CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

COOPER: All right. Manu Raju, Manu, thanks.

Joining us now is Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and member of the Judiciary Committee.

Senator Blumenthal, do you agree with Speaker Pelosi that Democrats should focus on their agenda and message and not the Mueller probe and Russia interference? Should Democrats essentially move on?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: We should definitely focus, Anderson, on the challenges ahead to our country. Infrastructure, that is rebuilding our roads and bridges, health care, making it more widely available and reducing the costs of pharmaceutical drugs. Veterans issues and our national defense, which is increasingly complex and challenging.

But at the same time, we need to protect our nation against the continuing Russian threat of meddling in our election. And that was the purpose of the Mueller probe at the very outset. It began as a counterintelligence investigation, and we need to know and see that Mueller report. All we have right now is the Barr summary. So, we can establish how close the wrongdoing came to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, whether there was noncriminal wrongdoing by the Trump campaign.

Clearly, there is evidence of some cooperation there. And also very, very importantly, the statement by Mueller, one of the few statements that quoted in the Barr summary, that the president is not exonerated on the issue of obstruction of justice.

COOPER: You said earlier today that, quote, there is evidence of collusion, no question. Do you stand by that claim? Because it sure seems like Robert Mueller's conclusion is very different.

BLUMENTHAL: We don't know what Robert Mueller's conclusion is because we haven't seen it. All we've seen is the Barr summary. Even if the Mueller report says that he could not establish, that's his word, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that's a very high bar. There may still be evidence. In fact there is already in the public realm. And that evidence is what I was citing.

For example, the president's encouragement of the Russians to provide more hacked information. His knowledge of the WikiLeaks release and his encouragement there, his negotiations on the Trump Tower Moscow at the same time that he was praising Vladimir Putin. A string of highly significant public evidence of cooperation that may have only been tacit, without criminal intent, but his own campaign manager shared polling data, sensitive, private polling data with the Russians while they were attacking this country through a campaign of misinformation.

COOPER: But isn't -- I mean, that is all things that Robert Mueller likely looked at, and yet still came away -- I mean it's one thing, yes, the president said in a press conference, you know, Russia, if you're listening -- I can't remember the exact quote -- finding the e- mails. But Mueller knew that, looked at it and still said no crime here.

BLUM ENTHAL: And that's why we need to see the report. I can't emphasize enough how important transparency is.

We have the Barr summary. We do not have the Mueller report. We have no idea what his reasoning was.

Absence of criminal intent on the part of some or all of the Trump operatives who engaged in cooperation and what looks like conspiracy but maybe not, without that culpable intent, but also on the issue of obstruction. After all, obstruction is an effort to hinder an investigation. The fact that there was insufficient evidence of conspiracy may be due to the hindering of the investigation, and that's the essence of obstruction. That's the crime where Mueller did not exonerate the president.

COOPER: The Trump campaign, as you know, sent out a memo to the media today accusing you and others of lying to the American people about claims of collusion. They clearly see you as ripe for attack. What about that? Are you worried your credibility has taken a hit?

[20:15:01] Do you feel you have anything to apologize for?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, in that letter, apparently, I haven't actually seen it, but they took a part of a quotation without the whole of it. And the second part of it said in effect whether there are going to be criminal charges remains to be seen. So I stand by the contention that there is evidence. It may not rise to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

I know as a former prosecutor that sometimes that proof comes very close but it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt, and particularly when it's the president. It's a very, very high bar. So the effort to discredit critics is certainly not a new phenomenon for this administration. I'm going to continue to speak out. I won't be deterred or silenced.

COOPER: But shouldn't the bar be high? I mean, if -- you know, I know it's -- in a court of law, it's beyond a reasonable doubt. Given the seriousness of this, given it's the president of the United States and it's as serious as it gets, shouldn't the bar be that high?

BLUMENTHAL: Absolutely. It is under the law. I respect the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard.

But at the same time, in order to prevent wrongdoing of this kind in the future, Congress continues to have an oversight function. We have a responsibility, independent of the special counsel, to devise new legislation reforms that will safeguard against this kind of Russian interference in the future. And that's where there is bipartisan agreement, as well as on the need for transparency.

After all, the president himself said today that he's in favor of transparency. If he's serious about it, he'll back the bipartisan bill that I've introduced with Senator Grassley that would require it.

COOPER: All right. Senator Blumenthal, appreciate your time. Thank you.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source