WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to discuss recent news regarding Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort.

“There are recent reports that over the summer the president also reached out to a number of senior Republican senators, chair of the Intelligence Committee, majority leader and others to urge them to wrap up this investigation quickly,” said Senator Coons. “It suggests an ongoing deeply troubling pattern of personal intervention in an ongoing investigation by the president. And the suggestion today by the president's lawyers that he can't be charged with obstruction of justice, that he can't commit obstruction of justice because he oversees the Department of Justice and the federal law enforcement infrastructure, I think is a laughable proposition. It would mean that the president would be above the law. And one of our core foundational constitutional principles in this country is that no one is above the law.” 

Full video and audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview: 

Senator Coons on Flynn: Well, that's a legal conclusion for others to reach, but it certainly strongly suggests that the president was aware that in reaching out to Jim Comey, the former FBI director, and urging him to go easy on Flynn that he was engaging in an inappropriate intervention in an ongoing investigation. There are recent reports that over the summer the president also reached out to a number of senior Republican senators, chair of the Intelligence Committee, majority leader and others to urge them to wrap up this investigation quickly. It suggests an ongoing deeply troubling pattern of personal intervention in an ongoing investigation by the president. And the suggestion today by the president's lawyers that he can't be charged with obstruction of justice, that he can't commit obstruction of justice because he oversees the Department of Justice and the federal law enforcement infrastructure, I think is a laughable proposition. It would mean that the president would be above the law. And one of our core foundational constitutional principles in this country is that no one is above the law. 

More on Flynn: I don't buy that one bit, Wolf. I think it's Nixonian to argue that somehow the president has carte blanche to do whatever he wants with regard to law enforcement and ongoing investigations; in particular, an investigation into his conduct. That would create a presidency that is completely above the law and unaccountable. I do think there is a debatable proposition about whether impeachment is the only means of removal of a president, but I don't think it's debatable whether the president has impunity to interfere with whatever investigations he chooses. 

Senator Coons on whether the president can pardon himself: That's also something that's never been tested before. But I think going back to the Federalist Papers, to the very founding of our country, there has often been asserted the principle that you cannot be both judge and jury in a case. And if the president were to pardon himself, he would literally be acting as both judge and jury in a case against himself. 

Senator Coons on Trump’s tweet: Well, first, I've been encouraging the president since his inauguration to stop tweeting so much. It is not good for him or for our country. Second, if his lawyer crafted that tweet, he might want to reconsider his representation because that certainly didn't serve the president's interests. I think Mr. Dowd has already conceded that it was certainly sloppy. Third, it suggests that the president or his lawyer representing him knew that there was reason for the president if he intervened with Jim Comey to try to get him to lighten up on Flynn. To be doing so in a way that was obstructing justice. It is a truly concerning tweet if this accurately reflects the president's knowledge and state of mind. And if it doesn't, I don't know why his lawyer representing him would have -- would have approved this tweet, put it in front of the president and had him sign off on it. 

Senator Coons on the credibility of the investigation: Wolf, what I think strengthens the credibility of Robert Mueller individually and the investigation he's leading is that we know in an instance where there was some suggestion of bias by a critical agent, it was investigated, it was dealt with and he was dismissed. So this isn't something that is hanging out there as an unresolved issue, it's something that Robert Mueller when he became aware of it is reported to have acted decisively to remove any potential interference or bias in his ongoing investigation and I find that reassuring. 

Senator Coons on Manafort: Wolf, this is simply stunning news. The idea that Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, who's facing federal criminal charges and had reached a plea agreement -- excuse me, a bail agreement where he was free to move without an ankle bracelet to leave his home, but on the condition that he not engage in public statements. He was literally drafting an editorial with a Russian known to American intelligence. That is just stunning. A word I know is now overused, but that is deeply foolish. Clearly he's not listening to his lawyers or he's more afraid of the Russians than he is of federal prosecution in the United States. I mean, I have a really hard time squaring that news with the idea that Paul Manafort is rational. That's an enormous risk for him to take and will almost certainly lead to the restoration of a different arrangement for his freedom in advance of his facing trial. 

More on Manafort: Just for those who may have forgotten about Paul Manafort, he was the director, the manager, the chairman of the Trump presidential campaign and had received millions of dollars from Ukraine's former lead, Yanukovych, who is closely aligned with Vladimir Putin and with Russian interests. The idea that he would reinsert himself into that maelstrom of issues that compete with American national security interests at such a sensitive time is really striking. 

More on Manafort: If accurate, that reporting is deeply troubling. It suggests that Manafort's ties to Russians connected to Russian intelligence services continues and continues unabated and he continues to work with them and cooperate with them, even while he faces federal criminal charges. That suggests a striking indifference to the legal situation he's in and an unwillingness to take responsibility for the ways in which he deflected or impacted the Republican platform during their convention on issues of Russia and Ukraine. And impacted U.S. national security interests while he was the chairman of the Trump presidential campaign. This really is stunning breaking news. 

###