Matthew Whitaker, the interim replacement for departed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has made several on-the-record statements about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which has circled around President Donald Trump’s campaign staff and family. He also has a close tie to a witness in the Mueller probe, and has ties to a business the FTC shut down last year.
These statements and connections, in televised interviews, tweets, and published writing, may jeopardize his credibility in assuming supervision of the Mueller probe, even though Whitaker cannot be forced to recuse himself from decisions. With the House shifting to Democratic control, however, committees will be able to require him to testify, and subpoena documents and other witnesses.
Whitaker joined the Justice Department as Sessions’s chief of staff in October 2017. He was a legal commentator on CNN for four months preceding that position.
Whitaker Said Trump Tower Meeting with Russians Was Just Fine
In a July 13, 2017, appearance on CNN, Whitaker dismissed any ethical or legal problems with the meeting in June 2016 in Trump Tower with Russians with links to the Kremlin.
Whitaker said that the Russians wanted to discuss adoption policy with Russian, and used the notion of providing opposition research on Hillary Clinton as a pretext. “You would always take that meeting,” he said.
He went on to say, “If you have somebody you trust that is saying you need to meet with this individual because they have information about your opponent, you would take that meeting.” However, he said, information that emerged later “becomes a little concerning.”
The meeting was arranged by Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who attended with four others, some also Russian. Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr., attended the meeting. (Manafort has been found guilty of and pleaded guilty to multiple financial charges, none related to this meeting.)
Since the meeting’s existence was revealed, details about participants and what was said have shifted and changed repeatedly.
Whitaker Said Mueller Must Not Cross ‘Red Line’ by Looking into Trump Family Finances
In an August 2017 opinion piece at CNN, Whitaker agreed with the president’s assertion in July 2017 that if Mueller’s investigation looked into the finances of Trump and his family that it would be a “violation” because the investigation was about Russia.
Whitaker wrote that “investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else.”