CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi

Interview

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[19:05:51] BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Manu. And I want to go now to Democratic Congressman from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, who sits on the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees. Congressman, good to have you back. What's your reaction to this breaking news?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you, Erin.

BURNETT: The White House asked former White House Counsel Don McGahn twice in the past month once they saw the Mueller report and in one case prior to it actually becoming public, but after the White House saw it, telling Don McGahn to go publicly and say President Trump never obstructed justice and McGahn denied - refused to do so.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, as you know the President said that there was no obstruction of justice. So the fact that he would ask began to go out there and say that there was no obstruction of justice and hints at what they really believe is the case. But this all goes to a bigger issue, which is we need to have the unredacted, fully unredacted Mueller report, including everything related to McGahn's conversations with regard to these issues and others. We need to see the underlying documents and, of course, we need to have McGahn testify in Capitol Hill.

BURNETT: So, obviously, when one looks at this obstruction issue, the President said there's no obstruction. You've got now, what, more than 800 former prosecutors at the DOJ saying that they think when you look at this it adds up to obstruction. Don McGahn won't come out publicly and say that it wasn't. But he's a crucial guy to hear from and thus far you might not.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes.

BURNETT: I mean, does this change where you are on impeachment or no? And if no, why?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, right now I'm so like focused like a laser on the challenge right in front of our face which is, are the American people going to have oversight of this president or do we have a system of checks and balances with regard to this executive or not? We have subpoenas out, obviously, for Mr. McGahn's testimony, but today also subpoenas were issued for his tax returns. Subpoenas were issued for other folks' testimony as well.

On other issues, none of them have been complied with. Now, we're even seeing Republicans start issuing subpoenas such as Senator Richard Burr in the Senate for Don Jr.'s testimony. So this is becoming, I hope, a bipartisan concern because this should not just be an issue for one party to be concerned with.

BURNETT: So the House Judiciary Chairman, Nadler, has threatened to hold McGahn in contempt if he doesn't comply with his subpoena and there's various things you could do as Manu was laying out. You could end up with him being disbarred, all sorts of things that would affect his life significantly.

Congressman Nadler also says the full House could hold a single vote to find multiple people in contempt. Are there other people you plan to hold in contempt, noting that Barr, obviously, was already voted as such by that committee?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes. I think that - well, let's see. We have to see whether folks comply with subpoenas that are outstanding. For instance, Mr. Mnuchin and the IRS Commissioner, Mr. Rettig, now must turn over tax returns by next Friday, according to the subpoena issued by Chairman Neal from the House Ways and Means Committee and let's see if they comply.

But for instance on my Committee on the Oversight Committee we had Mr. Carl Kline who is in charge of the security clearance process, refused to answer a number of questions and he is also under subpoena. So in my opinion, it probably does make sense to consolidate these various contempt proceedings and so forth. But, obviously, we have to give people a chance to comply.

BURNETT: All right. So but if they don't comply, what do you do? You go to a court to enforce that if they still don't comply, then you move forward with an impeachment proceeding? Is that still the extra step that needs to occur in your mind, Congressman?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm not there yet. I want the investigation to proceed. And one issue that I just want to raise very briefly is with regard to the tax returns there's actually a statutory violation in addition to a violation of the subpoena. But the main point here is that we have to have a system of checks and balances.

The President right now is thumbing his nose at the American people and not answering any of these subpoenas or having people testify on Capitol Hill and we cannot have that. The other question that comes up is what are they trying to hide? What is behind this refusal to comply with basic request for information?

[19:10:20] BURNETT: So, look, you have a fair point. They say, "But, hey, there's 17 of these." You guys want everything in the kitchen sink and how do you make the case to the American people that this is not as the President says, your effort to influence 2020 or relitigate 2016?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Sure. Well, right now, as we can see, not only is he not complying with issues related to the Mueller report but on a whole host of issues, Erin. And I know that the American people definitely want to be able to have oversight of the president with regard to, for instance, health care issues or with regard to immigration issues and the list goes on and on.

If we allow the President not to comply with these basic requests for materials, then he will do the same thing with regard to those other issues which are as crucial as these to the interests and welfare of the American people. Finally, I would just say one thing on my House Intelligence Committee, in another bipartisan request, Chairman Schiff and Devin Nunes, the ranking member have come together, and now for the second time requested all counterintelligence materials associated with the Mueller report. They still have yet to receive that.

And so I think that there's perhaps a growing dissatisfaction with the President's behavior even among Republicans.

BURNETT: Well, getting Nunes and Schiff to agree on anything is a pretty miraculous thing. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time, Congressman.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you. Thank you, Erin. Thank you.

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