CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Interview
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Joining us now to talk about the impeachment trial and his role in it, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Senator, thanks for joining us.
What does the president's said newly selected defense team tell you about his legal strategy?
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): It could tell anyone who's paying attention a number of facts about his strategy.
First, they are celebrity lawyers who are well known to his base, and perhaps designed to appeal to the base, both within the Senate and more, probably creatively, outside, and then may say something about what he thinks is the strength of his case.
He needs big personalities and well-known celebrities because he sees some weaknesses in the facts and the law. And some of those lawyers, by the way, interestingly, are mentioned in the documents that have just been revealed, and others involving some of the scheme that may be in evidence.
But most important, Wolf, for me, and I hope for my colleagues in the Senate, is paying attention to the facts and the law, not the personalities of the lawyers.
And the case is so overwhelming here, despite the president's blocking every single document -- let me repeat -- every single document from every single agency, and despite his stopping any of the witnesses from the administration -- nine of them are key witnesses -- from coming forward.
He must be worried about what those facts and the law could show if we get those witnesses and document.
[18:10:05] BLITZER: Senator, which lawyers on the president's defense team are you referring to that they have been mentioned in those documents?
BLUMENTHAL: Jay Sekulow and Pam Bondi are mentioned in the Parnas documents, not to draw any inferences about their potential involvement, but they are mentioned in those documents.
Again, what's really important is the facts and the law. And that's why we're seeking those witnesses who have firsthand, direct knowledge. They were in the room. They were eyes and ears on the president, Michael Duffey and Robert Blair, who executed the scheme, John Bolton, who tried to talk him out of it, and Mick Mulvaney, who, in fact, took that order from the president to withhold money from Ukraine in return for personal benefits to the president in the investigation of the Bidens.
And most important is the focus on those witnesses and documents, firsthand and direct knowledge. And that is what I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will focus on, because the gravity of this moment certainly struck us yesterday as we took that oath, as we raised our right hand, as we watched the chief justice of the Supreme Court come into the chamber, never before seen by most of us.
BLITZER: Let me ask you what I asked Senator Markey in the last hour.
If, in order to get those four witnesses that the Democrats, that you want, you also have to include, let's say, Hunter Biden, would you vote for that kind of resolution?
BLUMENTHAL: Interestingly, Wolf, my answer depends on what Senator McConnell comes to us to propose.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: What if he says, you can have the four, but you're also going to have to have witnesses that the president wants?
The president repeatedly refers to Hunter Biden, the whistle-blower, Adam Schiff. He mentions those potential witnesses all the time.
BLUMENTHAL: Hunter Biden has no relevant knowledge, number one.
But, number two, I'm not going to negotiate against myself by talking about hypotheticals here. We have made a proposal to Senator McConnell. He has given us no response, none.
And he has proposed no rules as yet, none. Even his Republican colleagues are in the dark.
That is unprecedented. In the Clinton impeachment trial, rules were discussed on a bipartisan basis. He is literally, as he said, taking his cues from the White House. He's allowing Donald Trump to be in charge of his own trial.
And my Republican colleagues who join Senator McConnell will be complicit in that cover-up. They will be aiding and abetting it. There is a smoking gun here. We know about it already, that July 25 transcript.
And all of these witnesses documents that we want are designed to be firsthand direct evidence, knowledge of what the president said and did directly.
And Hunter Biden has no such knowledge, even, arguably, no such knowledge, let alone Adam Schiff, who is the advocate here, not a witness,
BLITZER: President Trump's defense team will face off, as you know, with these seven House Democrats, handpicked by the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, will present the case against the president.
You're a former prosecutor. What advice do you have for these House impeachment managers?
BLUMENTHAL: My advice, first of all, is secondary to their expertise. They are highly skilled. They know the case. They have prepared exhaustively.
But I would say rely on the facts and the law. There's an old saying as a prosecutor, and I know it well. If you have the facts, argue the facts. If you have the law, argue the law. If you don't have the facts or the law, pound on the table.
They don't need any table-pounding. They have the law and the facts on their side. This gross and corrupt abuse of the power of the office for personal benefit is so stark and so powerful.
The American people get it. And that's why, frankly, my Republican colleagues are saying, in their hometowns, as Susan Collins did in Bangor, Maine, that she's open to hearing witnesses and seeing documents.
But we need more than talk. I hope they will respond to the deep and steep gravity of the moment.
But I have been disappointed before. And what really counts is their votes. I will believe it when I see it.
BLITZER: You heard Manu Raju, our congressional correspondent, report that House Democrats tonight are planning to release more evidence involving the Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, as they prepare to file their formal brief tomorrow.
What do you expect? And do you think any new explosive claims revealed by Lev Parnas, for example, will be enough to pressure the Senate Republicans to calling witnesses?
[18:15:10]
BLUMENTHAL: There's growing momentum in favor of calling those witnesses and providing for the documents that, again, Donald Trump has blocked.
He has gagged the witnesses and silenced them. He has prevented the documents from coming in response to subpoenas and requests. And I think, more than the evidence coming to the fore now, what my colleagues will hear most persuasively is in their hometowns.
The American people, 70 percent want witnesses and documents, because they know that a trial without witnesses and documents, when they are blocked, is a cover-up.
And, as a former prosecutor, I'm very much aware of the jury instruction that judges give that a witness who prevents evidence from coming forward can be addressed with an adverse inference. You can assume that evidence would not have been helpful, that it might well have been incriminating, not helpful to the defendant.
So, what Donald Trump is blocking here and what my Republican colleagues have to hear and see, they will regret if they block it. And we are going to force them to go on record.
What we do in the Senate is, we vote. And they will be haunted by those votes, because history will judge them. This one is literally for the history books.
BLITZER: Well, do you want Lev Parnas to be a witness, Senator?
As you know, he's been criminally indicted right now in New York. You think he would be a good witness for the Democrats?
BLUMENTHAL: Great question.
I want to see all of those other documents that are now coming out, because they're going to be needed to corroborate Lev Parnas, if he ever is a witness, because he is under indictment. He could be challenged in terms of his credibility.
And I want to see those documents that are now coming out. There will be more of them, I understand.
But my focus -- and, again, just at the risk of repeating -- is on those four individuals. Mick Mulvaney was in the room with the president, taking his order to withhold this aid illegally, corruptly.
The two men who executed this scheme, Robert Blair and Michael Duffey, I want to hear from them, and of course, John Bolton, who called it a drug deal, who tried to dissuade the president from going forward with it.
The American people deserve the truth. I want to hear from them.
BLITZER: We will see if we do hear from them.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.
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