CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Gary Peters
Interview
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BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much. And I want to go now, as I said, to the man you there on that clip, the top Democrat on the Senate, Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Gary Peters.
Senator, I really appreciate your time. And everyone saw that that exchange between you and Chairman Johnson, three and a half hours today you spent in a hearing on fraud that did not impact the election. Tonight, the President pushing extensively for a special counsel to investigate the fraud that did not impact the election. Your reaction, Senator?
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Yes. This is just all ridiculous and it just has to stop. The President has been making these false allegations right from the start. What we heard today in the hearing, there were folks that are basically just restating the statements and allegations that we have to be clear. They've been before courts all across the country. I think it's roughly 60 court cases that heard these arguments and they thrown them out or they've been withdrawn. There is no basis here.
You've got to actually have facts and they don't have facts and that's what's so disturbing, though, is that it still has a very damaging and corrosive impact on this democracy.
[19:10:00]
We heard Mr. Krebs, you showed a clip from him and his testimony, that really the ultimate aim here is to try to delegitimize an election and have people not believe in the system. And we know that elections are absolutely fundamental to our Democratic republic. People have to trust an election, they have to understand that their candidate either won or lost, and then there's a peaceful transfer of power.
And when you have a President of the United States making the kinds of statements that President Trump is making, we've seen people make those kinds of statements before (inaudible) to be authoritarians who want to basically dismantle, if there's a Democratic government there to begin with, to dismantle that and instill themselves in an autocratic government.
This is scary, this is dangerous and we have to speak out against it.
BURNETT: So what do you think is happening? I mean, Sen. Rand Paul should know better, yet he's been a real leader on this issue. And then Republican Senator Josh Hawley today came out. He would not rule out joining a House member and actually trying to challenge the election on the floor when it comes to the beginning of January.
Even though the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and I want to be clear here, he told Republicans in the Senate not to do that. Stop, guys, this is over. Drop it. That was what Mitch McConnell finally said. So it took him 38 days. The point is he said it and they're not all going with it now. Hawley said today, I'm going to do my due diligence and we'll say.
Do you worry who's in control of the Senate GOP, Senator?
PETERS: Yes. What I'm really worried about and I think you're spot on when you're saying these are folks who should know better and to me that's what's so concerning. These are folks that have been around politics. They know that these elections are free and fair. We've had those statements. You mentioned from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, it's gone through roughly 60 court cases. There's no there there.
And the fact that these statements are continuing to be made is weakening this democracy. Quite frankly the Republicans are playing with fire and they're playing with our democracy. They're playing with the very foundation of what this great country is built on in order to further their partisan ambitions, their desire for partisan power. That is scary. It's irresponsible and, again, this is this is dangerous stuff that they're doing.
They have to rise up and be patriots and say, it is time that we move on with this country. We've got significant challenges as a country. Let's move on.
BURNETT: So let me ask you, Senator, one more thing here. The President also wants to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, and there is, of course, a separate investigation into Biden's son. Now, responding to a question about whether he is confident that Hunter did anything wrong, Biden replied, I'm confident that Hunter did nothing wrong. Do you share that confidence?
PETERS: I have no evidence to have any other view. I mean, we obviously see what happens with evidence, but I think what we have seen from certainly Chairman Johnson, is that he has been trying to, to make allegations that are not based on fact. I know today he was frustrated or lashed out maybe because if you look at some of the comments that he has made regarding issues related to Ukraine, that is Russian misinformation campaign. We know that that's what has been engaged and Ron Johnson likes to talk about it on a regular basis.
We have to be these are serious matters. We should be driven by facts and let facts drive it instead of false allegations that only stir more division at a time when our country is already so divided. This is a time where we have to heal this country and bring people together. And I would hope my Republican colleagues would understand that is more important than whatever their short-term political ambition is. This is about our country.
BURNETT: Well, history would show that sometimes when they unleash certain animal spirits and people - they're not going to go back into the box, as we say, and they may not realize what they're doing. Thank you so much, Senator. I appreciate your time.
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