Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. John Ratcliffe

Interview

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MACCALLUM: Wow. Here now Congressman John Ratcliffe who was on that committee and was one of the people questioning Mr. Strzok today. Congressman, it's good to see you this evening. Thank you very much for being here. What did you think -- what did you learn today?

REP. JOHN RATCLIFFE, R-TEXAS: Well, I think Peter Strzok came in with two goals today. One was to prove to the American people that he wasn't biased against Donald Trump and the second point that he tried to assert was that he never let his personal beliefs cross over into official FBI action and I thought he failed miserably on both counts. When you have all of these text messages about effing Trump, stopping Trump, impeaching Trump, when you prejudge Donald Trump's guilt as the lead investigator before you interview a single witness, that's textbook bias. And as far as his personal beliefs not crossing over to official action, I was able to walk him off the plank with his own words there. Listen, when you send fifty thousand text messages on an official FBI phone, on official FBI time about your personal beliefs and the actions you're going to take to stop Donald Trump, he lost all kinds of credibility today.

MACCALLUM: Yes, that's a great point. I mean, you're on work time and it is work product if it is done on work computers. That's a lesson that we've all learned since 2016 and watching all of this. Here's the moment when he was asked specifically about the text message that he wrote that said don't worry we will stop him with regard to President Trump running for president. Watch this.

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STRZOK: In terms of the text that we will stop it, you need to understand that that was written late at night off-the-cuff and it was in response to a series of events that included then-candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero. And my presumption based on that horrible disgusting behavior that the American population would not elect somebody demonstrating that behavior to be President in the United States.

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MACCALLUM: I mean, you learn a lot about him from his responses I hear. I think -- and you know, in terms of that explanation and how he did he became -- I'm sorry for the delay here -- what did you make of that exchange, sir?

RATCLIFFE: Well, he tried to relate that a lot of people felt that way and he might be right. But a lot of people were the lead investigator in the Trump Russia investigation. Seven days before that text message he started the Trump Russia investigation. And before he interviewed a single witness, that's what he expressed as the lead investigator that he was going to stop Donald Trump from becoming president and then he followed it up a few days after that with another text message where he said we can't take the risk of a Trump presidency and need an insurance policy. So you know, he was uniquely put in a position to act on the promise that he made to Lisa Page that he was going to stop Donald Trump from being president. And I think the evidence showed that he tried to do that.

MACCALLUM: So the Democrats on the committee were not happy with the Republican line of questioning. Here's Steve Cohen, the Democrat from Tennessee. Watch.

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RATCLIFFE: Wow.

MACCALLUM: What do you make of that, sir?

RATCLIFFE: What I make of that is we're talking about an FBI Agent that they said she'd get a Purple Heart. They called him a hero. They called him a patriot. I think it just shows how much they hate Donald Trump. This is a guy who's been demoted by the FBI, who's been criticized by the FBI Director, by the Inspector General, demoted to the human resources and is under investigation for an ethics review. It just -- you know, the Democrats continue to line up with anyone besides Donald Trump. They took Putin's side over Trump. They have taken everyone side over Donald Trump. And you know, I think Donald Trump could cure cancer and they'd come back tomorrow and say look you put doctors and nurses out of business.

MACCALLUM: Thank you very much, Congressman Ratcliffe. Always good to see you, sir. Thanks for being here this evening.

RATCLIFFE: You bet. Thanks, Martha.

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