(CNN) Former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker privately acknowledged Wednesday that he had raised concerns with his staff at the Justice Department about the scope of the Southern District of New York's case against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, according to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and Republican aides. But the Republican aides said he did not speak to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York about the case, instead saying he had internal discussions with Justice Department staff about his concerns. The GOP aides said Whitaker did not remember having any conversations with Trump about the Cohen probe, and he said he would have remembered any contentious exchanges with the President about the case. "Unlike in the hearing room, Mr. Whitaker did not deny that the President called him to discuss the Michael Cohen case and personnel decisions of the Southern District," Nadler said, referring to last month's daylong public hearing with Whitaker. But the top Republican on the committee, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, pushed back on Nadler's characterization of their interview, downplaying what Whitaker had told the committee and saying there's no evidence Whitaker discussed the Cohen case with the PresidentRead More

Source: CNN March 13, 2019 21:21 UTC