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

Interview

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Joining us now, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining. We have got a lot to discuss.

But, first, let me get your thoughts on Ric Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany. Do you believe he's qualified to serve as the country's top intelligence officer?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think he has a lot of questions to answer. As of right now, I would not vote for him.

But there has to be someone to serve in that position. And I think that, based on my experience in the Armed Services Committee, that he has to justify and he has the burden of proof on whether he should be confirmed.

BLITZER: Because Grenell was confirmed by the Senate as his role as U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Is it your understanding that the president can use the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, as it's called, to bypass you and another potential Senate confirmation process?

BLUMENTHAL: He can bypass us for a while, but not permanently.

And I should add, Wolf, that this vacancy is one of many at the very top of both the Defense Department and other departments of government.

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In the Defense Department, for example, one-quarter of all the top Senate-confirmed positions, 25 percent, 16 out of the 59 are now vacant, filled by acting people.

And that detracts from not only the morale, but also the policy-making expertise. The same is true in the NSA, the National Security Agency. Having someone who's a political appointee, with little or any background in intelligence, come there on an acting basis is really the wrong move.

And I hope that the president will appoint a real professional.

BLITZER: Let's turn to the other big news we're following right now, Senator.

The attorney general, Bill Barr, is considering, we're told, resigning over the president's continued interference. Do you see this as a real threat? Or do you believe there are other motivations at play?

BLUMENTHAL: Bill Barr is fast losing any shred of credibility in the Department of Justice and the wider law enforcement establishment.

If he has any self-respect or moral backbone, he will resign. He has been part of a pattern of political interference in the American justice system, really part of a perfect storm, a president intent on corrupting the Department of Justice with contempt for the rule of law. Bill Barr has acted as his henchmen.

And the Republican majority have been his enablers, really active participants, aiders and abetters. And so Bill Barr may stay. But he has enabled Rudy Giuliani to have a back channel to the Department of Justice with dirt on Ukraine.

He has skewed and distorted the Mueller report before it was even released. From the very start, before his confirmation -- and I voted against him -- he has given the president this unitary vision of the executive branch that the president has exploded to say that he is the chief of law enforcement and, therefore, can do anything he wants.

So, I would predict that the president will continue mocking and taunting him, as he did to former Attorney General Sessions. But, ultimately, Bill Barr is going to be humiliated. It's bigger than Bill Barr. It's about the rule of law.

BLITZER: But Bill Barr, as you heard the other day, publicly saying in that interview with ABC News that, if the president continues these statements and these tweets, it's going to make his job as the attorney general impossible.

He was critical of the president.

BLUMENTHAL: What he was really saying there was: I know what the president wants. I will do anything the president wants. Please, I wish he would just stop tweeting and, in effect, humiliating and embarrassing me.

And the president seems to continue tweeting and embarrassing him, humiliating and mocking him, which is really an insult to the entire system of justice and the Department of Justice. Tomorrow is the Roger Stone sentencing. So we can anticipate more

tweets and more humiliation. But it's really bigger than Bill Barr. It's about the rule of law, which is also demoralized. And those brave and dedicated professionals in the Department of Justice, 2,000 former members, have written a letter of protest.

And I would see continued revolt. I think Bill Barr faces eventually a full-scale revolt in the Department of Justice, if he continues to be the president's henchmen, indeed, his lapdog.

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

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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