{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Was Trump’s Ask to Shut Down Probe Obstruction?' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d45cd8eafeecae1f2067' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d45cd8eafeecae1f2067' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nWas Trump’s Ask to Shut Down Probe Obstruction?\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eSome lawmakers are accusing President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice after revelations that FBI Director James Comey wrote a private account of the president asking him to shut down an investigation into former national security...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eSome lawmakers are accusing President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice after revelations that FBI Director James Comey wrote a private account of the president asking him to shut down an investigation into former national security adviser Michael FlynnCongressional Democrats were already concerned that Trump was trying to stifle a probe into possible coordination between his campaign and Russia's election meddling by firing Comey last week. The latest development only heightened their outrage, renewing calls for a special prosecutor.But obstruction of justice is a tricky issue both criminally and politically. And legal experts say it could be difficult to prove the president crossed the line.Trump asked Comey to end an investigation into Flynn during a February meeting in the Oval Office. Comey, who was known to keep a paper trail of sensitive meetings, chronicled the president's request in a memo he produced soon after the conversation, according to a Comey associate who reviewed the document. Flynn, who was forced to resign after lying about the nature of his contacts with the Russian ambassador, remains a central figure in the FBI's probe.Criminally speaking, obstructing justice applies to a variety of scenarios _like threatening a juror, retaliating against a witness, or impeding a grand jury proceeding_ but Trump's request does not fit neatly into any of them, legal experts said.POOLJoint Base Andrews, Maryland - 13 May 20171. Donald Trump getting on planeASSOCIATED PRESSWashington - 16 May 20172. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Lucey, Associated Press:\"The New York Times first reported and the AP has confirmed that President Donald Trump apparently had a conversation with former FBI Director James Comey in which he spoke to him about whether he would shut down the investigation into Michael Flynn. Comey has recorded this in a memo. So one of the questions is is the request the president made considered obstruction of justice? And the other is what's the legal significance of the memo. Some of the experts we talked to said the memo is a significant piece of evidence. Obviously this is all very early so exactly how this will be used is not yet clear but it is notable that it's a written piece of evidence, it's contemporaneous, it's his recollections immediately after this happened so it does potentially have more weight than just his recollections in court. In terms of obstruction it's something that certainly could be investigated is what we're told but that's something that would have to play out. There's a standard that would have to be met. It's very early days yet in terms of figuring it out. One thing that we were told is certainly this episode coupled with a previous instance whre the president said himself that he had asked Comey if he was under investigation certainly does raise the question again if should a special prosecutor be appointed to look into this case.\"POOL Joint Base Andrews, Maryland - 13 Maryland 20173. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump:\"Very well-known, highly respected, really talented people, and that's what we want for the FBI, so I'll see you over at the school. Have a good time.\"ASSOCIATED PRESSWashington - 16 May 20174. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Lucey, Associated Press:\"The White House issued a statement to the New York Times and later to other news organizations denying that the report that this conversation happened in the way that it was described in the memo. We have not seen the full memo yet but it has been described to a number of reporters. So for now that's the official position from the White House.\"POOLWashington - 29 March 20175. SOUNDBITE (English) James Comey, Former FBI Director:\"Investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.\"ASSOCIATED PRESSWashington - 16 May 20176. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Lucey, Associated Press:\"Looking forward we're going to hear of a lot more from legal experts, scholars and politicians about what needs to happen now. And we're certainly going to hear from Democrats who have been calling already for a special prosecutor to investigate this case. I think we're probably going to hear more from Republicans about whether this needs to happen and it's certainly the question is will we hear more from Republicans on whether this should happen and the White House is probably going to have to say more about what's going on. It's unlikely they can continue to just put out this statement and leave it here. There's very serious questions about the way the president is doing business.\"POOL McLean, Virginia - 14 May 20177. 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