In an extraordinary moment, a stumbling Coats replied, Im not sure I have a legal basis.

[kpete]

In an extraordinary moment, a stumbling Coats replied, “I’m not sure I have a legal basis.” He then said he’d answer the questions during a closed session. King pressed him for a commitment to answer the questions “in a direct and unencumbered way” in closed session later on Wednesday. Coats said he first needed to talk to the general counsel in the White House. Faced with the same question, Rogers also said he needed to consult the White House. (The chairman of the committee, Sen. Richard Burr, later said that the classified Wednesday briefing was going to be with lower ranking officials on technical matters. A closed-door session on the crucial question of whether or not the President of the United States asked intelligence officials to intervene to shut down an investigation into his campaign and its possible collusion with Russia could take place at a later date)


http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/06/07/if_intel_officials_could_have_testified_to_trump_s_obstruction_innocence.html

[spanone]

1. so they need to consult with trump's lawyers before they can answer?

wow

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. They need to consult with their own lawyers.

They could be deeper into this mess than they think.

[spanone]

6. what does this mean?

Coats said he first needed to talk to the general counsel in the White House. Faced with the same question, Rogers also said he needed to consult the White House.


does white house counsel cover these guys?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. WH counsel represents the entity that is the White House -

that is, the governmental office of which the president is the head. WH counsel, currently Don McGahn, does not represent the president as an individual (which is why SCROTUS also has his private lawyer), nor Coats nor Rogers or any official individually. McGahn is probably trying to coordinate their stories to jibe with Trump's, as his job is basically to keep SCROTUS, in his official capacity as president, out of trouble. But if Coats or Rogers might have any personal legal jeopardy (as if, for example, they had testified falsely before the Senate committee) they'd have to retain their own lawyers.

[spanone]

9. thanks. 👍🏼

[furtheradu]

5. Huh. NUTHIN fishy goin on there. 😒

Right? !

Yeah, y'all go ahead and CONSULT with your trump-rusky-republiker people.
Y'all done screwed your own selves.
Best *TURN* & cop a deal, & save your rusty hides..
& AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

Frickin JERKS.

[DeminPennswoods]

3. Jackie Speier was just on with Chris Hayes

and said Coates will get yelled at by Trump for that inept response.

[oasis]

4. Mumbling, fumbling, bumbling idiot. Coats took 9 seconds before

he could answer a tough question put to him in another hearing.

[OliverQ]

8. Rachel is trying to pin them as Trump stooges right now

[H2O Man]

10. Recommended.

That will go down in history as one of the strangest statements made under oath.