MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Cory Booker

Interview

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MADDOW: A lifetime appointment.

Senator Cory Booker is a member of the Judiciary Committee. That was him  today speaking with reporters right after he reviewed the FBI`s reopened  background report on Brett Kavanaugh.

Joining us now live is Senator Booker.

Senator, thank you so much for taking time to be with us tonight. I know  it`s a pretty intense night.

BOOKER: Thank you, Rachel. It`s good to be on with you.

MADDOW: And I know you can only say so much about that FBI report. It is  a confidential document, but there have been public characterizations made,  particularly by Republican senators what is in that report and what great  news it is for Senator Kavanaugh -- excuse me, for Judge Kavanaugh.

You said there are hints of misconduct. You said there were issues raised.  Given the fact that some Republicans are characterizing this FBI material,  what can you tell us about it?

BOOKER: Well, first of all, those characterizations to me are tantamount  to a sham, perpetrating a sham on the American people because there are  clearly many witnesses, people that could have corroborated what Ms.  Ramirez said, people that were eyewitnesses to what Ms. Ramirez said that  weren`t even interviewed.
I just want to take you to that room for a second. The whole process was  to me -- again, I`m considered what`s a young senator here for just five  years, but I just never seen anything like it. We were shuttled in. There  were about a dozen Democratic senators in our first shift. We were given  an hour to go through the papers.

They literally only had one copy, so we were reading together, partnered up  with folks, and there was everybody in the spectrum from red state, very  conservative Democrats all the way to more liberal or progressive  Democrats. And there was a universal astonishment about what we were read,  sort of stunned at the limited scope of the FBI investigation, how it was  not thorough, was not complete.

It wasn`t even a sincere effort to get to the truth. And I think that was  ma what made me leave there on fire, just angry, because I was expecting so  much more and was just so let down by the process, and I saw that the fix  seemed to be in from the very beginning.

MADDOW: When you say the fix was in, those are -- that`s a powerful  allegation. I have been talking just with friends and people outside the  news business about how this news about Kavanaugh has been affecting  people. I think it`s caused a lot of pain and a lot of anguish and had a  psychological impact on the country because it`s been so painful.

And one of the things that a number of people referenced to me was the  prospect that if Kavanaugh is confirmed, that this will never be over. If  the fix was in on the overly curtailed FBI investigation, if there are  serious corroborating witnesses to serious would-be criminal allegations  about Judge Kavanaugh in terms of his background, once he is on the Supreme  Court, will those things follow him on to the Supreme Court? Would a  Democratic-controlled judiciary committee in either house investigate this  process to find out if the fix was?

Would he potentially be subject to criminal investigation or to further congressional investigation? How do you see that looking into the future if he is confirmed?

BOOKER: Well, you know, we`re on the eve of knowing what`s going to happen  tomorrow and so much of that is where my focus is in my conversations with  colleagues on both sides of the aisle. There`s so much at stake right  here, and I think how you started the question about the sort of emotional  nature of this, and again being in these confidential rooms with only  senators, I was in two of them today.

The second one was a caucus meeting amongst Democrats, and it was one of  those moments I just felt proud of my colleagues because with no cameras  around, this wasn`t a public moment. But you had senator after senator,  male senator standing up and just confessing about how shaken they were  about the numbers of folks that they were getting reaching out to their  office who had never told their own personal stories. They were telling  their senator, people they don`t even know about sexual assaults. They  hadn`t even told members of their families, about how this is moment in  American history that has ripped us apart, exposed an ugliness, a pain, a  hurtfulness.

And I think for this body, this so-called most deliberative body in the  world, I think we`re failing that test. And I think it`s hurting a lot of  folks, hurting the institution, and could after tomorrow`s vote really hurt  the Supreme Court. Not just because of the credible allegations that have  been brought against a person but then how he conducted himself in such a  just bald, raw partisan nature.

So, I don`t know what the consequences of this is going to be, but we`re at  sort of a low point. It`s -- you know, in the Christian faith, there`s an  old saying that, you know, weeping may endure through the night. I`m one  of those people still hoping for some joy tomorrow. But right now, this is  painful moment, and I`m doing everything through my calls and texts with  colleagues, still hoping that we will have the right outcome tomorrow.

MADDOW: Senator Cory Booker of the great state of New Jersey, member of  the Judiciary Committee, thank you for your time, sir. I know it`s going  to be a long late night. Much appreciated.

BOOKER: Thank you. Appreciate it.

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