whelan going from here? well, we have tried. my foundation for four years to get whelan out. and somehow it always falls short. we tried it during the trump administration early on in the biden administration, and it seems at the very end, possibly because of the espionage charge, because he is a marine, because he is wrongfully detained, the russians hold on to him at the very end. and this is what happened again. but that doesn t mean that there isn t a possibility that we can get him out. i think we can. i think that the conditions are good. the good news is we got this other marine out about four months ago. his last name is reed. he was a young man who was not treated properly. now brittney griner, and now the next is whelan, despite the
you think there is a case somewhere there that might be made. i think they probably i think what s driving this as much as anything is the fact they have a very, very strong case in mar-a-lago documents investigation, one that is i have to say i mean from the public evidence we don t know all the evidence but the public evidence looks like he doesn t have the defense to an espionage charge or obstruction charges or even a potential perjury charge for at least supporting it. so he s in substantial trouble, and there s no question that this is not going to help him because it s going to put as andrew said it s going to insulate the justice department from some degree of political attacks because this guy looks like he has no political availance whatsoever. he s a political prosecutor, all he s done for 30 years and he kept his nose clean. i m sure they vetted him as well
right tonight but he won t. i think he s in substantial peril. i thought he s been in substantial peril for quite a long time, but i think the fact that attorney general garland has avoided a special counsel kind of puts a highlight on that, as mr. mccabe said it s not really something you do if you think there is a case somewhere there that might be made. i think they probably i think what s driving this as much as anything is the fact they have a very, very strong case in mar-a-lago documents investigation, one that is i have to say i mean from the public evidence we don t know all the evidence but the public evidence looks like he doesn t have the defense to an espionage charge or obstruction charges or even a potential perjury charge for at least supporting it. so he s in substantial trouble, and there s no question that this is not going to help him because it s going to put as andrew said it s going to insulate the justice department from some degree of political attacks be
don t be surprised if they actually decide, you know what? this is tough. and maybe not worth the risk. we re gonna go with the obstruction charge, which still fascinates me by the way. and, charge for obstructing the case, and try not to get even into the highly sensitive information. which would be the espionage charge. it s always interesting to me harry, because you and frank will look from the same issue from different vantage point. so i want to hear your legal take on the question. and i also want to know where you think merrick garland goes from here? great. this is actually one point. we are on two tracks here, and we ve been from the start in this counter-intelligence. but now also criminal prosecution. and this is where they potentially diverge. you can have real donnybrooks within the department of justice. where they want to bring prosecution, and the security folks that you cannot use that stuff. frank is right, but even if they go on obstruction, you can expect trump