place. he thinks that barr will support him in his very wide view of his powers as president. i think that memo that he wrote, maybe it wasn t the most direct way to get the president s attention. if you write an 18 page memo arguing that trump could have obstructed justice and it shouldn t be the case and they shouldn t be looking into that, that will get president trump s attention and he had to like that. is that more important the idea that he is skeptical of the obstruction of justice avenue? i think go ahead. i think he moved over to the mainstream views of many republicans and democrats. he was a pro. he said, you know, he wanted to open this and transparency on the report. he is going to listen to the ethics officers. you can go through the list of things of his independence.
now top senate democrat chuck schumer is calling on the president to change his pick and other democrats say they are concerned that barr believes the president is above the law. it appears that the number one qualification donald trump is looking for in an attorney general is someone that will try to undermine the mueller investigation. to me this is this makes this individual disqualified for the position. reporter: meanwhile, the acting attorney general matthew whitaker has decided to continue overseeing the special counseline though a senior doj official fells cnn while it was, quote, a close call, a department s ethics officers believed whitaker should step aside, but because whitaker never sought a formal recommendation from them and his own advisers recommended against recusal whitaker chose to remain in charge despite repeatedly disparaging the mueller probe before joining the justice department in october 2017, echoing the president s words of witch hunt and speculating
because although we were colleagued under president bush 41, he became the attorney general, and he did a superb job. he s a person of integrity, so he will be consulting with the ethics officers, lay out the facts. and he is extremely smart. but i think the president will be very well served to have someone of his experience in the justice department, especially given the nature of these times in which the president finds himself. i want to ask you one other question on a completely different subject. you were part of his legal team. senator ben sasse of nebraska is asking for answers from the department of justice about this deal that he cut years ago having to do with these charges involving teenage girls. he writes, the fact he received such a soft sentence is a travesty that should outrage us
probe. the reason i think so is there were 900 protests yesterday. in the next election it s much worse for them. there s a lot of senators that are going to give real pause. they don t need a single democrat. that s a good question to ask. let me ask you about the legality. any way that the mechanics within the department of justice can throw out this presidential ri ringer? i don t know that they can throw him out. if the professional office of professional responsibility, the ethics officers say you are confli conflicted, you must recuse, i don t think he can survive that and continue to fumble forward, particularly given these revelations. look, we all know that the white house doesn t vet the background of anybody whether it s scaramucci or dr. ronny jackson. i predict, chris, that whitaker s tenure as the acting attorney general may be shorter as scaramuccis as communications
or another kind of guy that will do what he wants. i don t think he can confirm someone who won t allow the mueller investigation to continue. will that be the condition? will the republicans set as a condition we ll make you ag at the president s request, we ll adds vise a consent, but you have to promise under oath now that you will not dump this probe? the reason i think so, there were 900 protests yesterday, many had thousands of people on the outside. the map the senate had in the last election was the best in a hundred years, the next map is worse for them they only need 51 votes. they don t need a single democrat. so that s a good question. let me against about the legality. any way to throw out this presidential ringer? i don t think if they can throw him out, if the office of professional responsibility, the ethics officers say you are conflicted, you must recuse, i