criticism. when it comes to robert mueller, though, they are fairly explicit as to what he says about special counsel robert mueller. quote, mr. trump said mr. mueller was running an office rife with conflicts of interest. the president warned investigators against delving into matters too far afield from russia. mr. trump never said he would order the justice department to fire mr. mueller. nor would he outline circumstances under which he might do so. but he left open the possibility as he expressed deep grievance over an investigation that has taken a political toll in the six months since he took office. asked if mr. mueller s investigation would cross a red line, if it expanded to look at his family s finances beyond any relationship to russia, mr. trump said, quote, i would say yes. i think that s a violation. well, as noted last hour, with joy reed, when she spoke with
inaudible, was pretty brutal. and out of courtesy, the fbi started reporting to the department of justice. but there was nothing official, there was nothing from congress, there was nothing anything. but the fbi person really reports directly to the president of the united states. which is interesting. you know, which is interesting. and i think we re going to have a great new fbi director. the president appearing to suggest in this new york times interview while threatening the attorney general, and deputy attorney general, would just report directly to him. joining us is matthew miller. mr. miller, thank you for being with us tonight. i really appreciate you being here. thank you. first let me just ask your top line reaction to what the president has said tonight about the entire senior leadership of the justice department, the fbi,
mccabe can. he s in an acting position. it s really incumbent on sessions and rosenstein to do that. they have to remember, they swore an oath not to the president, but to the constitution. they re there to serve the american public, not to serve donald trump. they re supposed to protect their institutions from independence. you know, when he fired jim comey, that was a red line that he crossed. and they failed that test. they were supposed to stand up for the department s independence then and push back against the president and they didn t do it. this is another big test for them and the institution. are they going to allow donald trump to trample all over the independence of the investigation, or of the justice department, or are they going to stand up and say this isn t the way the system works in america. if they don t do it, there s one left in the executive branch, it will have to come from congress. one last quick question before you go. you wrote recently, some days ago, tha
the department of justice be reorganized so that the fbi becomes an executive agency under him. is that what it sounds like to you? it s a really troubling thing to say. not surprisingly he has the facts wrong, the history s wrong, the fbi is part of the justice department, that didn t change after watergate. what did change after watergate because of the way the president was meddling in the investigations is the justice department promulgated new rules by which the justice department would not contact the president about ongoing investigations, and the president wouldn t contact the justice department and interfere. it seemed to be those rules that i suspect the president is really pushing back against, and really feels constrained by. it seems look, he wanted jim comey to operate as if he operated to him, to be loyal to him, and follow his whims. when he wasn t, he fired him. i think he s making clear he wants his next fbi director to do what jim comey wouldn t do. if the atto
for the department s independence then and push back against the president and they didn t do it. this is another big test for them and the institution. are they going to allow donald trump to trample all over the independence of the investigation, or of the justice department, or are they going to stand up and say this isn t the way the system works in america. if they don t do it, there s one left in the executive branch, it will have to come from congress. one last quick question before you go. you wrote recently, some days ago, that something like this might happen. given your presience that the president has just done this, do you know what happens next? i think we re headed for a massive clash. it s clear donald trump is not going to respect this investigation. i don t think it s a coincidence that he launched this attack after the investigation got close to his son. we found out yesterday that bob mueller is looking at his son. he s making clear now if they look at him perso