Page:Comey-Interview-12-7-18-Redacted.pdf/184

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184

privilege such that it would justify the President's statement that the attorney-client privilege is dead?

Mr. Comey. Well, I can answer in general, because I don't know that case. The entire sensitive investigative matter process is designed to be respectful of the privileges that might be touched by a search on a lawyer's office.

Mr. Raskin. Okay. President Trump has kept up his drum beat against his former lawyer. Most recently, the attacks were in response Mr. Cohen's plea deal with the special counsel's office in which he admitted to lying about the Trump Tower Moscow project in contact with Russian Government officials during the 2016 campaign.

The President responded within hours tweeting, quote: Michael Cohen asks judge for no prison time. You mean he can do all of the terrible unrelated to Trump things having to do with fraud, big loans, taxes, et cetera, and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a great and already reduced deal for himself and get his wife and father-in-law who has the money, question mark, off scot-free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a complete sentence.

I would like to draw on your years of experience as an organized crime prosecutor and senior DOJ official and head of the FBI to unpack some of the prosecutorial methods that are under attack by the President.

First, why do criminal defendants such as Michael Cohen