CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Senator Richard Blumenthal

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: All right, Laura, thank you very much, Laura Jarrett reporting.

Joining us now, Senator Richard Blumenthal. He is a Democrat. He serves on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

And I want to get your thoughts on the new acting attorney general in just a moment, but let's begin with your reaction to this new bombshell report in "The Wall Street Journal" which details the president's involvement in the payoff schemes to women he allegedly had affairs with.

Do you believe the president committed a crime?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: The president did commit a

crime, according to the charging document that the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York submitted to the court in connection with the Cohen plea agreement.

It, in effect, charged him as an unindicted co-conspirator, without naming him, and this very abundant detail indicates additional evidence, very strong factual support for that, naming the president, in effect, as an unindicted conspirator.

BLITZER: You served as the attorney general of Connecticut. How unusual would it be for prosecutors to draft an 80-page indictment laying out so much evidence?

BLUMENTHAL: Very unusual to have a talking indictment, as it is known, laying out the case in such abundant detail, but also then a 22-page document in connection with the plea agreement that further bolstered it, and now this report that provides additional evidence about the details of Trump's own communications with Pecker, with Cohen, with others, and the knowledge that McDougal and Stormy Daniels are also bringing to the case.

So, clearly ,there's a lot of cooperating going on here, and it spells trouble for Donald Trump in the Southern District of New York, which, again, is outside of the special counsel's direct purview.

BLITZER: The direct purview, but they work closely together on many, many of these cases.

No sitting president, as you know, Senator, has ever been indicted. Do you think that could change?

[18:15:01]

BLUMENTHAL: It could change, but Robert Mueller is very much a by- the-book, cautious and deliberate prosecutor who is methodically and meticulously putting together the mosaic of evidence regarding Russian collusion, involving the Trump campaign and potential obstruction of justice.

When he makes a conclusion, it will have to be based on proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a very high standard, for any defendant, and an even tougher one when you consider a public official, and even harder when it is a public official like the president. So the odds are against an indictment of the president, but he is certainly putting every effort into collecting this evidence.

BLITZER: Because the current position of the Justice Department is a sitting president cannot be indicted.

But do you think that ultimately that this new information contained in this "Wall Street Journal" report could prove more damaging to the president than the Mueller probe?

BLUMENTHAL: It could prove more damaging to the president because it is a discrete, definite crime involving campaign finance and fraud against the government.

I happen to believe the president could be indicted legally and the trial postponed until the end of his term as president under the Constitution. But the question really will be for the special counsel and for the Southern District of New York based on the evidence. It will be a very fact-based decision.

BLITZER: Let's move on and get to some other important issues.

You're considering suing the Trump administration over the appointment of the acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker. Why do you believe his appointment is illegal?

BLUMENTHAL: The president should withdraw this appointment.

It raises very serious constitutional questions. We have made no definite decision about whether or not to seek a court action, but clearly Matt Whitaker has never been confirmed to his present post. He was confirmed as U.S. attorney, but not as chief of staff, and, therefore, his installation in this position potentially violates the advice and consent requirement under the Constitution, as well as other statutory requirements.

So the president would be well-advised to withdraw it. In addition, of course, Mr. Whitaker has indicated a profound hostility to this special counsel investigation, saying that there was no collusion with the Russians and the Trump campaign, saying that it is Mueller's lynch mob.

And the specter here is of, in effect, a slow-motion Saturday Night Massacred, a death by 1,000 secret deaths and cuts to the Mueller investigation, cuts in spending, cuts in authority, cuts in charges that could be brought, and that is very, very, deeply troubling.

BLITZER: The president says he didn't speak to Whitaker about the Mueller probe before appointing him. Do you buy that?

BLUMENTHAL: I have very strong suspicions that there was some conversation about it.

It is an issue that should be investigated by the Judiciary Committee in the Senate or the House, because, again, it goes to the question of Whitaker's hostility to the special counsel's investigation, the appearance of a conflict of interests.

He has set forth a road map for how to stifle and strangle this investigation. He has indicated how to do it through cuts in the funding for positions in that office, through limitations on its authority, and through the potential disapproval of indictments that may be brought by Mueller.

And he has direct responsibility, as the acting attorney general.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source