MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono

Interview

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MADDOW:  Because Republicans control Congress, that means they also control all the committees in Congress.  And that has granular, everyday consequences, including the very small and usually unimportant fact that the official Twitter account for the Senate Judiciary Committee is controlled by Republican senators and their Republican staff. 
 
Well, yesterday, that official Twitter account posted this statement about previous FBI background investigations into Brett Kavanaugh before he became a Supreme Court nominee.  Quote: Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports was there ever a whiff of any issue at all related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse. 
 
Never a whiff of any issue related in any way, inappropriate sexual behavior of alcohol abuse. 
 
Tonight, Democrats on that committee, on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are disputing that account.  They just sent off this little rocket, quote: Dear Chairman Grassley.  Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Twitter account, which is controlled by the Republican majority staff, posted information about Judge Kavanaugh that is not accurate and that must be immediately correct e corrected. 
 
Each of us reviewed the confidential background investigation of judge Kavanaugh before the hearing.  While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information in that Twitter post that is not accurate.  Quote: We urge you to ensure that these Twitter posts are promptly corrected. 
 
Again, this specific tweet they are saying contains inaccurate information is this, this is the text of that one.  Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports was there ever a whiff of any issue at all related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior of alcohol abuse.  That letter to Chairman Grassley is signed by eight Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee, including our next guest.
 
Joining us now is Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono from the great state of Hawaii. 
 
Senator Hirono, thank you very much for being here.  It`s nice to see you.
 
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII:  Good evening.  Aloha. 
 
MADDOW:  Can you tell us what this is about?  You are one of the senators that signed onto this letter, to Chairman Grassley, asserting that there is something in that statement about the previous FBI background investigations of Judge Kavanaugh which is inaccurate. 
 
HIRONO:  One thing that Twitter feed should never have even gotten out from the Republican staff, and that particular item wasn`t accurate, and that is all I can say about it. 
 
MADDOW:  So the confidentiality of these FBI reports is understood and respected by both sides at this point.  And I understand --
 
HIRONO:  Well, certainly, it wasn`t respected by the Republicans who let it out. 
 
MADDOW:  So, you`re saying that the tweet was inappropriate in this case, because it was a characterization of those FBI reports.
 
HIRONO:  Yes.
 
MADDOW:  And they`re not supposed to be publicly characterized. 
 
HIRONO:  That`s right. 
 
MADDOW:  Now that Democrats have responded and said, as long as you are going to improperly characterize it, which is improper, you better be accurate about it, are you prepared to go the next step and to say publicly what is inaccurate, if there was something about either alcohol abuse or inappropriate sexual behavior from those earlier FBI investigations? 
 
HIRONO:  That was what I was hoping that the new FBI investigation would enable us to review.  The interviews that they conducted, the inconsistencies between Judge Kavanaugh`s testimony and the interviews that the FBI, I hope, would conduct with various people who contradicted Judge Kavanaugh`s own characterization of himself.  So, that was what I was hoping. 
 
With that letter, I think it really was to the Republicans, don`t do this.  And by the way, we also said in this letter that for the new FBI investigation that we need to come to a bipartisan agreement as to what parts of that report we can make public.  That is how it`s supposed to happen. 
 
MADDOW:  What do you think is going to happen in terms of the timing of the new FBI report, what sort of work product is going to be handed over to the Senate, and whether there will be any public facing part of it? 
 
HIRONO:  I`ve said that I hope we can be as transparent as possible, and that`s why we requested that there be a bipartisan agreement as to what parts of the report we can make public.  At the same time, we`re already hearing from outside sources that the investigation was limited.  It was under the control of the White House, in spite of the fact that the president said that it should be open and they should interview Judge Kavanaugh, as well as Dr. Ford. 
 
But I don`t think those things happened, nor were various leads followed up.  We know of so many people, which I think you reported yourself, that a lot of people would like to have been interviewed by the FBI, but have not been contacted. 
 
MADDOW:  In terms of how this is all going to resolve, I feel very unsure in terms of the timing here.  We`ve had a lot of reporting that suggested very specific expectations in terms of when something was going to be handed over, when the Senate was going to have access to it, what exactly were the constraints that FBI agents doing this investigation were operating under.  It feels like there`s been all of this specific reporting, a lot of which contradicts very specific other reporting.
 
I feel like I have very little visibility into what is actually happening here.  The only thing I feel like I have clarity on is that there was an initial time constraint put on this investigation, which was Friday, that has to be done by Friday. 
 
I feel like at that point, that`s the only real bottom line that I feel like I can count on. 
 
Is there any other element here in terms of timing or scope or, again, what we may eventually see the Senate doing with this information, that you feel like you have a firm grasp of and you can tell our viewers with confidence? 
 
HIRONO:  As it turns out, not very much, because even with a short time frame, I was under the expectation, I certainly had the expectation, that the FBI would provide the kind of resources necessary to do a complete job, so that it`s not some kind of a farce investigation.
 
But I want to go back to, in addition to whatever may be gleaned from the -
* what seems like a limited investigation by the FBI, that we do need to look at how Judge Kavanaugh testified in his initial hearing, and there were so many, in my view, inconsistencies and the pattern of not being supportive of reproductive rights and his very expansive views of executive powers and protections for the president.  There were enough concerns there that I was already against Judge Kavanaugh`s nomination before all of these other reports came out. 
 
At the same time, I`m really glad that you focused on his temperament.  The speech that he gave was reprinted as a law review article from which I quoted extensively on a floor speech that I gave on Monday on the floor of the Senate, because I believe that he did not -- of course, it`s not even a belief -- he did not follow his own advice in his law review article, which is that a judge should not be partisan, and he went on to talk about his demeanor and his temperament. 
 
Well, clearly, he was so partisan, because he accused the Democrats of some kind of a left wing conspiracy to do him in.  Fortunately, he did not include Dr. Ford in that conspiracy, but it was bizarre that he would hold these kind of conspiracy theory views. 
 
I expect a Supreme Court justice to think clearly.  A conspiracy theorist is not somebody who is thinking clearly.  Not to mention, his temperament. 
 
He wrote that a judge should be calm in the middle of a storm.  He exhibited little of that.  And I would say that any woman, if -- Dr. Ford, who also has been under a lot of pressure and death threats, having to move her family, she was under a lot of pressure, but she comported herself with dignity and in a very, very believable way.  And that certainly wasn`t the case with Judge Kavanaugh. 
 
MADDOW:  Senator Hirono, I just have to ask you about one piece of news that has broken while we`ve been talking live here on television.  Kasie Hunt is the lead reporter from NBC on this.  There`s a number of other reporters on the byline. 
 
But they`re reporting now on a very specific schedule during -- by which you and other senators are now going to be allowed access to the FBI`s new report.  Senators will be viewing the FBI supplemental background investigation, according to NBC News, on a schedule tomorrow morning starting at 8:00 a.m. 
 
Chairman Grassley will go first at 8:00 a.m.  Senator Feinstein will go second at 9:00 a.m.  Then Senate judiciary Republicans, all the rest of them will be allowed in at 10:00 a.m.  And then committee Democrats will be allowed to see the report at 11:00 a.m. 
 
That`s just been reported by NBC News.  Had you heard that before I just said it right here? 
 
HIRONO:  Yes. 
 
MADDOW:  OK.
 
HIRONO:  There is definitely a schedule.  And one of the things that I hope that we can disclose would be the parameters of the FBI investigation as put out by the White House.  I don`t see why that should be something confidential. 
 
MADDOW:  OK.  We will find out more tomorrow, at least as best we can. 
 
Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it`s great to have you with us tonight, Senator.  Thank you. 
 
HIRONO:  Thank you. 

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