馃攳
Trump Dodges Questions on Mueller, Tax Returns, WikiLeaks: A Closer Look - YouTube
Channel: Late Night with Seth Meyers
[2]
-The president is resisting
calls to release his tax returns
[4]
and calling the people
who investigate him traitors.
[6]
For more on this, it's time
for "A Closer Look."
[8]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[9]
鈾櫔
[13]
-Before we get to Trump,
[14]
a bunch of other crazy stuff
happened today.
[16]
For example, you might remember
Michael Avenatti,
[18]
the guy who used to be
Stormy Daniels' lawyer.
[20]
Well, today, Avenatti was
charged with 36 counts of fraud,
[24]
perjury, failure to pay taxes,
[25]
embezzlement, and other
financial crimes.
[27]
And 36 counts is a lot.
[29]
But when you look at him,
you think,
[31]
"I thought it would have
been higher."
[32]
[ Laughter ]
[34]
And the details of the
indictment are truly insane.
[36]
"The L.A. Times" reports that
Avenatti stole
[38]
millions of dollars
from five clients.
[40]
He put $2.5 million
of that money
[43]
into the purchase
of a private jet.
[45]
And in the other case, the money
landed in the accounts
[47]
of GB Autosport, LLC,
[49]
which managed Avenatti's
racecar team.
[52]
How is this the first
we're hearing
[54]
of Michael Avenatti's
racecar team?
[58]
That's the dead giveaway
that someone is bad news.
[61]
The racecar track is where James
Bond meets the villain
[64]
for the first time as he's
pulling off his helmet
[67]
and his racing gloves.
[68]
[ As Bond villain ] Mr. Bond,
[69]
should we speak
somewhere quieter?
[71]
[ Laughter ]
[72]
[ Normal voice ] Also,
did you not see "Goodfellas"?
[74]
When you rip people off,
[75]
you gotta play it cool
with the money.
[76]
You're like a guy
who buys a Ferrari
[77]
and asks for the vanity plate --
"Bank Robber."
[80]
[ Laughter ]
[82]
While he was doing this,
Avenatti was actively
[84]
putting himself
in the spotlight.
[86]
He said he was going to run
for President in 2020.
[88]
He made more appearances on CNN
than the words "Breaking News."
[91]
And a lot of people
fell for Avenatti,
[94]
probably because his job
description was always
[96]
"attorney" and not
"racecar team owner!"
[99]
[ Laughter ]
[101]
While that was happening,
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
[104]
was also arrested in London,
[105]
where he was dragged out
of the Ecuadorian embassy
[107]
looking like Santa Claus
with a manifesto.
[110]
[ Laughter ]
[111]
"You're all naughty!
I have it on my list!"
[113]
[ Applause ]
[115]
I mean...
[117]
Based on that treatment,
I can't wait to read
[120]
what Assange writes on the
Ecuador embassy's Airbnb page.
[123]
[ Laughter ]
[125]
Now Ecuador had granted Assange
asylum in their embassy,
[128]
but withdrew it, which allowed
U.K. authorities to arrest him.
[131]
According to The Daily Beast,
Ecuador imposed a new
[133]
and detailed set of rules
on its fugitive guest,
[135]
banning unannounced visitors
and requiring Assange
[138]
to pay his own medical bills,
[139]
clean up after himself
in the bathroom,
[141]
and tend to the well-being,
food, cleanliness,
[143]
and proper care of his cat.
[144]
Assange bristled
at the restrictions,
[147]
and took Ecuador's foreign
ministry to court.
[149]
He took them to court
over his cat.
[151]
[ Laughter ]
[152]
Usually people go to court
[153]
to get restraining orders
against their cats.
[156]
"Please, your honor,
he keeps glaring at me
[158]
like he wants to kill me."
[160]
Now look, you can think Assange
is a creep, which he is,
[163]
and also be worried about what
this means for press freedom.
[166]
But one person who's always been
very clear
[168]
about where he stands on
WikiLeaks is Donald Trump.
[170]
And yet, when Trump was asked
today about WikiLeaks,
[172]
which he repeatedly praised
throughout the campaign,
[175]
he pretended he didn't know
anything about it.
[177]
-Mr. president, do you
still love WikiLeaks?
[180]
-I know nothing about WikiLeaks.
It's not my thing.
[183]
-Oh, it's not your thing?
[186]
Well, what is your thing?
[188]
-Who do you like in the Masters?
Who do you think will win?
[191]
-You know, there are 15 players
capable of winning,
[194]
and I guess you could say there
are a lot more than that.
[195]
They're great players. I don't
think a field for the Masters
[198]
has ever been this deep.
[200]
I was watching late last night,
[203]
and they were going over
the different players.
[205]
I think the field
has never been so deep.
[207]
But always Phil and Tiger
and...Dustin.
[213]
I mean, you have
so many great players.
[215]
But they were just saying,
they're younger,
[219]
they're stronger, they have
never hit the ball this long.
[221]
They have never hit the ball
this accurately.
[223]
They have never putted better
than they do now.
[226]
You know, the whole thing
is pretty incredible.
[228]
But the field is very,
very deep.
[230]
I think it's going to be
a great Masters.
[232]
-That's the most coherent answer
he's ever given.
[234]
[ Laughter ]
[236]
And it wasn't even
that coherent.
[238]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[242]
If being President was just
answering golf questions,
[245]
this guy would be George
Washington.
[247]
[ Laughter ]
[249]
But seriously, how can you say
WikiLeaks is not your thing?
[251]
Your government just arrested
a guy whose organization
[253]
you repeatedly praised
throughout the campaign,
[255]
and you're acting like someone
[257]
just offered you weed
at a party.
[258]
[ As Trump ] "Oh, no thanks,
man. That's not my thing."
[260]
[ Laughter ]
[261]
[ Normal voice ]
Also, do you not remember
[263]
when you said all of this stuff?
[264]
-The sad part is we don't talk
about WikiLeaks.
[267]
Because it's incredible.
[268]
You see so much from
these WikiLeaks.
[270]
You see so much.
[271]
Boy, I love reading
those WikiLeaks.
[273]
I'll tell you, this WikiLeaks
stuff is unbelievable.
[275]
This WikiLeaks is like
a treasure trove.
[278]
WikiLeaks is amazing.
[279]
WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks.
[281]
[ Laughter ]
[282]
-[ As Trump ] I love WikiLeaks.
[284]
[ Laughter ]
[285]
[ Normal voice ] He said it --
[286]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[290]
He said it like the guy
at the end of a rom-com
[294]
who can finally admit he's
in love with his best friend.
[296]
"I can finally say it,
I love Carol!"
[299]
[ Laughter ]
[300]
While Trump was dodging
questions about
[302]
his previous support
for WikiLeaks,
[303]
he was also dodging questions
about everything
[305]
from the Mueller Report
to his tax returns.
[307]
Last week, Democrats requested
[308]
six years of Trump's personal
and business tax information
[311]
from 2013 to 2018,
including individual tax returns
[315]
and returns from eight
businesses linked to Trump --
[317]
eight businesses.
[318]
Of course, it's hard to find
those returns
[320]
since seven of those businesses
went bankrupt years ago.
[323]
if you want to find the tax
returns for Trump Steaks
[326]
or Trump Vodka, you have to go
deep into the IRS basement
[328]
and look in the box labeled
"obvious scams."
[330]
[ Laughter ]
[332]
But the law is clear.
[333]
Democrats on the house
Ways and Means Committee
[335]
have the power to request
Trump's tax returns.
[337]
And yet Trump told reporters
yesterday
[339]
he would just flat out ignore
the request
[341]
using the same obviously false
excuse he's been using
[344]
since 2016 -- he's under audit.
[348]
And towards the end
of his rambling answer,
[349]
he found a way to start bragging
about his businesses.
[352]
-While I'm under audit,
I won't do it.
[355]
If I'm not under audit,
I would do it.
[357]
I had no problem with it.
[358]
But while I'm under audit,
I would not give my taxes.
[361]
There's no law whatsoever.
[363]
Now, I will say this --
[366]
I would love to give them,
[368]
but I'm not going to do it
while I'm under audit.
[371]
What I have done is
approximately
[374]
a 104-page summary,
[377]
and really in great detail,
of assets and values
[381]
and -- Nobody wants to go over
that because it's so good.
[385]
I built a great company,
one of the best companies.
[388]
I have some of the greatest
assets in the world.
[390]
I did a good job.
[392]
-Well, now he's just doing
affirmations in public.
[395]
[ Laughter ]
[396]
[ As Trump ] "I did a good job.
[397]
I'm good at business.
My wife does like me."
[401]
[ Normal voice ] Also,
can you please just drop
[403]
this dumb audit excuse?
[404]
It's obviously fake. You've been
saying it since 2016.
[407]
There's no way it's taking
the IRS three years
[409]
to go through your tax returns.
[410]
And if it has, that doesn't
make you look great.
[413]
If you told someone it took you
a week to clean your kitchen,
[416]
they'd be like, "How [bleep] up
was your kitchen?"
[419]
[ Laughter ]
[421]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[425]
While Trump is just ignoring
the law on his tax returns,
[430]
he's also sounding increasingly
unhinged
[432]
on the Russia investigation.
[433]
Now because Trump keeps lying
about it,
[435]
we have to just take
a step back here
[437]
and remember how all of this
got started.
[440]
Russia hacked
the Democrats' e-mails
[442]
while they were doing
business deals with Trump
[443]
and making contact with
Trump campaign officials.
[445]
And the entire time these people
were lying about it.
[447]
And then when the FBI started
investigating it,
[448]
Trump asked the director
to shut it down
[450]
and pledge his loyalty to Trump.
[451]
And when he refused,
Trump fired him.
[452]
And then he said on TV
he fired him
[453]
because of the Russia
investigation.
[454]
He told the Russians
he fired him
[455]
because of
the Russia investigation.
[457]
And then because his Republican
Attorney General had recused
[459]
himself, his Republican Deputy
Attorney General appointed
[461]
a special counsel, Robert
Mueller,
[462]
who is a registered Republican.
[465]
And, while this was happening,
[466]
Putin also gave Trump
a soccer ball.
[468]
[ Laughter and applause ]
[471]
Which was definitely,
[474]
definitely the first time Trump
ever saw a soccer ball.
[476]
[ Laughter ]
[477]
[ As Trump ] Thank you for
this beautiful gift.
[479]
I'm going to say
a Russian bowling ball?
[482]
[ Laughter ]
[484]
And it probably has,
when you open it,
[485]
a littler bowling ball in it?
[487]
And then another little one
and a then little one?
[489]
[ Applause ]
[490]
And hopefully at the end,
[493]
a tiny marshmallow?
[495]
[ Normal voice ] I wish
I didn't have to keep recapping
[497]
all this stuff every time
we talk about it.
[499]
I'm starting to think we're
just gonna need
[500]
a permanent scroll that stays up
throughout the show.
[502]
But I have to keep recapping it
[504]
because Trump keeps
lying about it.
[505]
Yesterday, his Attorney General
repeated
[507]
Trump's conspiracy theory that
his campaign was spied on.
[509]
And then Trump suggested
the investigation
[511]
was somehow illegal
or unwarranted,
[513]
and even said the people
investigating him were traitors.
[516]
-It was an illegal
investigation.
[518]
It was started illegally.
[520]
Everything about it was crooked,
[523]
every single thing about it.
[526]
There were dirty cops.
[528]
These were bad people.
[530]
And this was an attempted coup.
[533]
This was an attempted takedown
of a president.
[536]
This was an illegal witch hunt,
and everybody knew it.
[539]
And they knew it, too.
And they got caught.
[542]
And what they did was treason.
[544]
-My God, man.
Now you're accusing people
[546]
of coups and treason.
[547]
I'd say you should start
growing a dictator beard,
[549]
but based on your actual hair,
[551]
I'm not sure how
that would look.
[552]
[ Laughter and applause ]
[555]
This is why it's crucial
that decisions
[559]
involving the Mueller report
remain independent of Trump.
[561]
And yet yesterday, when his
Attorney General William Barr
[563]
was asked if he briefed
the White House
[565]
on the Mueller report,
Barr's answer was very evasive.
[567]
-Has anyone in the White House
seen any of the report?
[570]
-You know, I'm not gonna --
I'm not gonna -- as I said,
[572]
I'm landing the plane right now.
[574]
And, uh, you know, I've been
willing to discuss my --
[577]
my letters and the process
going forward.
[581]
But the report is going to be
out next week.
[585]
And I'm just not going to get
into the details
[587]
of the process until
the plane is on the ground.
[589]
-The plane has been
on the ground.
[591]
Mueller landed the plane.
[593]
You're the crew guy refusing
to drive the little gate thingy
[597]
up to the door...
[598]
[ Laughter ]
[599]
...so we can get off the plane.
[601]
This is why --
[ Cheers and applause ]
[605]
This is why we need
aggressive oversight
[608]
of the Trump administration,
[609]
whether it's on the Mueller
report or his tax returns.
[612]
And yet Republicans
are doing the opposite.
[613]
They are protecting him.
For example,
[614]
after the Democratic chairman
[616]
of the house Ways and Means
Committee, Richard Neal,
[618]
submitted his formal request to
the IRS for Trump's tax returns,
[621]
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy
went on TV and straight up
[624]
called Neal a moron.
[626]
-Chairman Neal, powerful man,
head of Ways and Means.
[631]
I know he's an adult,
[634]
but I don't think he's
like a real adult.
[637]
[ Laughter ]
[638]
He says that he needs
Trump's tax returns.
[641]
He says it's policy,
not politics.
[644]
He has said, I think on CNN,
[647]
that the reason he needs them
[650]
is that he needs to determine
how well the IRS
[653]
is auditing taxpayers.
[656]
I can't believe he really thinks
[659]
the American people
are gonna fall for that.
[662]
It must really suck
to be that dumb.
[666]
[ Laughter ]
[668]
-It doesn't suck to be
that dumb.
[670]
It sucks for your boss
to be that dumb.
[672]
That's the guy you answer to.
[673]
Maybe think about
where your life is at.
[675]
You're a United States Senator,
[677]
and you take marching orders
from a guy who
[678]
once got on Air Force One with
toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
[681]
[ Laughter ]
[683]
Republicans in Congress
keep trying to defend Trump
[685]
from Democrats, but their
efforts keep falling flat.
[688]
And the dumbest example of that
came this week
[690]
during a hearing
on Trump's climate policies.
[692]
Democrats called former
Secretary of State John Kerry
[695]
as a witness,
and during the hearing,
[696]
Republican Congressman
Thomas Massie from Kentucky
[699]
tried to question
Kerry's credentials,
[701]
specifically his college degree.
[703]
Kerry has a Bachelor of Arts
in Political Science,
[705]
a common degree that
lots of people have.
[707]
And yet Massie thought it was
some kind of brilliant "Gotcha!"
[710]
to point that out,
[712]
resulting in one of the dumbest
lines of questioning
[714]
in the history of American
politics.
[716]
-It sounds like you're
questioning the credentials
[718]
of the president's advisers
currently.
[721]
But I don't think we should
question your credentials today.
[724]
Isn't it true you have
a science degree from Yale?
[728]
What's that?
-Bachelor of Arts degree.
[731]
-Is it a political science
degree?
[733]
-Yes, political science.
[735]
-So how do you get a bachelor
of arts in a science?
[737]
[ Laughter ]
[739]
-Well, it's a liberal arts
education and degree.
[742]
It's a bachelor.
[743]
-Okay,
so it's not really science.
[745]
So I think it's somewhat
appropriate that somebody
[747]
with a pseudoscience degree
is here pushing pseudoscience
[751]
in front of our committee today.
[753]
-[ Scoffs ]
[754]
I want to ask you --
-Are you serious?
[757]
I mean, this is really
a serious happening here?
[759]
-Yeah. It is.
[762]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[764]
Unfortunately...
[768]
I'm sorry to say it is
a serious happening.
[771]
And that is the perfect
phrasing.
[773]
Because this whole Trump era
feels like a horror movie
[775]
called "A Serious Happening."
[777]
[ Laughter ]
[778]
This is an actual
member of Congress
[780]
who can't wrap his heard
around the fact
[781]
that you can get a bachelor
of arts degree
[783]
in political science,
[785]
despite the fact that he himself
has a degree from MIT!
[788]
I mean, why stop there, Massie?
[790]
[ As Massie ] "Senator Kerry,
you're a married man, correct?
[793]
Then please explain to us
[795]
how you could possibly have
a bachelor's degree."
[799]
[ Laughter ]
[803]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[810]
[ Normal voice ] Also, not
that anything matters anymore,
[814]
but that's the same John Kerry
who was falsely criticized
[818]
by conservatives
not for avoiding Vietnam,
[820]
but for going and supposedly
doing a bad job.
[823]
Meanwhile these same
conservatives now heap praise
[826]
on Lieutenant Bone Spurs
over here,
[827]
whose only Purple Heart is
the one struggling to get air
[830]
through his gravy-clogged veins.
[833]
Again nothing matters!
[834]
Because these are the people
[835]
protecting the president
in Congress.
[837]
The president refuses to release
his tax returns
[839]
and calls anyone who
investigates him treasonous,
[841]
and Republicans actually expect
us to believe
[843]
that they're the party
of the Constitution
[845]
and the rule of law.
[846]
I don't know if anyone
still believes that.
[848]
But if they do...
[849]
-It must really suck
to be that dumb.
[852]
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[853]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[855]
鈾櫔
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage