MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: "Impeachment and Civil War."

Interview

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HAYES: I`m joined now by freshman Democratic Congressman Joe Neguse of Colorado, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. You support this inquiry, I know that, and you`re on the Judiciary Committee. Have any of the arguments made by the President`s defenders made a dent to you either substantively or politically?

REP. JOE NEGUSE (D-CO): No, Chris, and thanks for having me on. Look, I think, you know, based on the clips that you just showed in your opening, it`s becoming more and more difficult for Republicans to rationalize the President`s egregious conduct. And I would just underscore again the point that you made which is we have the call summary notes and the facts that have already been adduced to the American public over the course of the last week and a half show that the president betrayed the office of the presidency, he betrayed his oath in my view, and he betrayed the Constitution by directing a foreign power to target an American citizen, period. So you know, they can -- some of them can try to come up with the rationalizations that they have but ultimately I think that the American public understands the gravity of the moment that we are in because they have seen the evidence for themselves. And I imagine there going to be more shoes to drop over the coming weeks ahead.

HAYES: You`re back in your district as are most members of the House except for those on the Intelligence Committee. And I`m curious about what political dynamics you`re finding. There`s a lot concern initially this year by Nancy Pelosi and folks in sort of front-line swing districts that this would be a distraction, or that it would be hard to explain to the folks back home. You`re not in a front-line swing district but what do you -- what are those conversations like for you?

NEGUSE: You know, Chris, the reaction I`m receiving is ultimately folks are very, very concerned about what`s happening in Washington and the President`s conduct. Ultimately, they recognize an abuse of power when they see it. And I think last week as you know when the call summary notes became public, when the whistleblower`s complaint became public following the inspector -- excuse me -- the Director of National Intelligence testimony before the Intelligence Committee, it became clear to the American public that the President`s conduct was beyond the pale. And so, the reaction I`ve gotten from constituents is that we need to continue to follow the facts and that we need to ultimately hold this president accountable. We are the Article One branch. We ultimately have a grave and solemn responsibility under the Constitution to do precisely that. And it`s why we`ve embarked on the path that we have.

HAYES: You`re a member of the House Judiciary Committee which has oversight of the Department of Justice. We got reporting today that William Barr had asked the President to ask the Prime Minister of Australia to help Barr on an inquiry that he is apparently overseeing with a former U.S. Attorney or a U.S. Attorney who is looking into essentially the origins of the Mueller Investigation. There`s also reporting that Barr personally asked foreign officials to aid that inquiry into the CIA, FBI activities in 2016. Now, on its face, you know, they can -- the leader of the U.S. can ask another leader for cooperation of an inquiry, but do you trust that this inquiry is on the level?

NEGUSE: I don`t. I mean, you`ve already heard a number of national security professionals talk about the unprecedented nature of what the Attorney General is currently engaged in, this notion of asking foreign intelligence services to investigate American intelligence services and the intelligence apparatus in our country clearly to undermine the conclusions reached by the special counsel. At the end of the day, that is unprecedented and it could have profound ramifications for the rule of law in our country. And of course, it underscores what many of us have said for many months which is that the Attorney General really is functioning more as the President`s personal attorney than as the chief law enforcement officer in the United States, and ultimately that is deeply troubling for as I said the rule of law and the way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to function.

HAYES: All right, Congressman Joe Neguse of Colorado, thank you for making some time tonight.

NEGUSE: Thanks, Chris.

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