battery can match the power of energizer. Because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. Backed by science. Matched by no one. Special fortieth anniversary presentation of a capitoly fourthfourth s for a with your hosts john stamos and Vanessa Williams and performances from coast to coast. Featuring patti labelle, john fogerty, the temptations, andy grammer yolanda adams, renee fleming, trace adkins brian stokes mitchell, chrissy metz, mandy gonzalez, and a tribute to our frontline workers. Its the fortieth anniversary of a capitol fourth. Saturday july fourth, eight seven central. Only on pbs. Cdc guidance recommends topical pain relievers first. Like salonpas patch large. Its powerful, fdaapproved to relieve moderate pain for up to 12 hours, yet nonaddictive and gentle on the body. Salonpas. Its good medicine. Hisamitsu. At tmobile, we know that connection is more important than ever. For customers 55 and up, we want you to get the value and service you need to stay connected. Thats why we have a plan built just for you. Saving 50 vs. Other carriers with 2 unlimited lines for only 55. And were here to help when youre ready to switch. Visit a store or go to tmobile. Com 55. Tums ver bell rings la stick when heartburn hits fight back fast. With tums chewy bites. 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Explore all you can do with our Digital Tools from almost anywhere. Pnc bank. From almost anywhere. Until i found out what itst it actually was. Ed me. Dust mite droppings eeeeeww dead skin cells gross so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavyduty dusters. Duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweepers on it. The textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide. No more heebie jeebies. Phew. Glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. Emboldened after the senate acquitted trump and with the renewed sense of invincibility, President Trump launched an attack to help an old friend. Roger stone. Roger stone, long time trump associate and adviser was taken into custody by the fbi . Fbi open the door stone had been arrested in connection with Robert Muellers probe and to whether anyone with the Trump Campaign conspired with the russians who attempted to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. The special counsel alleged that stone was a conduit between the Trump Campaign and wikileaks which released russian hacked emails from the Democratic National committee, involving hillary clinton. In june of this year, through the freedom of information act, cnn obtained a less redacted version of the report noting that former Trump Campaign chair paul manafort, former deputy chair rick gates, and former trump Attorney Michael Cohen, all told investigators that in july 2016, roger stone told donald trump and others that wikileaks founder Julian Assange told him that the website would soon begin publishing damaging documents. That was a long time trump ally faces criminal charges, prosecutors accuse roger stone of lying to protect the president. Roger stone and donald trump have been friends or sometimes frenemies for essentially 40 years. Roger stone was long an advocate of donald trump running for president. He briefly worked on trumps 2016 president ial bid before he was either fired or quit, depending on which of these men you ask. So they had a very up and down relationship. Theyve always reconciled. Stone was convicted by a federal jury on witness tampering, obstruction and lying to coming. The jury found stone guilty of lying during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee in 2017. To conceal his role in the trump xams efforts to learn about those hacked dnc emails. On february 10th of this year, federal prosecutors submitted their sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for roger stone in line with federal sentencing guidelines. I remember being at roger stone sentencing, and being outside the courthouse and just waiting for the moment when the president was going to weigh in in realtime. It just felt inevitable. And then of course, the president weighed in on twitter. Specifically on judge amy berm an jackson, and calling into question her fairness, calling into question her credibility. Essentially suggesting that she was out to get roger stone. An unprecedented action on the part of the executive who traditionally would keep his hands off. Criticizing a federal judge in the midst of the sentencing of roger stone. A blatant attempt to interfere in the carriage of justice. A president just doesnt do that. One of the most damaging things the president has done has been to disparage and really verbally attack individual judges. It undermines the rule of law because judges need to be independent. Hours later, attorney general barr ignited a firestorm when justice officials intervene and overruled their own prosecutors. Asking for a lighter sentence for stone. What happens next is a revolt by the prosecutors handling the roger stone case. They resign from the case. One of them resigns from the Justice Department entirely. Barrs action prompted more than 2,000 former Justice Department officials to call for his resignation, including stewart gerson who served as an stand attorney general under president george h. W. Bush. The point was less to have the attorney general resign. That isnt going to happen. Than it is to call attention to the breaches of normal procedure, the affront to the rule of law. It looked and felt to everyone watching from the outside, like this was the president s attorney general weighing in to help the president s friend. Isnt your tweet political interference . No. Not at all. He was treated very badly. I want to thank the Justice Department for seeing this horrible thing. I didnt speak to him, by the way. Just so you understand. The Justice Department is saying there was no communication between the president , between the white house, and the Justice Department over this. Under intense criticism, attorney general barr broke with the president slightly. You have public statements and tweets made about the department, about people in the department, our men and women here. About cases pend go in the department and about judges before whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job. Bill barr wants at least the public to think that he is doing things based strictly on the law. In this case, it was clear that the president and the attorney general were on the same page here. They were on the same page about getting a lienent sentence for roger stone. Swatting aside the request that the president stop tweeting about the matter, President Trump claims he has the legal right to ask the Justice Department to intervene in a criminal case. And either way, barr was doing what the president wanted. Helping his friend. One who could potentially damage the president himself. The attorney general is a man with incredible integrity. Just so you understand. I chose not to be involved. Im allowed to be totally involved. The president has said that article 2, the part of the constitution that conveys and describes executive power, gives him the ability to do in his own words, whatever he wants. The fact is this president has overreached. He has a very limited, if any respect, for the constitutional separation of powers. It is very damaging. I think as a people, we all have the idea that the president is not above the law. That no person is above the law but he is also echoing something the courage attorney general has told him. And bill barr told him that first in a memo he wrote in june of 2018 before he was attorney general. And he specifically there talked about how the president is the executive branch. He necessarily has control over everything that goes on in the Justice Department, and he specifically said that the president has the power to effectively negate an investigation of anybody, or a case against anybody, even if it is involving himself. Barr has politicized the department of justice in a way that certainly is without press denial since the nixon years and perhaps even before that. We dont cut them a break in congressional testimony on june 24th of this year, aaron zlensky, a prosecutor in this case, describe significant political pressure in the Justice Department. The department of justice treated roger stone differently from everyone else. I was repeatedly told the department accidents were not based on the law or the facts but rather on political relationships and the acting u. S. Attorney was afraid. President. In response the Justice Department stated, quote, he did not have any discussion with the attorney general, the u. S. Attorney, or any other member of political leadership. Mr. Zelinskys are based on his own interpretation of events and hearsay. I want to address todays sentencing of a not ma, roger stone. I want to see it play out. Roger has a very good chance of exoneration, in my opinion. Even after stones sentencing, the president did not relent and he targeted for criticism a private citizen who had served as a forewoman of the jury. It is my strong opinion the forewoman of the jury, the woman who was in charge of the jury, is totally tainted. When you take a look, how can you have a person like this . She was an antitrump activist. The president , roger stones allies, have again done an extraordinary thing which is to take aim at a specific member of the jury, the forewoman, to say she was tainted. This was an unfair process to suggest that somehow she was out to get President Trump from the beginning. At a hearing in february, stones attorneys argued for a new trial on the basis of social media posts by the jury forewoman. Saying it showed that she was biased against stone. Stones defenders went after her record of running for office as a democrat. A fact not challenged during jury questioning. President trump lashed out again. He uses his twitter platform as a bludgeon against his political opponents, but then more concerning against individuals, and it is hard to see how that doesnt provide an intimidation to those individuals trying to carry out their lawful functions. In response, judge jackson issued a warning. Any attempts to in58 the privacy of the jurors or to harass and intimidate them is completely antithetical to our entire system of justice. The core of the problem lies with who is the president right now and what little regard that president has shown for the rule of law. The president by his actions is knocking the knees out from under these institutions that have held up for hundreds of years. A president getting involved in a federal prosecution of a friend of his. Unprecedented. Attacking a jury foreperson. Unprecedented. Setting new standards that republicans would rightly criticize a democratic president. And yet silence from most republicans on capitol hill. Coming up, President Trump again testing the rule of law. This time over a case involving his former nurt adviser, general flynn. It is a key exam of barrs abuse of power. Tums versus mozzarella stick bell rings when heartburn hits fight back fast. With tums chewy bites. Beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites i opened a sofi money account and it was the first time that i realized i could be earning interest back on my money. I just discovered sofi, and im an investor with a diversified portfolio. Who am i . i refinanced my Student Loans with sofi because of their low interest rates. Thanks sofi for helping us get our money right. Wherever you may go, lexus will welcome you back with exceptional offers on exceptional vehicles. Get zero percent financing and make no payments for up to 90 days on all 2020 lexus models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Experience amazing youre having one more bite no one more bite kraft. For the win win. Fireworks, separation, or any other anxieties, announcer if your dog suffers from fear of thunder, thundershirt may be the answer. Thundershirt, absolutely, 100 works. General flynn was under enormous pressure. What they can to general flynn was a disgraceful it was an unusual case. They tormented him. They destroyed him. This is a case where the administration is quite frankly attempting to put in its own facts or nonfacts. A case that following the president s impeachment acquittal, critics say exposed the administrations renewed zeal to undermine the rule of law. Intervene on behalf of friends and attack. The Common Thread is abuse of power. The president talking over and over again overle months about how illegitimate the prosecution and the investigation of Michael Flynn was. Then we have the barr Justice Department moving to withdraw the case even though they already had a guilty plea. These were extraordinary moves by themselves. Earlier this year in a stunning reversal, the darrel of justice you understand barrs leadership requested to drop its own prosecution case against Michael Flynn. Flynns legal troubles date back to phone calls he had with then russia ambassador to the u. S. , sergei kislyak. Flynn asked kislyak to resemirow indicate moderately against sanctions imposed by the Obama Administration in response to russias interference in the 2016 election. When fbi agents questioned flynn in early 2017, flynn lied, denying he discussed sanctions. Trump fired flynn in felony 2017 before fbi charges were filed for also lying to Vice President pence and others in the white house about the cause. In december 2017, flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. In a statement at the time, flynn acknowledged that his actions were, quote, wrong. Through my faith in god i am working to set things right. He said, quote, my guilty plea, an agreement to cooperate with the special counsels office, reflect a decision i made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions. But the case took a turn in janel of this year after flynn facing possible jail time told the court that he wanted to walk back his guilty plea. He now says hes innocent and alleges government, quote, vindictiveness and breach of the plea agreement. In february of this year, Justice Department prosecutors doubled down, and asked federal judge Emmett Sullivan to deny flynns plea change request. They appeared to waiver on seeking a prison sentence. I really do believe come march, trump floated the idea of a president ial pardon saying, i am strongly considering a full pardon. In april, the president went after the fbi investigators. These were dirty filthy comes at the top of the fbi and they were dishonest people. Then in may a bombshell that reverberated through the halls of justice and the white house. The Justice Department is dropping its criminal case he was targeted by the Obama Administration and he was targeted in order to try to take down a president. Michael flynn pled guilty not once but ways to to the charges against him. I have never, ever seen a prosecutor intervene to dismiss a case after a defendant had pled guilty. I think it is very clear that attorney general barr is acting as an attorney who represents trump and not the interests of the American Public. Speaking to cbs news, barr said he followed the recommendations of outside federal prosecutor jeff jensen. In february, in another unusual step, barr had appointed jensen to review the departments case against flynn. He found some additional material and made a recommendation that we dismiss the case, which i fully agreed with, as did the u. S. Attorney in d. C. The governments motion to dismiss following jensens recommendation, agencyerted the fbi had filppula and kislyaks fall transcripts so there was no need to interview flynn other than to elisse at this time very false statements, and there by criminalize him. That he quote pleaded guilty to making false statements that were not material to any investigation. Minutes before jensens findsings became public, brandon van grak with drew from the case. In that same cbs interview, barr argued that filppulas statements to the fbi were not part of a, quote, legitimate investigation feeding the attempts to the russia mueller investigation. Barr responded to criticism that he is doing the president s bidding. Im doing the laws bidding. Im doing my duty you understand the law as i see it. Some legal experts have questioned whether or not flynn should have been prosecuted for lying to the fbi to begin with. In 2017, the former fbi director jm said in closed door testimony, i think theres an argument to be made that he lied. It is a close one. So its not as if barrs take on this is out of the realm of debate but it is highly unusual, and inaddictidicative to why it problem for looking out for president s interests and not that of justice. We reached out to barr, the white house counsel, and private attorneys who have represented the president. All either declined to be interviewed or did not responds to our requests. At the very moment that flynn lied, it became material. No one told him to lie. The question from there is did bill barr do this because of what the president wanted him to do or is this because of his preexisting moves of how these were handled. Judge sullivan called on former judge john gleason to serve on a friends of the court and take an independent look at the dismissing its own case against flynn. He called it a gross abuse of prosecutorial power. In his analysis, gleason said, quote, they reveal an unconvincing effort to disguise as legitimate a decision to dismiss based solely on the fact that flynn is a political ally of President Trump. Gleason argued that he should be sentenced for lying, including for perjuring himself in court by admitting his crimes and then disavowing they will. Just days later, flynn appealed to a higher court. Breaking developments authorizing in the big back and forth legal fight. In a surprise 21 decision, the Appeals Court panl ordered to drop the case against flynn. Written by naomi rowe, a trump appointee, concluded they have the right to dismiss its open case even if the defendant pleaded guilty. What happened to general flynn should never happen again in our country. He was persecuted. The most depressing thing about this opinion is it continues the impression of the judiciary being politicized. If that is the message buried here, pass deeply unfortunate message. If under challenged, it is a maiming victory for flynn and puts it into a key stone chapter. Did i hear the word Inspector General . Really . Where did he come from . Whats his name . I find an invesm with a truly longterm view thats been through multiple market cycles for over 85 years . With capital group, i can. Talk to your financial professional or consultant for investment risks and information. 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Guys guys safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. For 37 years we have been fighting for survivors of child sex abuse. Even in these uniquely challenging times were still fighting with dedication and devotion. California law gives survivors a chance to take legal action, but only for a limited time. If you were sexually abused by a priest, scout leader, coach or teacher contact us confidentially today. Its time. Hello. Im the Inspector General. It is the only job truly independent and removed from politics. No one can stop us from doing the audits and investigations we think are necessary. Two years after that video, steve and other inspectors general were fired or removed from their posts in a mass expulsion of administration watch dogs willing to criticize the president and his administration. Acquitted of the charges in said articles. Again, this all happened following the senate acquitting the president in those impeachment proceedings. We went through hell unfairly. Did nothing wrong. A move that seemed to unleash the president even further. We are right now in the midst of one of the greatest purges of inspectors general in four decades. Inspectors general or i. G. S are supposed to be nonpart sandal watch dogs of their departments. But President Trump seems to see them as either friend or foe. Trumps dismissal of the intelligence communitys Inspector General Michael Atkinson comes after he made very cheer he was unhappy with how atkinson handle ad whistleblower complaint. It dealt with ukraine and it eventually led to the president s impeachment. I thought did he a terrible job. He took this terrible inaccurate whistleblower report, right . And he brought it to congress. In point of fact, at kinson had been following the law. Notifying congress as he was required to do, and testifying honestly, which in this case meant unflatteringly about complaints about the president s behavior. I think this president , he doesnt like bad news. He doesnt like to be embarrassed. He doesnt really want to hear the truth, and we have seen that repeatedly. The coronavirus, which is you know, very well under control in our country. Like in the case of the acting Inspector General at the health and Human Services department who issued a report, and her report said that we in fact were not properly stockpiled with protective equipment for health care workers. That report followed the same standards as a similar one about preparation for the ebola epidemic during the obama years. But when it was about trump era mistakes, it prompted a very different reaction. Did i their word Inspector General, really . Its wrong. And theyll talk to you about it. Its wrong. This is your own government. Well, where did he come from . The Inspector General . Whats his name . Independence not he but she. Kristy grim was demoted out of her oversight position after publishing that coronavirus report. Glenn fine was removed before he could even get to work overseeing 2 trillion in Pandemic Response funding. How does the American Public have confidence we have a lot of igs. When we have reports of bias and when we have Different Things coming in, i dont know fine. I dont think i ever met fine. I heard the name. I heard the name. I dont know where he is. Maybe he was from clinton, okay . Check that out. Fine worked for clinton, bush, obama. Our report made five recommendations and trump as an ig in multiple agencies. He was removed from his role as acting Inspector General of the department of defense. The single largest u. S. Government agency and replaced by a policy adviser from customs and border protection. The president has decide that had he will fire inspectors general and he has the ability to do so. But he has done so in a way where it really looks like hes firing inspectors general who are investigating things the president doesnt like, the issue with firing the Inspector General at the state department who had been looking into mike pompeo, a close ally of President Trump for quite some time, certainly raised a number of red nags. Oversight of the secretary of state might sound like business as usual, based on Inspector Generals job. Preventing, detecting, waste, fraud and abuse and gross mismanagement. He told congress he had opened multiple investigations into pompeo. One involving his bypass in congress to sell arms to saudi arabia. Another regarding reports that pompeo used a political appointee to run personal errands for his family. Second pompeo was the i. G. When he was asked on fox if he was fired for investigating him, pompeo said this. It was investigating policies he didnt like. Thats not the role of an Inspector General. I recommended to the president that he terminate him. He is now the fifth, yes, the fifth Inspector General to be fired by President Trump. From his or her post in the last few months. President s reagan and george h. W. Bush also stirred controversy when they tried to replace every Inspector General at the start of their materials. President obama caught congressional ire when he removed an i. G. During an investigation of sacramento mayor kevin johnson, a vocal support he of obama. An agency head or even a president who wants to fire an i. G. First has to explain why. But trump in some cases did not need to cite a reason for his actions. Because many of his inspectors general were not presented to congress for constitutionally mandated vetting. They were, like so many trump appointees, even those in Important National and Homeland Security positions, acting officials. I like acting. Because i can move so quickly. It gives me more flexibility. He recognized early on that he could control these acting officials more precisely, more deliberately, and with more political pressure, and that they would be more accountable to him and not accountable to congress. Critics say more ig removals call into question one of his campaign promises. Drain the swamp the only people since this president took office in 2017, who are draining the swamp are the inspectors general. This president is not draining the swamp. A former Inspector General told me simply, trump is, quote, sending a message to inspectors general, do your job at your peril. Next we are in uncharted territory. The spire Trump Presidency has been an exercise in shredding the norms of how president s behave. Where will you go first . Wherever you make go, lexus will welcome you back with exceptional offers. Get zero percent financing and make no payments for up to 90 days on all 2020 lexus models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Can match the power of energizer. 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Visit a store or go to tmobile. Com 55. We hope you find these Digital Solutions helpful to bank from almost anywhere. Deposit a check with your phone or tablet. Check balances, pay bills, and more. Send money to people you know and trust with zelle. Explore all you can do with our Digital Tools from almost anywhere. Pnc bank. record scratching heres what we want everyone to do. Count all the hugs you havent given. All the hands you havent held. All the dinners you didnt share with friends. The trips you havent taken. Keep track of them. Each one means one less person vulnerable, one less person exposed, and one step closer to a healthier community. So for now, keep your distance. But dont lose count. Well have some catching up to do. Closed captioning brought to you by we want to express our most profound and ever lasting gratitude to President Trump. It was only two weeks after President Trump had been acquitted of impeachment that he granted clemency to rod blah goi vich and ten others. I think you see the way im doing that. And, yes, i do have an absolute right to pardon myself but ill never have to do it because i didnt do anything wrong. Trumps action set off alarm bells for using his president ial power to his political advantage. He eliminated the rule of the Justice Department office that normally conducts a thorough review of whether or not a pardon is appropriate. What we have seen is repeatedly in a number of cases that pardons are given because of your connection to the president. Paul was convicted of federal tax fraud, but trump pardoned him after the family donated at least 250,000 to trump 2020 Political Action committees and the Republican National committee. His son ben can be seen here socializing with donald trump jr. In august 2019. The same day ben made 40,000 in donations to various Trump Campaign groups according to the federal election commission. In a statement to cnn, ben said i never brought up a pardon with donald trump jr. And he said the pardon granted to his father was, quote, in recognition of his 30year record of providing significant humanitarian aid to countries around the world. The controversies involving pardons have all involved cases that have skirted the Justice Department. When George Herbert walker bush pardoned the iran contra figures, when bill pardoned his brother. Even conservatives say trump has repeatedly pushed the limits of executive power and the constitution. Were living in a time of constitutional corruption. We have a chief executive who denigrates the institutions hes supposed to lead, who fights every legal decision that doesnt go his way. A chief executive who has historically used the courts to fight his personal battles to punish or sbim mate perceived foes who public facts or opinions that he did not like. The New York Times is a fake newspaper and they write fake storie stories. Trump ramped up his attacks against newspaper outlets. He sued the New York Times and the Washington Post claiming op eds they published were false and defamatory ignoring they were protected by the First Amendment of the constitution. Brandnew cnn poll. It shows a huge drop in the president s approval rating. You can expect a factually and legally baseless letter from the Trump Campaign threatening another lawsuit. It is a case no reasonable attorney thinks they could win, but for trump it seems it is as much about bullying as it is about winning. Often trump goes so far as to falsely accuse others of criminality where there is no evidence of it, whether falsely saying an msnbc host committed murder or suggesting ted cruzs father played a role in the jfk assassination. He has accused me of smearing him. No specifics, of course, but general objection to coverage he does not like. And in an apparent effort to win reelection, he made this allegation against his predecessor. You know what the crime is. The crime according to trump is an old, baseless and vague Conspiracy Theory he has given new life with a new name. Obamagate is essentially the president s belief that even before he took office, Obama Administration officials were conspireing to try to undermine his presidency. An convenient fact in all of this, the fbi did not even comment on the existence of the investigation in 2016, while at the same time it was openly discussing the investigation into hillary clinton. It unquestionably helped candidate trump and hurt her. Undermining significantly any theory that obama was trying to prevent trump from becoming president. When it comes to his adversaries, the president almost always talks about the Justice Department not being hard enough. Obamagate is the most recent example of this, the Conspiracy Theory that joe biden and barack obama somehow oversaw a corrupt beginning of the russia investigation. Its treason. Look, when i came out a long time ago, i said, they have been spying on my campaign. There are serious questions about the Justice Department and fbis investigation, including its use of fisa warrants and disclosure of information in the prosecution of Michael Flynn. But as the president did with the ukraine scandal, he is now attempting to muddy the waters and cast this all as a grand conspiracy by barack obama and joe biden. It is unusual for the United States to have a leader who is constantly threatening to lockup his political opponents. So crooked hillary, wait, crooked, you should lock her up, ill tell you. Thats more likely to be found in the venezuelas of this world in truly authoritarian governments. Its very disturbing. The entire Trump Presidency has been an exercising in shredding the norms of how president s behave. Now the president reading polls suggesting he will be defeating is claiming with no evidence that millions of ballots will be illegally cast. Experts say this is false and unhinged. The attorney general is backing the president up. There is so many occasions for fraud there that cannot be police sgld what might this mean for november . When he campaigned for president in 2016, trump said it is time to drain the swamp in washington, d. C. To make our government honest once again and he constantly tweets in all caps law and order. And, yet, the facts are the swamp is not trained, the government is even less honest and President Trump shows not just disinterest but sometimes down right hostility towards structures of law and order. Accountability, transparency and traditions intended to curb abuse of his office. Previous president s have crossed lines. But the degree to which this president has attempted to weaponize the Justice Department in the words of john bolton, quote, obstruction of justice as a way of life is shocking. Founding father john adams declared the United States a nation of laws, not of men. Long after trump has departed the white house, the precedent to invert adams declaration will have been set. Country in crisis. Coronavirus cases in the u. S. Spike to a new singleday high, forcing some states to scale back reopening. We want to help people make the right decisions for themselves. Are the worst days of the pandemic still to come. Ill speak to health and Human Services secretary alex azar next. Unfit for office . An explosive book reveals new allegations about the president s behavior. Very worried about entrusting key National Security decisions to donald trump