CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview With Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut

Interview

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BERMAN: With me now is Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democratic senator from Connecticut, a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Senator, what is your reaction to this news tonight in the "New York Times," also CNN is reporting it as well, that President Trump -- and we're talking about just this past spring, asked then White House counsel Don McGahn, questioned whether or not he could prosecute Hillary Clinton and James Comey?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: This excellent reporting is a bombshell, profoundly significant. The fact that there was actually no prosecution in no way means that there wasn't evidence of criminal intent. In fact, intent to obstruct justice.

And it also indicates the profound danger to the special prosecutor, because now McGahn is gone. Sessions is gone. Whitaker is there. He is really a Trump loyalist. In fact, he has no other qualifications for this job, and that indicates that Congress must take action now. There are protocols and practices and policies in place informally

written down in memoranda, but Congress needs to be involved, having hearings and setting boundaries and guardrails on what the White House can do because the Department of Justice needs to be protected. Its independence is a bedrock. The using of this police power against political enemies is characteristic not only of a banana republic but of Saudi Arabia and Russia whose rulers apparently Donald Trump really admires.

BERMAN: I understand the discussion about using the Justice Department as a tool to go after political opponent, and I want to come back to that, but you said this is evidence of obstruction of justice. And I'm trying to understand exactly why in this narrow case, Hillary Clinton was no longer in office. James Comey was no longer FBI director.

So, why would their prosecution be an obstruction of justice?

BLUMENTHAL: In the same way that the firing of James Comey was an obstruction of justice. In the same way that misuse and abuse of the police power to silence critics is a potential obstruction of justice. The fact that a crime is planned or attempted or conspired to be done can be evidence not only of obstruction of justice. It can be a crime itself.

So the intent here is what's important. It's the most difficult element of obstruction of justice to prove.

BERMAN: Now, I know because you told me this morning, that as a former prosecutor one of the things you want to make sure is you have all the evidence before you make a judgment, but there's a memo. "The New York Times" says there's a memo written by Don McGahn which outlined what happened here. What the president asked and why Don McGahn thinks it might not be a good idea to carry through what the president wanted.

Does the House need to get ahold of this memo and is this in and itself an item that you think is worthy of discussing about perhaps impeachment?

BLUMENTHAL: That memo needs to be subpoenaed by the House, and my hope is the Senate Judiciary Committee as well. In fact, I have a real hope. I think it's realistic, that my Republican colleagues are going to see this report as a kind of watershed. It's a moment of reckoning, because clearly the president has such contempt for the rule of law, for the standards and norms that have guided other presidents that we need really enforceable rules against interference with the Department of Justice.

I hope my Republican colleagues will join us in seeking that memo and all of the other evidence that is relevant to formulating rules to protect the independence of the Department of Justice. And as I said before, we need to require disclosure of the findings and evidence of the special prosecutor, because the American people deserve to know.

[20:25:00] Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, thank you very much for being with us. Appreciate your time again, sir.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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