CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal
Interview
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BLITZER: Yes, accusing the president of the United States of committing a crime in engaging in campaign finance violations.
Kaitlan, thank you very much for.
Joining us now, Senator Richard Blumenthal. He's a Democrat. He serves on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.
Senator, thanks so much for coming in.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let me get your reaction, first of all, to the Michael Cohen guilty plea.
BLUMENTHAL: Today is going to be historic. We will all remember what we were doing when we heard this news about Michael Cohen implicating the president in a very, very serious crime.
If Donald Trump were anyone except president of the United States, very probably, he would be charged today with a crime. And the White House is looking increasingly like a criminal enterprise.
BLITZER: Do you believe Michael Cohen?
BLUMENTHAL: I believe Michael Cohen, and I believe the United States of America, which charged Michael Cohen and is responsible for the plea agreement.
They could not accept Michael Cohen's plea agreement unless they believe Michael Cohen too, which means they have evidence to corroborate it.
BLITZER: So do you believe this is an impeachable offense?
BLUMENTHAL: What the remedy is going to be will depend on what more is found as a result of continuing investigation by the special counsel.
And here's what I believe is most important, Wolf, on this day. The Congress of the United States has to protect the special counsel. We're likely to see a firestorm of resistance from the president of the United States.
And the Congress of the United States itself has to investigate through the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.
BLITZER: Well, do you think anything is going to happen between now and the midterm elections? You only have a few legislative days. And you got a lot of other stuff to do, including the confirmation hearings for a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
HERE [18:30:00]
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: -- to investigate through the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think anything is going to happen between now and the midterm elections? You only have a few legislative days, and you've got a lot of other stuff to do, including the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court justice.
BLUMENTHAL: We need to begin. The Senate Judiciary Committee is composed of senators who are going to be there after the midterm election, two-thirds of us. So I think the beginning has to be set and marked right now. And Wolf, we're in a Watergate moment, where the two parties have to come together. We need bipartisanship now more than ever to protect the special counsel and to stop, and I must underscore, stop any consideration of pardons which undoubtedly will be another --
BLITZER: The president has a right to pardon Paul Manafort, for example, if he wanted to.
BLUMENTHAL: He has the power to pardon Paul Manafort. But he would be screaming to the world, I am guilty. And he would so undermine the credibility of his office that it would be a disaster for the nation. And it would very possibly be an obstruction of justice because he would be misusing that power to protect himself as a target of that investigation.
BLITZER: Because we did hear the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, top Democrat, Mark Warner. They came out and read a joint statement saying they would like Michael Cohen to come back to the Senate and answer questions. I assume you would like to see that, as well.
BLUMENTHAL: Not only Michael Cohen, but also Donald Trump Jr. There are a series of potential witnesses who still have not testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Intelligence Committee and Congress has to reassert itself as a force for democracy.
BLITZER: What do you think Robert Mueller, the special counsel, will do with all of this information that was collected by the U.S. attorney and the southern district of New York and including the FBI and the IRS agents?
BLUMENTHAL: The Justice Department is one prosecuting entity. And that information is going to be shared. Michael Cohen hopefully, for his sake, as well as the country's, will cooperate. And whatever testimony he is able to offer could be used by the special counsel in a prosecution of other officials, including relatives of the president and the president himself. And I just want to emphasize, as I've said to you before, I believe the president of the United States can be indicted. There is a serious legal issue about it which is very likely the reason that he was not named to additional culpability today. There is a serious legal issue, but I think he can be indicted and the trial can be postponed until after he's finished serving.
BLITZER: As you know, Michael Cohen has made the claim that the president knew in advance of that controversial June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, that his son, son-in-law, campaign chairman, had with Russians who were offering, quote, "dirt on Hillary Clinton." The Senate Intelligence Committee is looking into all of that. Is that something you think Robert Mueller should also pursue?
BLUMENTHAL: He should be pursuing it very directly and immediately, the possibility that the president's son and son-in-law and campaign chairman went to that meeting after Donald Trump Jr. said, I love it. He was offered dirt on Hillary Clinton. That will be one of the epitaphs of this administration, along with Rudy Giuliani saying truth is not true.
BLITZER: What was your reaction to the president's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, being found guilty on eight felony counts in Alexandria, Virginia, today?
BLUMENTHAL: In a way, not surprising because the evidence was so overwhelming. The government still has the option to retry him on those 10 counts, where the jury hung. But he faces a second trial in the District of Columbia on eight additional counts of very serious felonies. So he already potentially faces the rest of his life in prison, and I think that he has a real incentive now to cooperate, to put it mildly.
BLITZER: Well, the president, you just heard him say on his arrival in Charleston, West Virginia, Paul Manafort is a good man, very sad thing happened to him. This had nothing to do with Russian collusion. It's a witch hunt. It's a disgrace. I feel badly -- very badly for Paul Manafort, and he said remember he used to work for Bob Dole, Ronald Reagan. The way he was speaking about Paul Manafort suggests to me he is seriously thinking of a pardon.
BLUMENTHAL: And that's why the Congress has to act right now. In a very bipartisan --
BLITZER: What can Congress do? The president has the authority to pardon anyone he wants?
BLUMENTHAL: The Congress can direct that it is the will of Congress that there be no pardon.
BLITZER: But you don't think the Republican majority in the House or the Senate is going to do that, do you?
BLUMENTHAL: I believe that at some point my Republican colleagues have to join in a bipartisan effort to save our democracy, which will be increasingly threatened if the president puts himself above the law.
[18:35:04] No one is above the law. We're in a Watergate moment.
BLITZER: Finally, very quickly. I want you to react. Michael Avenatti, you just heard him, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, he was very critical of what you had said about him, Stormy Daniels, their procedures over these many months. I'll give you a chance to react.
BLUMENTHAL: All I did, Wolf, was decline to endorse him for president of the United States. I think his legal strategy is his own decision, and whatever works for his client, he should pursue.
BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thank you so much for joining us.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.
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