Transcripts For MSNBC The Beat With Ari Melber 20240710 : co

That trump subpoenaed apple for records of more than 100 accounts. Among them, two democrats, adam schiff and Eric Swalwell including their staff and Family Members, including a minor. There wug a gage order that expired three times after trump left office. This was all part f an effort by President Trump to find out who was behind the reports of contacts between Trump Associates and russia. I cant go into who received these subpoenas or whose records were sought. I cant say that it was extraordinarily broad, people having nothing to do with, you know, the Intelligence Matters that are at least being reported on. It just shows what a broad Fishing Expedition it was. Okay. So two Top Democrats are now calling on President Trumps former a. G. S bill barr and Jeff Sessions to testify about this. Cnns Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez has been digging into this story. What do we know at this point, evan. Part of what we know happened is the Inspector General here Just Announced a few minutes ago they have launched an investigation into these subpoenas that targeted the lawmakers, but also to look into the seizure of Phone Records and email records not only of Barbara Staar here at cnn, but also reporters at the Washington Post and the New York Times recently and any other Media Organization that may have been targeted as part of this league hunt that was going on in the Trump Administration. What you laid out, you and victor laid out just a minute ago is exactly what this was. Its essentially what appears to be trumps enemies list or perceived enemies list that included not only the News Organizations but also prominent democrats, Eric Swalwell and adam schiff, and ill go through just what the breadth of these requests were. It targeted not only these two democrats but also their staff, current and former staff, and in the case of adam schiff, he says even his personal office, not anything to do with the Intelligence Community as well as some Family Members. Were told that at least one teenager had their records also seized. And as you said, this began in february of 2018. It was under a gag order, and apple was not able to notify its customers. The gag order was renewed three times until finally it expired earlier this year. Curiously enough, alisyn and victor, it appears a lot of this had died out when Jeff Sessions was leading the Justice Department. Were told he was not involved because he was recused from having anything to do with the russian investigations which is what animated the president. Bill barr leaked a lot of investigations that had been ongoing, were going nowhere, and Curiously Enough this dissipates when the Biden Administration is about to take office. Thats when finally apple is able to notify its customers that their records had been seized. All right. Evan perez reporting on this for us. Evan, thank you so much. Lets stay on bill barr right now. These revelations the latest in what we call unorthodox moves with Attorney General bill barr. Also he ordered investigations into journalists from cnn and the Washington Post and the New York Times. Right before the Mueller Report was released, youll remember he put out a summary, his summary that many thought was aimed at clearing the former president of any wrongdoing. Mueller expressed concern that the summary took his report out of context. Barr also got involved in the criminal cases of two trump allies who were wrapped up in the allegations, drastically reduced the amount of prison time for roger stone, and then barr also got into the case against former National Security adviser michael flynn, completely dismissed even after flynn pleaded guilty to lying the fbi. So as if ujds mining the conclusions of the Mueller Probe was not enough, barr also ordered an investigation into the investigators. Youll remember commissioning a report on the origins of the russian probe and releasing preliminary findings of that before it was done. And interestingly right before the 2020 election. And through it all he repeatedly refused to testify before congress about his normbreaking behavior. So lets bring in judge alberto gonzales. He served as Attorney General under george w. Bush. Hes now the dean of the college of law in nashville. Mr. Attorney general, always great to see you. With this new news we have just learned about today, you do see any justification for why the Department Of Justice under President Trump would secretly collect the phone data from Democratic Senators who were on the Intel Committee and their staff and Family Members . Alisyn, its good to be with you. What we know certainly paints a damning picture of the Barr Department of justice, but theres a lot, i expect, we dont know. Thats why the Inspector General is going to do an investigation to get into the facts. I suspect there will be a hearing before congress to get to facts. We need to remember that. Having said that, i know based on experience and tradition, when youre talking about investigations or actions by the Department Of Justice, they involve the media or that involve members of a Different Branch of government, theres a high level of scrutiny and expectation. Youve got to show substantial need to be involved in looking or investigating or asking for documents with respect saying in this particular case, i remember, in congress. So, again, its disappointing, quite honestly, if all the facts support the reality that the the Department Of Justice was politicized, weaponized, in order to hurt President Trumps enemies. Again, we have a way to go before we can confirm all that. Certainly what we know today, it paint as pretty dammning pictur. They insisted former a. G. Jeff sessions and bill barr come and testify in front of Senate Judiciary. You would encourage them to cooperate with those Senate Investigations . Well, im assuming if they have nothing to hide, theyre going to be very cooperative because they will want to clear the name and clear the reputation of the Department Of Justice. I would like, i would be hopeful, they would be cooperative. There may be issues with respect to president ial privilege if were talking about direct conversations between the Attorney General and the president of the United States. So these are all going to be issues that if not litigated, theres certainly going to be a lot of discussion about the sharing of information and what they feel comfortable with disclosing to congress. One of the things that cnn is reporting today and they have discovered is under Jeff Sessions, the doj launched this Collection Project and didnt find any tie to leaks, which was what they were supposedly looking for. And then when bill barr became the Attorney General, he sent them back and said keep looking. Does that sound like a Fishing Expedition . Thats a very damning piece of information, if, in fact true. You would typically rely upon prosecutors to give their best recommendation if theres a crime thats been committed they can successfully prosecute. The fact that he would continue when there are so many other needs, drains on other resources, it tells me that this should continue. If that occurred, it would be very, very unfortunate. Would it be beyond unfortunate . There are protocols in place that limit the level of contact between the white house and the Department Of Justice. President bush, for example, would never have told me or asked me about a administrator case. If, in fact, there were stories about the Department Of Justice when i was Attorney General looking into members of the media or members of congress would be heard through the counsel of the president who would say the president was concerned and asked questions about this. Theyre not saying do this or do that, but, you know, the president is curious about the motivation twienld behind this, and he wants to make sure youre staying on top of this. Again, the white house might direct the Department Of Justice in terms of what to do related to an investigation or prosecution or gathering information. Theres nothing wrong with that so long as thats what it is. This is one reason why, quite frankly, i was surprised by President Bidens comments that were not going to ask or demand information from the media. The truth of the matter is, the better approach respectfully and the president can do whatever he wants to, would have been for the white house to have a private conversation with the Attorney General, and, again, repeating the fact the president is concerned about these stories, tell me about that, and can you do an investigation and report back to me and that way i can inform the president whats going on. When you have the president directing the department to do anything, it races the possibility or accusations of possible politicalization of the Department Of Justice. Let me ask you how this gets started. We have sources for the former Attorney General Jeff Sessions who says he was not involved in taking this to a grand jury for subpoena because of his recusal from the russia investigation. How high would this have to go to get approval for something this broad . Again, i believe its going to differ with every administration, but as a general rule, when youre talking about the subpoena of records in possession of, say, the media or members of another branch of government, thats pretty serious, and i would expect that the Deputy Attorney general would at least be informed they would come to the Inspector Generals office and lay out the case and say this is something we have to do in order to gather information on a possible crime. At that point the Attorney General may have a conversation as to whether or not the Attorney General has any views on this. What does Attorney General Merrick Garland need to do now, today . I think two things that would be helpful, one, he needs to have a Clear Communication within the department to make it clear, listen, were not going to politicize the Department Of Justice. If it was a wrongdoing this occurred in the previous administration, we van obligation to the American People to find out what it is and make sure it doesnt happen again. That information is important because this kind of report is terrible for the morale of the department, for the career individuals. Its terrible. The other thing he might want to do is have some sort of public Announcement Statement on his views. If true, hes going to condemn them. Hes going to say, hes ordered through his Attorney General ordered investigations to whats going on here. And congress is going to conduct an investigation. He will make resources at the Department Of Justice available so that congress can get to the bottom as well. Former Attorney General alberto gonzales. Thank you can. Always great to have you on. Coming up from capitol hill the weaponization and sitting members of congress. Also happening now, g7 leaders are about to pose. Maybe they just took the photography. A photograph with the queen. They had a session at the eden project. They welcomed newcomer President Biden. Well have Adminismore On G7 in moment. And still to come, two guests on the first major cruise hosting americans in more than a year, they test positive for covid19. The company says all passengers onboard were vaccinated. So how did this happen, and what does it mean . As your business changes, the United States Postal Service is changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next day and twoday shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. Its a whole new world out there. Lets not keep it waiting. So, you have diabetes, here are some easy rules to follow. No. You know what you want . No fettuccine. No fries with that. No foods you love. No added salt. No added sugar. In a can . You cannot. No pizza. Have that salad. Unless theres dressing. Then, no. Remember, no skipping meals. But no latenight snacking. 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I felt like i was finally out of this neverending trap of interest and payments and debt. Rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. Visit petmeds. Com today. President biden meeting with World Leaders today for one of the most consequential g7 summits in recent history. The first time the leaders of the worlds biggest economies have met since the pandemic began. Its a chance for the president to Restore Regional Allianceness and how to fight the pandemic and regrow the economy and deal with russia and china. Cnns Phil Mattingly is covering the g7 summit in england. A lot at stake. Whats coming out of it . Reporter if you look at the agenda, you see what the stakes are. Yes, theres warmth,y, theres smiles, yes, those things havent necessarily existed in the past four years with the previous u. S. President. But this is a united group. This Group Matters Going Forward and theres a need for tangible results to come out of this group. You saw the president announce they would purchase and donate 5,000 doses of the vaccine. Now theyre leveraging that up to a billion. So on the coronavirus, that is a key element of it. But its all tied together in some sense. Today, a lot of focus on the economic recovery. Thats a theme you continually hear from the leaders and top advisers that they want to be leaders in the Global Recovery as it comes out, hoping and thinking in a period of time across the world where the largest democracies have been under pressure and under attack, this can be a moment where they can come together and validate the existence, validate the strength they believe still exists. The World Leaders are now meeting with the queen of england. Its