And crucially he knows he is not supposed to do what hes doing, not supposed to get involved, admitting at much in a Radio Interview yesterday. You know, the saddest thing is that because im the president of the United States, i am not supposed to be involved with the Justice Department. Im not supposed to be involved with the fbi. Im not supposed to be doing the kind of things that i would love to be doing. And i am very frustrated by it. I look at whats happening with the Justice Department. Why arent they going after Hillary Clinton with her emails and with her the dossier. If we havent yet heard widespread calls for impeachment, its because this president s disregard for the rule of law for democratic norms, his authoritarian impulses are largely baked in in the countrys perception, even among political insiders. It was just a couple of days ago, for example, that he called the american criminal Justice System a joke and a laughing stock. On top of that, all indications are that th
while ted lieu is saying this is obstruction of justice in plain sight. while the president is pressuring both the courts and the justice department, you have republican members of the house trying to go after mueller. what do you make of that? well, i think that what s going on here is not is politics. and let me say this, it s not me calling for the impeachment of this president, it s over a million and a half american citizens calling for the impeachment of this president. what the republicans are obviously doing with mueller is to prepare the way for more obstruction of justice because they know that this administration cannot withstand an airing of their behavior. but let me say, that behavior has been taking place in plain sight and americans can see it. what we re doing is lowering the standards of behavior and saying what was previously as you said completely unacceptable and lawless is now something that is excused as mildly vulgar and impolite. it s not vulgar and impolit
prison. we can t have that happen because democracy depends on knowing that the rule of law is going to be administered fairly. all right, congressman ted lieu, great to have you. thank you, chris. joining me now, barbara mcquade, former federal prosecutor. as someone who worked for the department of justice and is familiar with the norms and regulations about the independence of that, what is your reaction to watching the president explicitly call for the department of justice to open up investigations of his political opponents. if it were anyone else it would be shocking but it s disappointing to hear these words coming from the president of the united states. i believe that the career prosecutors at the justice department are professional enough to tune out the noise and continue to focus and do their important work. but i think it is undermines public confidence in the legitimacy of the justice department and the independence of the justice department when you have the pre
deal and financing of the dnc. this is real collusion and dishonesty, major violation of campaign finance laws and money laundering. where is our justice department? it s not, by the way. everybody is asking why the justice department and fbi isn t looking into all the dishonesty going on with cracked hillary and the dems, people are angry. at some point the justice department and the fbi must do what is right and proper. the american public deserves it. the president wrote pocahontas just stated the democrats, led by the legendary hillary clinton, rigged the primaries. let s go fbi and justice department. departing the white house this morning on a 12-day trip to asia, the president was asked if he might fire his attorney general. will you fire jeff sessions if the justice department doesn t take action? i don t know. i ll really not involved with the justice department. i d like to let it run itself. but honestly they should be looking at the democrats and podesta and all of that
conservatives introduce a measure demanding mueller s resignation. while ted lieu is saying this is obstruction of justice in plain sight. while the president is pressuring both the courts and the justice department, you have republican members of the house trying to go after mueller. what do you make of that? well, i think that what s going on here is not is politics. and let me say this, it s not me calling for the impeachment of this president, it s over a million and a half american citizens calling for the impeachment of this president. what the republicans are obviously doing with mueller is to prepare the way for more obstruction of justice because they know that this administration cannot withstand an airing of their behavior. but let me say, that behavior has been taking place in plain sight and americans can see it. what we re doing is lowering the standards of behavior and saying what was previously as you said completely unacceptable and lawless is now something that is