Matt Whitaker ‘blatantly lied to Congress’ — and is now a witness in obstruction of justice investigations into Trump: MSNBC panel
Former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker attempted to clean up prior statements he made under oath before Congress during a Wednesday meeting with House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
Speaking with reporters, Nadler said there were three main takeaways from the meeting.
"One, unlike in the hearing room, Mr. Whitaker did not deny that the president called him to discuss Michael Cohen, the Michael Cohen case, and personnel decisions in the Southern District," Nadler said.
"Two, while he was acting Attorney General, Mr. Whitaker was directly involved in conversations about whether to fire one or more U.S. Attorneys," he continued.
"Three, while he was acting Attorney General, Mr. Whittaker was involved in conversations about the scope of Southern District New York U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman and his recusal, and whether or not the Southern District went too far in pursuing the campaign finance investigation in which the president was listed as individual number one," Nadler added. "Those were the three takeaways from today."
MSNBC analyst Elise Jordan joined Wallace for analysis.
"This all but guaranteeing, Elise, that Matt Whittaker is now a witness -- and perhaps he already was -- in the obstruction of justice investigation into Donald Trump out of the main DOJ, the [Robert] Mueller office and perhaps one also at SDNY," Wallace noted.
"At this stage, we should expect that plenty of trump officials are lying to us," Jordan noted. "But it is jaw-dropping that the acting Attorney General blatantly lied to Congress and he was concerned enough about going to prison that he came back a week later to do clean up."
Watch:
MSNBC graphic of Republican senators who have not announced 2020 re-election campaigns.[/caption]