Democratic New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler asserted he’s relying on press reports to ascertain if former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker discussed investigations with President Donald Trump in a Thursday Interview on CNN.
Nadler said “Whittaker refused to deny” speaking with the president about the case involving former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen when presented with the opportunity.
“Let me ask you about ‘did not deny’… he had conversations,” CNN Host John Berman responded before asking, “Do you have any evidence — proactive evidence — that he discussed it with the president?”
“Other than press reports of various people. We have talked to some people,” the ranking Democrat responded. (RELATED: Rep. Nadler Won’t Clarify His Questions, Demands An Answer Anyway-Whitaker Fights Back)
Nadler added that Whitaker wouldn’t say no when asked if he spoke with the president or anyone in the White House about the Cohen case. The former acting AG did, however, respond with, “I don’t remember,” before adding that he could not say with certainty one way or the other if he had engaged in such talks with members of the administration.
A CNN report in December reported that Trump called Whitaker in anger two times — once when prosecutors in New York filed charges against Cohen related to campaign finance violations, and the other when Cohen pled guilty to lying under oath regarding knowledge of a Trump Tower project in Moscow.
Although the report doesn’t mention what exactly was said during the conversation, the rumor that those talks took place was enough for Mueller Biographer Garrett Graff to accuse Trump of using the Attorney General office as his own personal protector.
“It seems very clear that the only reason that Matt Whitaker was ever appointed to this role was specifically to oversee the Mueller investigation,” Graff said in December.