CNN "Wolf" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Mike Quigley

Interview

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BLITZER: Possible future member of the Trump cabinet, Dr. Ronny Jackson, is under fire. President Trump's pick for the Veterans Affairs secretary is facing serious questions about alleged personal and unprofessional behavior. The president has encouraged Jackson to fight for his confirmation.

Joining us from Capitol Hill is Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley. He's a Democrat. He's a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, lots to get through but let me start with Dr. Jackson. He says he's not dropping out, even though the deck seems stacked against him by numbers from both sides of the aisle. What would your advice be, fight or drop out?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY, (D), ILLINOIS: I think my advice would be to the president of the United States, why add to the problem? We've had 19 people leave the administration already. Mulvaney, Zinke, Pruitt, Mnuchin, others are under fire. You're supposed to be draining the swamp. But adding Dr. Ronny Jackson to this mix seems to be adding water to the swamp, instead of trying to solve the problem.

BLITZER: So you want him to drop out, and the president find someone else?

QUIGLEY: I think the president doesn't have any choice at this point. It just seems the utmost in stubbornness, recognizing there are calls to have Mr. Pruitt resign, and there are other investigations.

Here's what is frustrating. Just last week, Mr. Mulvaney, under my questioning, said that he wouldn't tolerate the activities of Mr. Pruitt, and the expenditures and activities and his administration, and that he was going to do that investigation. And then we read last night that even for Mr. Mulvaney, Director Mulvaney, policy appears to be for sale at the White House.

BLITZER: I want to get to some other issues. The president has repeatedly called the former FBI Director James Comey a leaker and a liar, and now the Justice Department is actually taking a new look into the case. We know that one of Comey's attorneys is Patrick Fitzgerald, former U.S. attorney, a special counsel in the Scooter Libby case. What does this tell us about the state of the investigation right now and about Patrick Fitzgerald joining Comey's legal team?

QUIGLEY: Mr. Fitzgerald is from Illinois, a well-respected attorney, and someone who I am sure will do a good job. I think what it tells us in the larger picture is this, the administration, including those involved on the Republican side of the House Intelligence Committee, continue to find other issues to investigate. In the meantime, they have dropped, on the House side, the investigation of the Russian interference to the democratic process. So they're no longer investigating what Russia did, but continuing to investigate their own government. It's their priorities that are mixed up.

BLITZER: The attorney general, Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the Russia investigation. But has not, at least not yet, stepped away from the criminal investigation in New York, the U.S. attorney in New York into President Trump's long-time personal attorney and close friend, the so-called fixer, Michael Cohen. Should he recuse himself? Should Sessions recuse himself from that investigation?

QUIGLEY: He promised he would. He said during the confirmation he would recuse himself. When questioned as to investigations that might be in the periphery, he said he would stay out of those, as well. He's simply not doing that, and that makes this task far more difficult.

BLITZER: You were there in the U.S. Congress when the French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to this joint meeting of the House and Senate. You're a supporter of the current Iran nuclear deal. What did you think of President Macron's new plan for expanding that nuclear deal?

QUIGLEY: Look, I think the deal could always be improved. I think the problem would be if the Trump administration decided to pull out of it entirely. I don't think the rest of the world would follow. And Iran would be free to do whatever they wanted. I don't think our allies would follow us. If our allies work with us, and Iran, to commit to a better deal, all is the better.

BLITZER: Do you think Iran's ready to accept a new deal? Let's say the allies joining -- the original nuclear deal included France, Britain and Germany, but also Russia and China.

[13:45:06] QUIGLEY: I don't see all of them agreeing to a new deal. I think the deal is working. It is far from perfect. I would love to see it improved. I can't imagine it taking place under the circumstances.

BLITZER: Congressman Mike Quigley, thanks so much for joining us.

QUIGLEY: Any time. Thank you.

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