00:00Let's get more reaction with American lawyer and public prosecutor Reed Browdy.
00:03He joins us right now.
00:05Reed, thanks so much.
00:06Just on those Trump truth social comments, can I just get your reaction?
00:12Well, it's just how far we have fallen in the United States under Donald Trump.
00:18I mean, for a president to respond to the death of a distinguished FBI director with
00:26that kind of language tells you everything you need to know about the debasement of public
00:33life in the United States.
00:35I mean, Robert Mueller represents a model of institutional integrity and independence
00:44that frankly feels increasingly distant today.
00:49I mean, this was a Republican who was appointed to the FBI by George Bush.
00:55He was kept on by Barack Obama.
00:58He was trusted across party lines.
01:01I mean, I didn't necessarily agree with everything he did, but he embodied this idea that law enforcement
01:08doesn't serve the president.
01:10I mean, he stood up when he was the FBI director on 9-11.
01:16But when George Bush put in this NSA, National Security Agency, surveillance program, he went
01:28to George Bush and threatened to resign if he did not pull back.
01:33And you compare that with what we have today.
01:37I mean, Kash Patel, the head of the FBI, you know, somebody who is a political operative who
01:45didn't get any Democratic votes for confirmation, you know, who pledged to use the FBI to go
01:54after Donald Trump's political enemies, you know, who amplified election denying stuff.
02:01You know, you just compare what this man represented and what we're seeing in Washington today,
02:08the total politicization of institutions.
02:11And it's like a bygone era, Robert Mueller.
02:15I mean, it even led to praise from Barack Obama calling him one of the FBI's finest directors
02:20who saved countless of lives.
02:21And that speaks to your point.
02:22And it also speaks to the polarization because obviously we can trace this back to the Trump-Russia
02:28scandal of 2016, Mueller declined to indict Trump.
02:33And that might be one of his legacies.
02:35In his final statements, he said, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of
02:39the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so
02:44state, based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that
02:49judgment.
02:49That is the legacy that he left behind with that particular case.
02:54Was that a legal necessity, though, or a political calculation?
02:58Is that how he's going to be remembered?
03:01Well, it may be.
03:03I mean, you know, he was very cautious.
03:07I think he could be criticized for not pushing harder on obstruction of justice.
03:16You know, he, as you say, he concluded that he had evidence of obstruction, but he refused
03:26to charge Trump with that.
03:28And he cited Department of Justice policy not to indict a sitting president.
03:36I think he should have made a record.
03:38And he also got played by the attorney general at the time, William Barr.
03:45I mean, he gave Barr the report, and he led it to William Barr to tell the public what the
03:56report said.
03:57And Barr said, basically, the report is clear, Donald Trump, which it didn't.
04:01And Mueller wrote a confidential letter to Barr saying, you're distorting what I wrote.
04:09But he didn't even go public with that.
04:12So, you know, again, it's this, in some ways, an excessive fair play on Mueller's part that
04:21was, you know, contrast with what, with the hyper-partisanship you're seeing today, where
04:28the Justice Department and the FBI are just, I mean, Trump has a list of people who he wants
04:34to prosecute.
04:35And without evidence, or on the flimsiest, actually, in some cases, as with the former
04:41FBI director, James Comey, or with Letitia James, no evidence.
04:47Just on a final note, he has now passed away at the age of 81.
04:51What lessons should the Justice Department draw from Mueller's meticulous, yet now polarizing
04:58approach?
05:01Well, I think the lesson is, you know, that the United States and justice is better served
05:08by adhering to the law and to the Constitution.
05:16I mean, today, we see a government, whether it's the Justice Department, the FBI, the Department
05:22of Defense, which is totally there to do, to be loyal to the man in the White House.
05:30You know, this is a moment of where you have a complete takeover of the government to serve
05:39one man's desires and one man's interests.
05:44And I think, you know, that's really, as I said, how far we have fallen in the United
05:50States.
05:51Thank you so much, Reid Brody.
05:53That's Reid Brody, the former New York Assistant Attorney General who just joined us there, just
05:57talking about the legacy of Robert Mueller, now passed away at the age of 81.
