The Report Part XIV: The Fixer Flips

11/01/19 • 61 min

We’re almost at the end of our story. This episode will cover the final set of activity that the Special Counsel examines for possible obstruction of justice: the president’s behavior towards his long time attorney Michael Cohen. Unlike the other possible acts of obstruction in Volume II, which mostly occur after Trump takes office, the relevant conduct towards Cohen spans the entire time period at issue in the Mueller investigation. It starts all the way back before the campaign. To Trump Tower Moscow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

The Report Part XIII: Pardons On The Table

It’s January 2018. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are in a whole lot of trouble. The past is catching up to them. Three months earlier, they’d both been indicted on multiple felony counts and now it looks like there might be even more charges coming. Gates is getting nervous--they’re facing many years in prison. Manafort tells Gates to relax. He’s talked to the president’s personal counsel. He says they’re going to “take care of us.” Manafort tells Gates he’d be stupid to plead guilty now, “just sit tight, we’ll be taken care of.” Gates wants to be crystal clear on what exactly Manafort’s getting at. So he asks: Is the president going to pardon them?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The Report Part XV: Mueller's Report

It Friday, March 22, 2019. It’s been nearly two years since Robert Mueller was first appointed Special Counsel. Now, he’s ready to submit a final report to the Attorney General. He has uncovered a sprawling and systematic effort by Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. And he’s developed a mountain of evidence about the president’s efforts to obstruct his investigation, things like witness tampering, ordering the creation of false records, and trying to fire Mueller himself.

But Mueller’s got a problem: a Department of Justice memo says he can’t indict a sitting president. So what is he supposed to do with all this evidence? Mueller decides to just lay it all in the report, all 448 pages of it. It’ll be someone else’s problem to decide what to do about it: maybe a future prosecutor, maybe Congress, maybe the America electorate. That isn’t really Mueller’s concern. He’s done what he was asked to do. Now his report can speak for itself.

_______________________

Thank you for listening to the final chapter of The Report.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Democracy Fund. And by listeners like you. To support this project, please go to lawfareblog.com.

The Report is a production of Lawfare & Goat Rodeo in Washington D.C. Ian Enright is the executive producer. Production assistance from Char Dreyer. From the Lawfare team, the Project is lead by Executive Editor Susan Hennessey. Editor in Chief is Benjamin Wittes. Interviews conducted by Managing Editor Quinta Jurecic. Recordings by Mikhaila Fogel and Jacob Shulz. Additional assistance by Gordon Ahl .

Special thanks to Daniel Hemel, Chuck Rosenberg, Jack Goldsmith, John Barrett, Paul Rosensweig, Mary McCord, Mike Schmidt, and everyone who made this podcast possible. And thank you, the listening audience.

If you think this story matters, and the more Americans should understand what is in the Mueller Report, please share this podcast widely and leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. And continue following this feed for bonus episodes and additional content in the future.

On behalf of Lawfare and Goat Rodeo, thanks for listening.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.