JUDY WOODRUFF: We get
reaction from Lisa Monaco,
who was the homeland
security and counterterrorism

adviser to former
President Barack Obama.

She has also led the Justice
Department's National Security
Division, and served for

three years as chief of staff
and counsel to Robert Mueller
when he was director of

the FBI.

Lisa Monaco, thank
you for joining us.

Is there any doubt in
your mind that President
Trump and Attorney General
Sessions were within

their rights to -- when
they fired Andrew McCabe?

LISA MONACO, Former Chief
White House Counterterrorism
Adviser: The attorney
general was within his

right to dismiss a member
of the Justice Department.

But we can't really judge the
merits of that decision because
we don't have the inspector

general report.

I will tell you, based on my
nearly 15 years of experience
in the Justice Department and

being part of literally dozens
of and reviewing dozens of
inspector general reports, it is

really highly unusual to not
have the report itself made
public when such a public action

as happened late Friday
night takes place.

And so we have to ask
ourselves, why is that the case?

Why was there a rush to take
this action 26 hours before
Andy McCabe was due to retire?

Why was the report and
the investigation that
was focused on Andy
McCabe separated out from

the broader investigation and
accelerated from the broader
investigation of the conduct

of the FBI on the Hillary
Clinton e-mail case?

So, all of these are, I think,
very significant questions.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, as
I understand it, that's
the attorney general's
decision to make.

You worked with Andrew McCabe
in your time at the FBI.

What was his reputation then?

LISA MONACO: McCabe had and
has a very good reputation.

I worked with him when I was
at the Justice Department,
when I was at the FBI and when

I was in the White House.

He, in my experience, is a
man of very high integrity.

He has devoted his
life to public service.

And he was literally on the
other end of the phone at all
hours of the day and night when

it came to terrorist
attacks, terrorist threats.

This is a man who has devoted
his life to public service.

He is a career civil servant.

And, you know, this is an issue
that I think we really do have
to wonder why was the timing

done in this way.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I also want
to, of course, ask you about
the Mueller investigation.

You worked very closely
with Bob Mueller when he
ran, was head of the FBI.

When Andrew McCabe -- when
this firing took place over the
weekend, he put out a statement

he thought the president had
done this in connection with
the Russia investigation.

As all of us know, the
president's been very critical
of the Mueller investigation.

Based on everything you know,
is the president - - does the
president have a point when he

says this is an investigation
that should have never gotten
under way in the first place?

LISA MONACO: Well, I
don't think there's any
merit to that contention.

This is an investigation
that was begun after the
president fired James Comey.

This was an investigation that
-- and the special counsel,
of course, was appointed

by Rod Rosenstein, President
Trump's deputy attorney
general, and a career prosecutor

himself.

So, you know, none of
that really stands up.

And I think, Judy, what this
shows is really a pattern of
an effort to distract from the

special counsel's investigation
and the results that he and
his team are putting forward.

And it also shows something
else, which I think is very
damaging to the institutions

of the Department of Justice
and FBI, which is the president
not observing the longtime

norm of having a wall
between law enforcement
and Justice Department
decisions both on cases

and in personnel matters, as
was the case with the action
against Andy McCabe on Friday

night, not observing that
wall between the White House
and the Justice Department.

And the reason you want to
observe that wall is so there is
no question, no taint or cloud

over decisions made at
the Justice Department.

And, unfortunately,
that's now what we have.

The minute the president started
tweeting and publicly calling
for Andy McCabe's ouster,

there's now a taint over any
Justice Department decision
that follows from that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: One other thing.

The original intent of this
investigation, as we understand
it, was to look into whether

there was a connection between
the Trump campaign and Russian
officials, the 2016 campaign.

How far can Robert Mueller
stray from that original
purpose in this investigation?

LISA MONACO: Well, I think, if
you look at the charge given
to the special counsel, as

laid down by Rod Rosenstein,
the deputy attorney general and
the acting attorney general for

purposes of this matter, because
Attorney General Sessions
is, of course, recused, the

charge, the original charge
to special counsel Mueller and
his team is to investigate the

matters as you set forth, but
also matters and issues that
arise from that investigation.

So, we also have the statement
of Rod Rosenstein of just a
few weeks ago recently where he

said he doesn't find any fault,
or words to that effect, with
how special counsel Mueller

is conducting himself.

And, of course, any expansion
of the probe would have to be
approved by Rod Rosenstein,

the deputy attorney general.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well,
Lisa Monaco, so much
to talk about here.

We thank you very much
for joining us today.

LISA MONACO: Thanks
for having me.