'This Week' Transcript 7-30-23: Gov. Chris Sununu, Rep. Dan Goldman and Actor Matthew McConaughey
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Well, it's very serious, less because of the additional defendant I think but more because it demonstrates Donald Trump's knowledge of what his conduct was and how wrong it was, and that he was trying to obstruct the investigation that he knew was ongoing.
That is quintessential consciousness of guilt, which shows that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and so, we already had a very detailed, devastating indictment and now, you layer on the knowledge that Trump shows about the illegality of his conduct and it just gets worse for him.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Well, I think the most important thing to take away is that Donald Trump does not believe that the law applies to him. He simply believes he's above the law and that he can do whatever he wants. We saw that in the first impeachment when he abused the power of the presidency in order to extort a foreign government, a democracy, in -- in to helping him with his campaign, and has continued on in full force because no one has yet held him accountable. The Republicans in Congress refused to hold him accountable and he feels like he is completely invincible. But the takeaway from all four cases, from the civil cases is that Donald Trump simply thinks he's above the law.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Well, right. I think that there's been a lot of hey made of this. But this is a fairly typical process that goes through. This was an unusual agreement, in part because it's a 24-month agreement, and there's the possibility that Donald Trump will be president. And we know from his presidency how much he weaponized the Department of Justice to go after his enemies and to favor his associates. And so Hunter Biden's lawyers are concerned that Donald Trump, if he were to get the presidency, would weaponize the Department of Justice. And so there is an added calculation to this, but the fact of the matter is that this is a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, a Trump-appointed judge. This is a very independent and thorough investigation.
And I think that whatever happens in the Hunter Biden case, we can rest assured that it was done based solely on the facts and the evidence, and that there was nothing else to it.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
No, because that's what they've been investigating for five years, and they ultimately determined they could not charge him. And for whatever reason, we don't know, the House Republicans have no idea what the actual evidence is that David Weiss has, and this was an exhaustive five-year investigation.
And so, what Hunter Biden's lawyer wanted was some confirmation that they will not charge him for any crimes related to the investigation that they un -- that they underwent. That's fairly typical and oftentimes, prosecutors and defense lawyers go back and forth about what degree of immunity a defendant will get.
But let's remember, this is not as if it's a new investigation. This is five years and we had testimony of foreign bank accounts, domestic bank accounts, search warrants, hundreds of --
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
--- thousands of documents that they pored over and ultimately, they decided they could not charge Hunter Biden with. And that's how the process should work.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Yes, and I don't think there's any chance that President Biden is going to do that, unlike his predecessor who pardoned all of his friends and anyone who had any access to him. President Biden has restored the integrity of the Department of Justice and I think you see that in this case, where he kept on, and Merrick Garland kept on a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney to investigate the president's son.
If there is not an indication of the independence of the Department of Justice beyond that, I don't know what -- what we could look for.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source