MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Mike Quigley

Interview

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HAYES: Daniel Goldman and Kim Wehle, great to have you both. Thanks for  joining me. I`m joined now by a Member of the House Intelligence Committee  which interviewed Donald Trump Jr. under oath last year, Congressman Mike  Quigley, Democrat from Illinois. Are you confident that Donald Trump Jr.,  the President`s son and a campaign adviser was truthful in his sworn  testimony to your committee?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Oh, I think that  most of the people who came before us need to come back. I can`t talk  exactly about what they said but I can tell you that Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump,  I would say seven or eight others, there is new evidence that has come  forward, or reporting that brings into question, their veracity. So  certainly I`d like to bring them back. But we have a problem doing that.  We`re not in the majority. We don`t have the power to compel them to come  back. The majority, the Republicans refused to issue subpoenas for almost  everyone in this and they went along with the White House gag order. So  unless things flip, unless the Mueller investigation is allowed to do this  or has time to do this, the American public won`t know.

HAYES: Just to be clear on that gag order. Don Jr. sat before a committee  for a number of hours and answer questions am I right? But that has not  been made public, those questions or answers?

QUIGLEY: No, I what I`m getting to is a part of the larger picture. The  White House issued something of a gag order for several of the people who  witnesses -- who testified before the House Select Committee on  Intelligence. And Mr. Nunez the Chairman of that committee refused to  compel them to answer certain questions about their time in the White House  for example.

HAYES: I see.

QUIGLEY: So I put into the larger context of this is a hard investigation  to do when you`re not in the majority and you can`t compel people to answer  questions.

HAYES: In the -- in the broader sense, there`s always this question about  the President`s behavior and whether it`s sort of accelerating, right, are  things getting worse or is this just sort of the equilibrium that he enjoys  which is a kind of state of permanent chaos. What is your sense from your  perch as a member of Congress who`s been involved in the House Intelligence  investigation?

QUIGLEY: I think it ebbs and flows but certainly since the events of  Helsinki, the President seems to be as we described I think a week ago, a  little shaky. This is the President in a legal term freaking out. I just  don`t know how to express it. And it seems to be accelerating because  look, is his campaign manager -- chairman is on trial, his attorney is  apparently appearing to flip and there`s so many more things that are going  on right now. But I think -- I think part of this he starts to get what  I`m hoping the American public gets. We`re talking about the Trump Tower  meeting. What happened just two months before that? The Russians told a  campaign associate George Papadopoulos that they had dirt on Hillary  Clinton, they had e-mails.

All they did two months later was move up the food chain to Mr. Manafort  and to the President`s son. And they offered dirt. Mr. Trump Junior`s response was all we love it. They even talked about the timing of getting 
this information. They were -- they were disappointed by the results. What happened just days after the Trump Tower meeting? We`re forgetting this. That`s when Julian Assange and WikiLeaks announced that they had 
these e-mails and clearly at the same time the President, the candidate that is starts talking about how he loves WikiLeaks and he`s encouraging them to release more and to hack more. So I think it`s simple enough for the American public to start connecting the dots. I think the President realizes that that is what`s happening.

HAYES: Do you think the President is right to worry about the legal  jeopardy of his son?

QUIGLEY: I think the President has right to worry about the -- his son and  I think he has a very even right -- equal right to be worried about his own  legal issues. Everything is connected here. The fact is we`re watching a  trial for Mr. Manafort that appears to be just financial criminal acts but  on his part. That`s what he`s accused of doing. But obviously this is all  within the same web of money-laundering that could have taken place with  Deutsche Bank who was fined $600 million for laundering money illegally  with the Russians. And where were all these things happening? In the same  cesspool, Cyprus. So if we`re allowed to continue that investigation and  we barely scratch the surface, we`d find out a lot more of what took place.

It`s interesting, last week the President said something after he asked Mr.  Sessions to shut down this investigation. He called the Russian  investigation a stain on the country. To your point of how this is  accelerating and how the President appears to be unraveling, I think the  more appropriate phrase comes from our time watching the tragedy of  Watergate. This is a cancer on the President.

HAYES: Congressman Mike Quigley, thank you for making time tonight.

QUIGLEY: Thank you.

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