{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-sen-coons-suggestion-that-president-cant-obstruct-justice-is-a-laughable-propositionno-one-is-above-the-law", "[VIDEO] Sen. Coons: Suggestion that President can’t obstruct justice “is a laughable proposition…No one is above the law”", "2017-12-04", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Christopher Coons", "C001088", "www.coons.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.04.17\n\t\t\t [VIDEO] Sen. Coons: Suggestion that President can\u2019t obstruct justice \u201cis a laughable proposition\u2026No one is above the law\u201d \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Sen. Coons: Manafort is either \u201cnot listening to his lawyers or he's more afraid of the Russians than he is of federal prosecution in the United States\u201d\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined CNN\u2019s Wolf Blitzer to discuss recent news regarding Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort.\r\n\u201cThere are recent reports that\u00a0over the summer the president\u00a0also reached out to a number of\u00a0senior Republican senators,\u00a0chair of the Intelligence\u00a0Committee, majority leader and\u00a0others to urge them to wrap up\u00a0this investigation quickly,\u201d said Senator Coons.\u00a0\u201cIt suggests an ongoing deeply\u00a0troubling pattern of personal\u00a0intervention in an ongoing\u00a0investigation by the president.\u00a0And the suggestion today by the president's lawyers that\u00a0he can't be charged with\u00a0obstruction of justice, that he\u00a0can't commit obstruction of\u00a0justice because he oversees the\u00a0Department of Justice and the\u00a0federal law enforcement\u00a0infrastructure, I think is a\u00a0laughable proposition.\u00a0It would mean that the president\u00a0would be above the law.\u00a0And one of our core foundational\u00a0constitutional principles in\u00a0this country is that no one is\u00a0above the law.\u201d\u00a0\r\nFull video and audio available here.\r\nExcerpts from the interview:\u00a0\r\nSenator Coons on Flynn: Well, that's a legal\u00a0conclusion for others to reach,\u00a0but it certainly strongly\u00a0suggests that the president was\u00a0aware that in reaching out to\u00a0Jim Comey, the former FBI\u00a0director, and urging him to go\u00a0easy on Flynn that he was\u00a0engaging in an inappropriate\u00a0intervention in an ongoing\u00a0investigation.\u00a0There are recent reports that\u00a0over the summer the president\u00a0also reached out to a number of\u00a0senior Republican senators,\u00a0chair of the Intelligence\u00a0Committee, majority leader and\u00a0others to urge them to wrap up\u00a0this investigation quickly.\u00a0It suggests an ongoing deeply\u00a0troubling pattern of personal\u00a0intervention in an ongoing\u00a0investigation by the president.\u00a0And the suggestion today by the president's lawyers that\u00a0he can't be charged with\u00a0obstruction of justice, that he\u00a0can't commit obstruction of\u00a0justice because he oversees the\u00a0Department of Justice and the\u00a0federal law enforcement\u00a0infrastructure, I think is a\u00a0laughable proposition.\u00a0It would mean that the president\u00a0would be above the law.\u00a0And one of our core foundational\u00a0constitutional principles in\u00a0this country is that no one is\u00a0above the law.\u00a0 More on Flynn: I don't buy that one bit, Wolf.\u00a0I think it's Nixonian to argue\u00a0that somehow the president has\u00a0carte blanche to do whatever he\u00a0wants with regard to law\u00a0enforcement and ongoing\u00a0investigations; in particular, an investigation\u00a0into his conduct.\u00a0That would create a presidency\u00a0that is completely above the law\u00a0and unaccountable.\u00a0I do think there is a debatable\u00a0proposition about whether\u00a0impeachment is the only means of\u00a0removal of a president, but I\u00a0don't think it's debatable\u00a0whether the president has\u00a0impunity to interfere with\u00a0whatever investigations he\u00a0chooses.\u00a0 Senator Coons on whether the president can pardon himself: That's also something that's\u00a0never been tested before.\u00a0But I think going back to the\u00a0Federalist Papers, to the very\u00a0founding of our country, there\u00a0has often been asserted the\u00a0principle that you cannot be\u00a0both judge and jury in a case.\u00a0And if the president were to\u00a0pardon himself, he would\u00a0literally be acting as both\u00a0judge and jury in a case against\u00a0himself.\u00a0    Senator Coons on Trump\u2019s tweet: Well, first, I've been\u00a0encouraging the president since\u00a0his inauguration to stop\u00a0tweeting so much.\u00a0It is not good for him or for\u00a0our country.\u00a0Second, if his lawyer crafted\u00a0that tweet, he might want to\u00a0reconsider his representation\u00a0because that certainly didn't\u00a0serve the president's interests.\u00a0I think Mr. Dowd has already\u00a0conceded that it was certainly\u00a0sloppy.\u00a0Third, it suggests that the\u00a0president or his lawyer\u00a0representing him knew that there\u00a0was reason for the president if\u00a0he intervened with Jim Comey to\u00a0try to get him to lighten up on\u00a0Flynn.\u00a0To be doing so in a way that was\u00a0obstructing justice.\u00a0It is a truly concerning tweet\u00a0if this accurately reflects the\u00a0president's knowledge and state\u00a0of mind.\u00a0And if it doesn't, I don't know\u00a0why his lawyer representing him\u00a0would have -- would have\u00a0approved this tweet, put it in\u00a0front of the president and had\u00a0him sign off on it.\u00a0 Senator Coons on the credibility of the investigation: Wolf, what I think\u00a0strengthens the credibility of\u00a0Robert Mueller individually and\u00a0the investigation he's leading\u00a0is that we know in an instance\u00a0where there was some suggestion\u00a0of bias by a critical agent, it\u00a0was investigated, it was dealt\u00a0with and he was dismissed.\u00a0So this isn't something that is\u00a0hanging out there as an\u00a0unresolved issue, it's something\u00a0that Robert Mueller when he\u00a0became aware of it is reported\u00a0to have acted decisively to\u00a0remove any potential\u00a0interference or bias in his\u00a0ongoing investigation and I find\u00a0that reassuring.\u00a0 Senator Coons on Manafort: Wolf, this is simply stunning\u00a0news.\u00a0The idea that Paul Manafort,\u00a0President Trump's former\u00a0campaign chairman, who's facing\u00a0federal criminal charges and had\u00a0reached a plea agreement --\u00a0excuse me, a bail agreement\u00a0where he was free to move\u00a0without an ankle bracelet to\u00a0leave his home, but on the\u00a0condition that he not engage in\u00a0public statements.\u00a0He was literally drafting an\u00a0editorial with a Russian known\u00a0to American intelligence.\u00a0That is just stunning.\u00a0A word I know is now overused,\u00a0but that is deeply foolish.\u00a0Clearly he's not listening to\u00a0his lawyers or he's more afraid\u00a0of the Russians than he is of\u00a0federal prosecution in the\u00a0United States.\u00a0I mean, I have a really hard\u00a0time squaring that news\u00a0with the idea that Paul Manafort\u00a0is rational.\u00a0That's an enormous risk for him\u00a0to take and will almost\u00a0certainly lead to the\u00a0restoration of a different\u00a0arrangement for his freedom in\u00a0advance of his facing trial.\u00a0 More on Manafort: Just for those\u00a0who may have forgotten about\u00a0Paul Manafort, he was the\u00a0director, the manager, the\u00a0chairman of the Trump\u00a0presidential campaign and had\u00a0received millions of dollars\u00a0from Ukraine's former lead,\u00a0Yanukovych, who is closely\u00a0aligned with Vladimir Putin and\u00a0with Russian interests.\u00a0The idea that he would reinsert\u00a0himself into that maelstrom of\u00a0issues that compete with\u00a0American national security\u00a0interests at such a sensitive\u00a0time is really striking.\u00a0 More on Manafort: If accurate, that reporting\u00a0is deeply troubling.\u00a0It suggests that Manafort's ties\u00a0to Russians connected to Russian\u00a0intelligence services continues\u00a0and continues unabated and he\u00a0continues to work with them and\u00a0cooperate with them, even while\u00a0he faces federal criminal\u00a0charges.\u00a0That suggests a striking\u00a0indifference to the legal\u00a0situation he's in and an\u00a0unwillingness to take\u00a0responsibility for the ways in\u00a0which he deflected or impacted\u00a0the Republican platform during\u00a0their convention on issues of\u00a0Russia and Ukraine.\u00a0And impacted U.S. national\u00a0security interests while he was\u00a0the chairman of the Trump\u00a0presidential campaign.\u00a0This really is stunning breaking\u00a0news.\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tSean Coit at 202-224-5042 or\u00a0Sean_Coit@coons.senate.gov\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": 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