CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Nancy Mace

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Good afternoon. Thank you.

BROWN: First off, what's your reaction to seeing that video?

MACE: Well, I haven't seen the video yet. I heard it on the previous segment there. For me, I don't know that I would have the stomach to watch that. It's abhorrent, it's disgusting and it's unforgivable.

And whomever did that to our men and women in blue who were heroes on that day on January 6th, that were there to protect members of Congress and everyone working on the Hill that day, that individual should be prosecuted and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. BROWN: You voted against a bipartisan January 6th commission. These

new videos are coming out highlighting just how awful it was for law enforcement there, trying to do their jobs. I've interviewed law enforcement officers who were really disappoint that Republicans voted against that.

Do you regret your decision at all?

MACE: Well, I voted this week to award the congressional gold medal to the men and women in blue who were heroes on January 6th that day. I think that's very important.

When it comes to the commission, we already have four federal agencies that are investigating January 6th. So you have the Secret Service, you have Homeland Security, the FBI and the Department of Justice all investigating. There have been almost 500 arrests. Hundreds if not thousands of criminal charges so far.

And if there's anybody that could be non-partisan or bipartisan in their investigation, certainly I would think it would be the attorney general and the Department of Justice.

And then on top of that in Congress and the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, there are an additional ten committees that have broad subpoena power, that have investigative power to investigate January 6th, and in fact it was the House Oversight Committee earlier this week that had the FBI Director Christopher Wray there to testify as part of their committee investigation into January 6th.

BROWN: And as you know, it is true there are all these investigations but officers I've spoken with who were there at the Capitol that day, they wanted the commission because it would be independent and it would give an official record of what happened that day without any layer of politics which as you know happens in situations like this.

You're seeing that happened in terms of the politics with members of your party that are pushing an insane theory that the insurrection was orchestrated by the FBI. There's zero evidence to back this up.

Should Republican leadership including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounce this theory and the members spouting this lie?

MACE: Well, if that's a theory that's out there today, then Republicans and Democrats can investigate it in the ten committees that are already having investigations under way, and then, again, I'm going to go back to all the federal agencies that are doing their own investigations as well and being transparent with the public.

I think that's really important to recognize that those federal agencies are supposed to be nonpartisan in nature and the Department of Justice and Homeland Security and Secret Service and the FBI also investigating.

BROWN: Right.

MACE: So whatever theories are out there, then Republicans and Democrats alike have the opportunity to ask those questions of those who are in charge and they should.

BROWN: Right. And just to be clear, DOJ investigates the people, but the commission would have investigated the root cause what led to it. But do you not denounce the FBI insane theory that people in your party are spewing? Do you not denounce that?

MACE: I don't know -- I don't know anything about it. I haven't read it. I would highly doubt that the FBI or any federal agency would have orchestrated January 6th with a violent attacks that day.

It's really important that we come together as a nation. And one of the things we did this week was that we voted on giving the officers that day the congressional gold medal, and those are the things that I want to work on, on bringing our country together.

This week, also I voted to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. There are things that we can be doing to heal a country and bring these divisions together, and that's what we really should all be focused on, rather than being focused on the division. How can we come together and make our country better?

I have two kids and I'm a single mom, and I want a bright future for my children and all children, and so those are the things that I'm working really hard to achieve.

BROWN: But just to be clear, and I want to get to the example you point out about bipartisanship with AUMF and we will. But in terms of theories that some Republicans are trying to whitewash this, it wasn't a big deal, it was just a tourist event and one Republican on the Hill wouldn't even shake one of the officer's hands, Officer Fanone's hands this past week. Do you denounce that?

MACE: Yes. If those reports are correct, if that actually is what happened, I can't imagine anyone unwilling to shake any officers' hands, particularly those that were there that day, there to protect us, all members of Congress and staff members on the Hill.

I have -- I have a kid in little league soccer right now and at the end of the games, these kids are taught to shake hands with those that they just lost a game to.

[16:10:03]

And so, we've all got to be adults here and be mature about it and grow together as a nation. That's really important to do that to move forward and to heal.

BROWN: And, of course, these lawmakers were protecting lawmakers during the insurrection, and so it's just -- as you pointed out, you voted in favor of the congressional medal. You worked across the aisle with Democrats to repeat AUMF, a 19-year-old military authorization that gave legal backing to the Iraq War.

Why do you think both parties were able to come together on this particular issue while Congress continues to struggle with bipartisanship on most other key issues? MACE: Right. It's interesting to me, because in the Senate, we're

divided 50-50, evenly divided. In the House, Nancy Pelosi has the slimmest majority in a generation. Rather than sow division, we should be working together.

And this is one of the few places where Democrats and Republicans have been able to both those disagreements aside. And there were nine Republicans that co-sponsored the bill, myself included, to repeal the 2002 AUMF. There were 49 Republicans that voted to repeal it this week with us in Congress.

And so my -- my comments to members on both sides of the aisle and there were Democrats that let me speak. I was the only Republican that spoke on the repeal of the AUMF. But Democrats were the ones gave me time on the floor to do that.

Where we can work together as a country, we absolutely have to and must and the AUMF is a place where we could come together. It's been bipartisan. It's been abused by Republicans and Democrats over the last 20 years and we're going to have the ability to restore the constitutional powers and authority to Congress on whether or not and when we send our children to war.

BROWN: Well, hopefully, we will see more of that kind of coming together ahead.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, great to have you on the show. Thank you.

MACE: Thank you, Pamela.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source