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Skullduggery

The real legal peril

Skullduggery

Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman, Victoria Bassetti

Politics, White House, News Commentary, Government, Senate, Podcasts, President, House Of Representatives, News, Victoria Bassetti, Supreme Court, Michael Isikoff, Foreign Policy, Scandels, Yahoo News, Voting, Elections, Skullduggery, Daniel Klaidman

4.02K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2019

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mimi Rocah and Joon Kim, two former Southern District of New York prosecutors dissect the office's investigation into Donald Trump and the Trump Organization alongside co-hosts Michael Isikoff and Dan Klaidman.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

There has been a consensus among legal analysts for some time that the greatest threat to Donald Trump may not be from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

0:10.0

Instead, it may be from another group of federal prosecutors whose names are virtually unknown to the American public.

0:16.0

The prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. It's the most feared US Attorney's office in the country, known for a fierce tradition of independence that has earned it the nickname the sovereign district of New York.

0:29.0

It's the prosecutors in the Southern District that pursued Trump's long-time personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

0:35.0

And in securing his guilty plea came the closest to accusing the president of criminal conduct, declaring that Cohen's crimes were directed and coordinated by individual number one, Donald J. Trump.

0:49.0

As its investigation continues, just how far will the Southern District go? And just what are the limits of its independence?

0:56.0

And especially relevant question now that a new Attorney General William Barr is poised to take over the Justice Department.

1:03.0

We'll discuss with two Southern District veterans. June Kim, who until last year was acting US Attorney in charge of the office, and Mimi Roca, a former Assistant US Attorney, turned MSNBC legal analyst on today's episode of

1:18.0

Skull Duggery.

1:25.0

Because people have got to know whether or not they're presidents of crook, well I'm not a crook.

1:30.0

I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostage. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.

1:39.0

I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

1:43.0

There will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth and nothing else.

1:57.0

I'm Michael Isgov, Chief Investigator of Correspondent for Yahoo News.

2:00.0

And I'm Dan Clyde, Editor and Chief of Yahoo News.

2:02.0

So very cool to have these two SDNY veterans on the show, Mimi Roca, who is definitely one of the more astute legal analysts on the show.

2:12.0

He's a legal analyst on MSNBC, a former Assistant USA, but June Kim, not a guy you hear very much about, but he was the deputy to treat Barara while he was US Attorney.

2:27.0

And then when Barara gets fired by President Trump, June Kim takes over the office, what I'm particularly interested in asking about June Kim about is he was there when Trump calls Barara while he was there.

2:41.0

And that's the phone call that they two of them discuss and decide this is going too far.

2:49.0

Trump is trying to do something with us in the Southern District. He's trying to cultivate a relationship for some purpose and they don't return the phone call.

2:58.0

And of course the very next day, Barara is fired.

3:01.0

Yeah, I was such an interesting moment. And I think it goes to show how shrewd these prosecutors in the Southern District are.

...

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