MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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HAYES: We`ve seen this sort of response from Trump before. It`s the same  playbook he used to deny Russia`s involvement in the 2016 election taking  denials at face value, playing down his own financial size, and suggesting  that rogue actors are really to blame. And Trump criticizes just about  every government in the world, I mean he went after the Canadians over  milk, but there are two exceptions Saudi Arabia and Russia. Two nations  with an excess of wealth of the top, a history of bribery and parking money  abroad and longtime financial ties to Donald Trump.

Joining me now is Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut  who`s leading a lawsuit alleging the President is violating the  Constitution`s Emolument`s Clause by doing business with foreign  governments. And today he and ten other Democratic senators sent a letter  asking Trump in the Trump Org. to disclose all financial ties to Saudi  Arabia. Good to have you, Senator. Tell me about that letter?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, this letter very simply  seeks facts relating to the possible motive of the president for in effect  aiding and abetting Saudi Arabia`s disinformation and distraction campaign.  And as you outlined so well at the opening, he has deep lucrative, long- standing financial ties to the Saudis. He has sold them apartments and  condos, he rents them to them, and hotel bookings have literally saved  Trump properties and they continue to make these payments to him in  violation of the chief anti-corruption provision of the United States  Constitution known as Emolument`s Clause.

We`ve just surmounted a major legal hurdle in the last couple of weeks when  the court ruled in the District of Columbia that we have standing 200  members of Congress. And in this lawsuit Trump versus -- Blumenthal versus  Trump, we seek basically facts and that letter also asked for facts  relating to these financial ties.

HAYES: Are you struck -- do you find it bizarre and uncanny the similarity  of the way that he talks about the Saudi regime and Mohammed bin Salman and  Vladimir Putin.

BLUMENTHAL: It is really striking and what`s equally so is the reports  that the Saudis actually provided or sought to provide aid during the  campaign. They met in Trump Towers very reminiscent of the meeting with  Russian agents in the Trump Towers. Donald Trump Jr. met with a  representative of Prince Mohammed bin Salman and he was offered aid by the  Saudis and later the vendor that the Saudis said they would provide was  paid $2 million by the Saudis. So there are really striking parallels  here.

HAYES: I want to pivot to Rod Rosenstein because it`s something that  you`ve put a lot of effort into and thought about in terms of protecting  him. He gave a strong interview The Wall Street Journal in his office, a  very rare public interview. What was your interpretation of what the  message he was sending was?

BLUMENTHAL: In my view, the message was very clearly he`s going to stand  behind the Special Counsel. The President is bullying is going nowhere so  far as he`s concerned. If the President wants to get rid of special  counsel, he`s going to have to fire Rod Rosenstein. And these reports very  recently, there was a Bloomberg report about Mueller completing his work right after the election, I think are to be treated with a large grain of salt. Both Rosenstein and Mueller are by-the-book professional prosecutors. They`re going to do this investigation and his message in that interview was we`re going to do this investigation in the right way.

HAYES: There is more reporting about Manafort having met nine times with  the Special Counsel`s Office more focus on Roger Stone. What are your  expectations for where this goes next?

BLUMENTHAL: The evidence is pretty clear that there was collusion between  the Trump campaign and the Russians and --

HAYES: You think there`s evidence pretty clear?

BLUMENTHAL: The evidence is there whether they have enough of it --

HAYES: Right.

BLUMENTHAL: To bring criminal charges is another issue in town. And  likewise with obstruction of justice charges, what we saw in firing Comey  and the threats to the investigators in various other actions linked to the  White House is a potential obstruction of justice case.

HAYES: Is it not absolutely essential that in both of these cases, vis-a- vis Russia and Saudi Arabia, that we actually have a transparent and public  record of what the actual financial entanglements are?

BLUMENTHAL: It is essential. That`s the reason why we brought this  lawsuit and the reason why we wrote this letter today because it not only  violates the law for the President to be taking these payments and  benefits. The reason that the Founders of this nation wanted that clause  was to prevent exactly this kind of potential compromise of the public  interest.

What Donald Trump may be doing unfortunately and tragically for the country  is putting personal interests ahead of public interest. And so uncovering  all these financial ties are essential and the lawsuit that we brought  Blumenthal versus Trump is one way of doing it, but a Democratic House of  Representatives also would have subpoena power to seek the same kind of  fact.

HAYES: All right Senator Richard Blumenthal, thanks for being with me.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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