QUIET LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE THE 2016 ELECTION.
THE QUESTION FOR DEMOCRATS, WHAT
IS YOUR NEXT MOVE?
MY NEXT GUEST MAY HAVE SOME
IDEA.
IDEA. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN GERRY
CONNELLY REPRESENTS NORTHERN
VIRGINIA.
VIRGINIA. AND HEAD OF THE OVERSIGHT
COMMITTEE.
COMMITTEE. I APPRECIATE YOUR BEING HERE.
>> MY GREAT PLEASURE.
>> IF I CAN, LET ME ASK YOU.
YOU TO THIS POINT HAVE SAID THAT
YOU DO NOT SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT.
HAS WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE SUNDAY
THE PRESIDENT’S TWEET, HIS
COMMENTS, OR FRANKLY EVEN THAT
RALLY CRY CHANGED YOUR POSITION
AS IT RELATES TOWARD AN
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY?
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY? >> WELL, IT CERTAINLY PUSHES US
FURTHER IN THAT DIRECTION.
I DON’T NECESSARILY BELIEVE THAT
IMPEACHMENT ISN’T IN MR. TRUMP’S
FUTURE.
FUTURE. BUT I DO BELIEVE WE IN THE
MAJORITY NEED TO BE CAREFUL AND
METHODICAL AS WE GATHER FACTS
AND AS WE EDUCATE THE PUBLIC.
AND THAT’S THE PROCESS WE’VE
UNDERTAKEN.
UNDERTAKEN. IF THAT LEADS TO IMPEACHMENT, SO
BE IT, AND I WILL SUPPORT IT AT
THAT TIME IF THAT’S WHAT IT
LEADS TO.
LEADS TO. RIGHT NOW WE’VE GOT SIX
COMMITTEES WITH INVESTIGATIONS
UNDERWAY IN MANY DIFFERENT
FIELDS OF ENDEAVOR.
AND OF COURSE WE ALSO HAVE
MR. MUELLER COMING TO TESTIFY
BEFORE TWO COMMITTEES IN OPEN
SESSION.
SESSION. WE NEED TO HEAR FROM HIM, THE
AUTHOR OF THE MUELLER REPORT.
AND I JUST THE MEANING OF ALL OF
THAT.
THAT. >> I’M SORRY TO INTERRUPT.
WHAT COULD ROBERT MUELLER SAY
NEXT WEEK THAT WOULD CHANGE YOUR
MIND?
MIND? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING TO HEAR?
>> WELL, I THINK HE NEEDS TO
CLARIFY WHAT LED HIM TO CERTAIN
CONCLUSIONS OR TO FALL SHORT OF
CERTAIN CONCLUSIONS.
CERTAIN CONCLUSIONS. WAS THE ONLY REASON, FOR
EXAMPLE, THAT YOU DIDN’T INDICT
THE PRESIDENT THE 1973 GUIDANCE
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE COUNSEL
AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
DURING THE NIXON WATERGATE YEARS
THAT SITTING PRESIDENT CAN’T BE
INDICTED.
INDICTED. WAS THAT THE ONLY REASON?
BECAUSE WE NEED TO KNOW THAT
WITH RESPECT TO OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. ARE YOU TELLING US IN THAT
REPORT BECAUSE YOU CITE TEN
DIFFERENT OCCASIONS WHERE YOU
BELIEVE IT OCCURRED THAT IN FACT
THE PRESIDENT COMMITTED
OBSTRUCTION, WHICH IS A CRIME ON
THE RUSSIA THING?
YOU KNOW, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT
COLLUSION BECAUSE COLLUSION IS
NOT A CRIME.
IT’S NOT IN THE CRIMINAL CODE.
BUT YOU DID TALK ABOUT
CONSPIRACY, AND YOU TALKED ABOUT
THE FACT THAT YOU COULDN’T
CONCLUSIVELY PROVE ONE.
YOU ALSO SAID IF WE MEANT TO
EXONERATE THE PRESIDENT WE WOULD
HAVE SAID THAT.
THOSE ARE PRETTY EXPLOSIVE
WORDS.
WORDS. >> BUT --
>> BUT -- >> AND ALL OF THAT’S A FAR CRY
FROM BARR’S SUMMARY.
>> AND MUELLER SAID THAT MY
REPORT IS MY TESTIMONY.
SO ISN’T IT LIKELY THAT HE’S
GOING TO SAY ALL OF THESE THINGS
WERE HYPOTHETICALLY --
>> HE MAY.
I THINK THAT’S A VERY ARROGANT
POSTURE BY, YOU KNOW, A CIVIL
SERVANT.
SERVANT. MR. MUELLER, ALTHOUGH HE’S NOT
ELECTED, IS STILL ACCOUNTABLE TO
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
HE JUST FINISHED WRITING ONE OF
THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL REPORTS
FOR OUR DEMOCRACY IN THE LAST 50
YEARS.
YEARS. HE HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION AND A
PUBLIC OBLIGATION TO ACCOUNT FOR
HIMSELF TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE REPORT.
NOW, ALPHABETICALS CERTAIN
QUESTIONS ARE LEADING QUESTIONS
THAT TAKE HIM ASTRAY, TAKE HIM
FAR AFIELD OF THE REPORT, FAIR
ENOUGH.
ENOUGH. BUT QUESTIONS THAT ILLUMINATE
THE REPORT TRY TO GET AT ANSWERS
THAT ARE NOT ANSWERED IN THE
REPORT ITSELF.
REPORT ITSELF. HE HAS AN OBLIGATION TO ANSWER.
>> AS YOU KNOW WELL, CONGRESS
ADJOURNS FOR A MONTH JUST DAYS
AFTER MUELLER’S TESTIMONY.
WHEN IS IT TOO LATE FOR
DEMOCRATS TO PURSUE IMPEACHMENT?
>> I DON’T THINK WE HAVE AN
ARTIFICIAL DATE.
ARTIFICIAL DATE. I DO BELIEVE THAT MR. MUELLER’S
TESTIMONY WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON
PUBLIC OPINION, AND FRANKLY AN
OPINION UP HERE.
THERE ARE MANY MEMBERS WHO MAY
HAVE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR WHAT
HE HAS TO SAY AND DIJEST IT
BEFORE THEY DECIDE ONE WAY OR
THE OTHER ON THE IMPEACHMENT
QUESTION.
QUESTION. I THINK MR. TRUMP TOOK A VICTORY
LAP LAST NIGHT VERY PREMATURELY.
THAT VOTE WAS ABOUT A SPECIFIC
RESOLUTION, NOT ABOUT THE
GENERIC QUESTION OF SHOULD THIS
PRESIDENT BE IMPEACHED OR HAS HE
IN FACT CROSSED THE LINE.
AND THOSE QUESTIONS ARE YET TO
BE ANSWERED.
BE ANSWERED. >> 95 DEMOCRATS VOTING TO
ADVANCE THAT RESOLUTION.
AND BY OUR TALLY, 86 ONE AND
DEMOCRATS INDEPENDENT RIGHT NOW
SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT.
SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT. THERE’S ACTUALLY A GROWING
NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS WHO ARE ON
BOARD.
BOARD. I WANT TO CIRCLE BACK AT ALL OF
THOSE DEMOCRATS WHO SUPPORT
IMPEACHMENT.
IMPEACHMENT. I WANT TO ASK YOU AGAIN, THOUGH
ABOUT THE DEMOCRATSPRESIDENT’S T
>> WELL, I THINK WE UPHELD THE
INTEGRITY OF THE INSTITUTION
HERE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WE
UPHELD THE VALUE THAT MOST
AMERICANS SHARE, WHICH IS WE
DON’T DEMONIZE PEOPLE BECAUSE OF
THEIR BACKGROUND.
THEIR BACKGROUND. WE DON’T TELL THEM OF COLOR THEY
SHOULD, QUOTE, GO BACK WHERE
THEY CAME FROM, UNQUOTE.
THOSE ARE HEINOUS THINGS.
THOSE ARE REPUGNANT THINGS.
THEY DON’T REFLECT AMERICAN
VALUES, AND THE HOUSE IN A
BIPARTISAN VOTE, ALTHOUGH I WISH
WE HAD MORE REPUBLICANS ON IT,
SAID THAT.
SAID THAT. AND I THINK THAT’S A VERY
IMPORTANT STATEMENT TO AFFIRM
HERE IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES.
REPRESENTATIVES. >> DO YOU WORRY ABOUT THE
CONGRESSWOMAN, CONGRESSWOMAN
CONGRESSWOMAN, CONGRESSWOMAN OMAR’S SAFETY IN THE LIGHT OF
LAST NIGHT’S RALLY?
>> YES.
>> YES. I ACCUSE THE PRESIDENT OF
DELIBERATELY INCITING.
DELIBERATELY INCITING. HE INCITED IN HIS TWEETS AND HE
TOOK IT TO A NEW LEVEL LAST
NIGHT.
NIGHT. ONE OF YOUR PANELISTS CALLED IT
AN ORWELLIAN RALLY.
I THINK THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT.
AND I THINK THE PRESIDENT DID
THAT WITH MALICE AFORETHOUGHT
AND TODAY SANCTMOANOUSLY SAID,
WELL, HE DIDN’T FAVOR THE CHANT.
WELL, HE HAD NOTHING TO SAY
NEGATIVE ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT.
SILENCE IS CONSENT.
I BELIEVE HE DELIBERATELY
INCITED AND I THINK HE IS
PUTTING PEOPLE AT RISK AND HE IS
CERTAINLY RAISING THE
TEMPERATURE THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY ON ISSUES THAT HE IS NOW
MAKING INCENDIARY.
MAKING INCENDIARY. >> CONCEDING THAT THE
PRESIDENT’S TWEET WENT TOO FAR
AND CONCEDING THAT THE COMMENTS
YESTERDAY, THE CHANT BY THE
CROWD WAS OUTRAGEOUS.
THERE WERE SOME DEMOCRATS WHO
WERE PRIVATELY SAYING THAT THE
PRESIDENT MAY BE ON TO SOMETHING
THAT’S POLITICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS
FOR HIM BY TRYING TO CAST THESE
FOUR WOMEN WHO, LET’S
ACKNOWLEDGE, ARE NOT NANCY
PELOSI’S FAVORITES AT THE TABLE,
SO TO SPEAK.
IS THERE ANY RISK THAT THE
PRESIDENT IS ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH
HIS GOALS HERE AND TRYING TO
CAST THEM AS THE FACE OF YOUR
PARTY?
PARTY? >> I THINK THAT’S A PRETTY
CYNICAL GOAL IF IT IS HIS GOAL.
I SUPPOSE, YES, THAT COULD BE
SUCH A RISK.
BUT I THINK IT’S REALLY
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WE
HAVE A BASE, TOO.
AND THAT BASE IS DEEPLY FIRED UP
RIGHT NOW ABOUT THESE TWEETS AND
ABOUT THIS OBVIOUS RACISM AS A
TACTIC, A POLITICAL TACTIC.
AND INDEPENDENTS ARE EQUALLY
RECOILED.
RECOILED. AND SO I THINK HE MAY BE FIRING
UP HIS BASE, BUT SOMETIMES HE
FORGETS WE’VE GOT THIS BIGGER