Video Transcript
Larry King: … New York, Brad Micklin, trial attorney and legal analyst. Gentlemen, on Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Facebook is allowing companies like Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and others to access information on its users. It’s a majority we’re not aware of. Brad, do you have any problem with the government getting involved on issues like this?
Brad Micklin: With regard to the Facebook issues?
Larry King: Yeah.
Brad Micklin: I think the government should always be involved, or at least the FTC, when there’s such a large amount of private information being exchanged when the consumer’s not really aware of it. I believe there’s already an FTC consent order that’s in place that’s being violated, and that’s the greater concern is that we can’t expect a great amount of privacy when we go into this kind of social networking, but when there’s a consent order in place, we’re going to rely on that. We should be able to rely on it, and when we can’t, I think we need intervention for it.
Larry King: Okay. Do you think there’s a bias … I’ll ask this of you, Brad … on these platforms against conservatives?
Brad Micklin: I don’t know if I could say there’s a bias or not. I think that it’s such a widespread issue that everybody’s going to be affected by it.
Larry King: [inaudible 00:01:07] Brad, what’s your read on where the Mueller investigation stands?
Brad Micklin: It’s an interesting question because we’re still waiting to see what happens with the Flynn sentencing, and I think that’s going to be significant because it’s one more piece of this sort of domino that they’re putting together. But so far, they’ve been into it for a very long time and I haven’t seen anything come out to show that there’s actually been any kind of collusion with Russia, specifically with the Trump election or even the transition. So, it’s hard to say. I’m still waiting for something more to come from it.
Larry King: Brad, the White House maintains that Flynn was ambushed during his original interview and entrapped by investigators. Do you agree?
Brad Micklin: Part of me agrees. They had him on tape. They knew his statements were there, so there was no need to question him about it. If they thought his actions or the actions he admitted to on the recordings were unlawful, they should have charged him then. But, the reality is, he was well-aware of his constitutional rights. He was well-aware of the policies and procedures. He voluntarily gave these statements and elected that way to waive those rights, so he can’t now complain that he was ambushed, even though he might have been. It’s just too late for that argument.
Larry King: Brad, what do you expect the Supreme Court to do?
Brad Micklin: It’s impossible to predict, and that’s what I love about the Supreme Court, that regardless of who appointed them, regardless of what their party affiliation is, they have no bias, no affiliation, and you never know which way they’re going to go. Hopefully and usually, they do what’s right for the country.
Larry King: But do you think, Brad, that Roberts would change his mind?
Brad Micklin: I don’t know. I try not to predict on things like this, so I’m going to just wait and see.
Larry King: A rare bipartisan vote, the Senate voted in favor of sweeping criminal justice reforms. Brad, what do you think?
Brad Micklin: I agree, not just for the reasons that Dave had said, but at the time these reforms were first put into place when we had the war on drugs and war on crime, they really served the purpose and we really needed to get this off the street. But now we have all these people and we have to figure out what to do with it, with them, and this reform is going to help us do that. I think it’s a perfect timing for it.
Larry King: David Brown, Brad Micklin, thank you both for your time today.
Brad Micklin: Thanks, Larry.
David Brown: Thank you, Larry.
