EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rand Paul Says Some of AG Nominee William Barr’s Views are “Very, Very Troubling”

EXCLUSIVE: Wisconsin Gov.-Elect Tony Evers on Legislature That Would Limit his Power: “It’s a Hot Mess, and I Believe he [Gov. Scott Walker] Should Veto the Entire Package”

DECEMBER 9, 2018 – Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) joined Meet the Press this morning telling moderator Chuck Todd that there’s not enough public evidence at this point to impeach President Donald Trump: “I don’t think that there’s evidence yet available to the public where there would be, more or less, a consensus that this was an appropriate path.” “We may get there, but we are not there now,” the Maine independent said.

King added: “My concern is that, if impeachment is moved forward on the evidence that we have now, at least a third of the country would think it was just political revenge and, and a coup against the president. That wouldn’t serve us well at all. The best way to solve a problem like this, to me, is elections.”

King also addressed Friday’s filings by federal prosecutors and said: “The Cohen ones are pretty disturbing because the key phrase to me is ‘directed by Individual-1,’ which everyone knows is President Trump. ‘Directed by’ implicates the President in a felony.”

King added: “I think the filing last week that should be most troubling to the White House weren’t the ones made on Friday but the ones made in regard to General Flynn earlier in the week because number one Robert Mueller felt that his cooperation has been of such an extent that he recommended no jail time, a kind of prosecutorial pardon if you will. Nineteen meetings with the special counsel and a lot of redacted pieces in the filing that was made last week.” Watch the full interview.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also joined the program this morning in an exclusive interview and addressed President Trump’s nomination of William Barr for attorney general, telling Todd: “I haven’t made a decision yet on him, but I can tell you the first things I’ve learned about him being for more surveillance of Americans is very, very troubling.”

The Kentucky Republican also described Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as “prosecutorial abuse” and said: “This has been my overall complaint about…having the special prosecutors, is that really they find a person, and they look for a crime … With a special prosecutor, you decide, ‘We’re going after someone, the president. And we’re gonna squeeze as many people as we can until we can try to get a person.’… I think they’re a huge abuse of government power.”

“We should not have special prosecutors going after one person. And if we get this way, and if we’re going to prosecute people and put them in jail for campaign finance violations, we’re going to become a banana republic … where they have every president gets prosecuted and everybody gets thrown in jail when they’re done with office,” Paul added.

Additionally, Paul defended President Trump’s ability to pursue a business deal in Russia while simultaneously running for president: “I guess I don’t quite understand it because I don’t know what’s illegal about trying to build a hotel in Russia,” Sen. Paul said. “So this is pretty common. And I see no problem with someone running for president trying to build a hotel somewhere.” Watch the full interview.

In an exclusive interview, Gov.-Elect Tony Evers (D-Wis.) told Todd he had spoken to current Gov. Scott Walker to ask him to veto bills by the Republican-dominated Wisconsin legislature that would limit his power and the power of the newly-elected Democratic Attorney General: “I made that pitch, and he was noncommittal. I know publicly he’s said in other areas that he plans to sign most or all of it. So I’m not particularly encouraged at this point in time.” He continued: “The entire thing is a mess. It’s a hot mess, and I believe he should veto the entire package.”

Additionally, Evers said that if Gov. Walker does sign this legislation into law, he’s leaving all options “on the table” in terms of legal recourse: “I’m not making any promises one way or the other, but we’re looking at all issues, all the options at the table. I need to stand up for the people of Wisconsin. There’s 2.6 million people that voted in this last election. And they expect me to do that. So we’re going to pursue this.” Watch the full interview.

The Boston Herald’s Kimberly Atkins, Eddie Glaude, Jr. of Princeton University, National Review’s Jonah Goldberg and The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics.

Read the full transcript of Meet the Press this morning, and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.

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