MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Government Violations

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MADDOW: The wheels of government and the wheels of government scandal  frequently turn quietly and where you can`t see them. Well, now, a letter  from the Office of Government Ethics has unexpectedly revealed the White  House counsel`s office is revealing whether Jared Kushner violated ethics  rules when his company took hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans right  after executives from two financial firms took White House meetings with  Jared Kushner.

On receiving that letter from the Office of Government Ethics, two  Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tonight have written to the  White House counsel, to Don McGahn, to try to get more information about  what we`ve just learned is an ongoing ethics investigation into Kushner`s  business dealings. They are asking for reams of documents and they`re  asking for them by April 10th. Moving fast.

Joining us now is Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is on the House  Oversight Committee, who appears to have uncovered this scandal.

Congressman, thank you for being here.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D), ILLINOIS: I`m glad to be here. Thank you so  much.

MADDOW: This is something I didn`t know was going on until we saw this  letter from the Office of Government Ethics back to you. Did you know what  you were going to get when you query the ethics office?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, we wrote it on March 1st, following "The New York  Times" piece, and three weeks later on Friday, late afternoon, we receive  the response and it was a surprise. And so, now, we`re following up.

MADDOW: When the Government Ethics Office, part of the news they broke is  that they said that the White House counsel`s office is already looking  into this matter as an ethics issue.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Right.

MADDOW: But the letter goes into some detail as to what ethical issues and  potential criminal issues could be at stake here.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Correct. I mean, it talks about potential bribery laws  being violated, of course, ethical violations. Basically the whole gist of  it is, you know, a public official has to put national interests first,  personal interests second, and the whole question here with Jared Kushner  is whether he reversed it and put his personal interest first at the  expense of the public interest.

MADDOW: Do you -- I guess what is your reaction to learning the Office of  White House counsel is doing this investigation? I mean, on the one hand,  it is remarkable that a senior White House official is undergoing this sort  of ethics query while still serving in the White House after having been  stripped of his security clearance. On the other hand, I don`t know  whether an investigation by Don McGahn is something that would keep me up  at night.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: You know, I`m from Illinois. We have a very strong sense  of smell about corruption. You know, definitely in this White House, you  smell a lot of wrongdoing. Don McGahn has kind of been a witness to a lot  of this.

We`re very disappointed he hasn`t investigated a lot of it up to this  point. However, on this particular issue, it appears that an investigation is underway and, you know, let`s see what happens. We demanded the information with regard to this investigation. Confirmation is happening. We need to find out the facts so we can also judge the conclusions of the investigation.

MADDOW: Now, you and I believe Congressman Cummings have written to Don  McGahn seeking more information, any other Republicans on the Oversight  Committee at all interested in joining your request for information here?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: You know, it turns out no. Chairman Gowdy has not  participated so far. You know, on a separate but related matter which you  brought up before with regard to security clearances, that too was an area  where we were hoping that Chairman Gowdy would subpoena records related to  Kushner`s application for security clearances. However, he didn`t follow  up on that either.

At this point, you know, we`re still hoping for answers. I was very  surprised there was a response to this letter.

MADDOW: Me, too.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: And that there is confirmation an investigation is  underway. And, you know, the House may very well flip in the next  election. If the answers aren`t going to be provided now, they`re going to  be sought later, as well. And so, it`s a question of when are they going  to answer them?

MADDOW: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, House Oversight Committee  representing Illinois`s eighth district. Thanks for coming in.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much, Rachel. Thank you.

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