it s not about whether it was raining. it s not about some minor issue that s not material to the mueller investigation. someone doesn t go in and trap themselves in perjury. you don t get trapped into lying. you either tell the truth or you lie. in that clip we saw donald trump who said it s me. i don t rely on my lawyers. nick is dubious about that, as am i. we ll get your view. i want to ply another donald trump who was all about relying on his lawyers. take a look. what did you do prior to signing this statement to assure yourself that you were accurately making the representation to the bank that you were entitled to draw down those funds? i asked my lawyers. i don t know that. you ve have to ask the lawyers about that. yeah. you have to ask the lawyers. that just says it all.
years before and these payments were made very close to the election. so that doesn t go in mr. trump s favor. but sure, i think the fact that not only is mr. pecker but mr. weisselberg, who was also involved in some of these arrangements or negotiations about how to pay these people off, he also has immunity. he s also talking. i think there is a strong case, probably, to be made against the president. then we had these constitutional issues. and then just to remind people, presidents cannot be indicted sitting presidents cannot be indicted, right? according to a guide line. it s not set in stone. frankly, guideline is never supposed to be. that seems to have been the pace up until now about a sitting president. but the word sitting is very important. we already passed the midterm elections and that could change with time. another thing to remember is not just weisselberg, not just pecker. michael cohen also made a statement in open court, along with his own guilty plea. he ll
are well trained, ready and very capable. i have complete confidence in the forces under my command. we will work to ensure we bring the full power of the nation to bear on any foreign power that attempts to interfere in our processes. thank you. as i said at the beginning, if we could stay on topic and also if you could when asking a question direct it to a specific person. and as always after we finish this part of the briefing i ll be back to answer other questions on news of the day. john, go ahead. sir, director coats, if i could direct a question to you. let me take you back, if i could, to helsinki, the president seemed to indicate that he may believe vladimir putin when he says he doesn t didn t have any influence in the 2016 election. but what is your belief about the russian government involvement in meddling in 2016?
visuals of that at some level are a win for him and, to give him credit, it would be a historic credit on its face, an american president sating down face-to-face with a north korean leader. what comes of it, how engaged people are on these foreign policy, global politics of north korea and the korean peninsula i m not totally sure. but that visual he wants, quite clearly. and i think if he gets it, yes, it would be a win. jennifer, do you see a win for the president? i think that that could be a positive development for him, maybe eve an win. i m with general hayden that i m pleased to see the president take it down a notch with expectations. assuming he doesn t go in, making a broad assumption, making a deal where we re not in a situation where we have to be
national enquirer and the editor has a there s a strong relationship there, we all know that. it seems to me that the president is very clearly trying to put distance between himself and michael cohen. we also have a very strong sense that michael cohen is in quite a bit of legal trouble after the 16 phones, the many, many documents and art facts that were taken from michael cohen s apartment. usa, the southern district of new york doesn t go in and confiscate that much material if you don t have good cause. and there s not a good reason to. so michael cohen is in trouble, the president is rightfully and understandably trying to distance himself from it. even though i m sure there s loyalty there, there s a long-standing relationship. there s a lot of information. but for both of their protection, it makes sense the president would do that. so keith, jim acosta asked michael cohen about that, when asked if a message was being september, cohen told cnn, twha