CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Heck

Interview

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WHITFIELD: The Democrats with oversight hearings on everything from President Trump's policies to his personal finances. On Friday, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker testified in a contentious hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Whitaker says he has not spoken to Trump about the Mueller probe but he did not defend the special counsel investigation, refusing to say it was not a witch hunt.

Soon various House committees will be holding hearings on Trump's finances and Russia, among other things. Democratic lawmakers want to know if the president's financial interests are driving his actions. With me now is Congressman Denny Heck, a Democratic representative

from the state of Washington and a member of the House Intel Committee.

Good to see you, Congressman.

REP. DENNY HECK, (D), WASHINGTON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: What did you feel you learned from Matthew Whitaker's testimony before the Judiciary Committee that might help you when he is before the Intel Committee?

HECK: I don't know we learned much of considerable utility from him. I think he was painfully aware, as the top law enforcement officer in the nation, that, thus far, there's been 139 criminal charges, 37 indictments or plea deals, and four prison sentences meted out to people associated with President Trump. Including Mr. Cohen who is going to prison here in about a month for lying to Congress. And Mr. Stone who very well may go to prison for lying to Congress. I think he was painfully aware of that. But only time will tell.

WHITFIELD: A part of your committee investigation will focus on the president's finances. And Trump says that's harassment and it crosses, you know, a red line. What are you specifically concerned about? How do you expect to get access to those financial documents?

HECK: First, I don't think the president really has much moral authority to make that assertion until and unless he's willing to at least sit down for an in-person deposition. I mean, he won't even do that, let alone, sit in front of a hostile committee for 11 hours. And, Fred you know to what I specifically refer. But obviously, I think it's not just Democratic lawmakers who want to know whether the president has financial entanglements which compromise him in his administration of the American government. It's the American people who want to know, is he compromised, is there a conflict of interest, is there something being put ahead of America's national security and America's best interests.

WHITFIELD: You're making reference to Clinton and the Benghazi hearing. So who specifically would you want, you know, to hear from? Who do you want to testify who can actually bring answers?

HECK: One of the things that Chairman Schiff, the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has indicated he would like to see are some of the records from Deutsche Bank and the president's involvement there. I want to remind you, there was a point in time when American banks basically would not touch the president and he had to go to Deutsche Bank in order to receive financing. We also know that Deutsche Bank has been under some withering criticism, an allegation that they laundered money for the Russians. Among a lot of things we would like to know is, who's guaranteed all the loans he supposedly had from Deutsche Bank. And what does that represent in the way of a potential conflict of interest.

WHITFIELD: Post that hearing with Whitaker, saying the president blasted this hearing, you know, tweeting this, saying, "The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see. When the Republicans had the majority, they never acted with such hatred and scorn. The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win."

I guess he's not thinking about all the investigations, you know, probing that did take place when President Obama was in office, from Affordable Care Act to Benghazi, et cetera. What is your response to what the president had to say?

HECK: The president has neither grasp of recent history, nor grasp of the Constitution. He obviously is forgetting the Benghazi hearing. He was the loudest high-profile proponent of the ridiculous Birther accusation against Obama. He doesn't understand the Constitution either. Its first article sets forth the responsibilities of the congressional branch and its obligation to undertake oversight and accountability with the executive branch. That's our constitutional responsibility. On the first day of office, each of us raises our right hand and swears he will uphold that and give full faith and allegiance to that, and that's what we intend to do.

WHITFIELD: Is it just the feeling that in the first two years, he didn't have that with Republican-controlled Senate and the House and now things are different, and so it's going to be much more of what we saw yesterday, over the next two years perhaps?

[13:25:08] HECK: Well, look, how many times can we say that the man's given to hyperbole, right? My colleague on the Intel Committee, Congressman Swalwell, indicated we were going to perform an MRI on his business dealings with an eye toward, are there conflict-of-interest relationships here. And as we do that, I'm pretty sure he's going to claim that wasn't an MRI, that was a colonoscopy. That's the kind of hyperbole he will engage in. Fred, he has exactly, count them, four plays -- attack, deny, play the victim, and change the subject. Literally, just about every utterance that comes out of his mouth falls into one of those categories and often bears absolutely no relationship to the truth whatsoever.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Denny Heck, thank you so much for being with us this Saturday.

HECK: You're welcome.

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