CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Senator Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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BLITZER: A lot is happening during this lame-duck session of Congress.

Manu, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on all the breaking news.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Thank you.

BLITZER: So, what do you make of this the statement by the president, this "New York Post" interview? He is not ruling out, he's keeping it on the table of possible pardon for Paul Manafort.

BLUMENTHAL: Well, he seems to be dangling that idea of a pardon, and Manafort seems to be angling for it.

And we have here sharing of information by Manafort, apparently, with the president's lawyers. We have the president talking openly about a pad and, as you have said very accurately, the president himself seeking to discredit and lay the groundwork for suffocating or strangling the special prosecutor's resources and authority, which makes all the more necessary the bill that unfortunately was stopped on the floor today, which I have supported, for months have worked to pass.

And we need a vote on it.

BLITZER: You see this as possible obstruction of justice?

BLUMENTHAL: A pardon could well be obstruction of justice, if done with criminal motive, for the criminal ends of ending or stopping an investigation, stymying or suffocating it.

And very likely there would be consideration of this move of a pardon, given the circumstances, as an obstruction.

BLITZER: But if the president were to pardon this former Trump campaign chairman, would that in effect be an admission of guilt?

BLUMENTHAL: It depends on when and how it's done. But certainly it would be of very serious interest, and it should be, to the special counsel.

And I hope that before we reach that point, Wolf, we will have the kind of bipartisan demand for accountability that we saw today on the floor of the United States.

Nineteen of my colleagues switched their votes on the Yemen resolution to end U.S. involvement in those hostilities; 19 of my colleagues switched on that issue, in a bipartisan demand for accountability. I hope we will see the same kind of bipartisanship on this issue.

BLITZER: In that "New York Post" interview, the president says that Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Jerome Corsi were all asked to lie by the special counsel. He says, this is a new form of McCarthyism.

What does that tell you?

BLUMENTHAL: It tells me that the president is rattled. To compare what the special counsel is doing to McCarthyism is more than a scratch. It's deliberate distortion of history. [18:15:03]

And Robert Mueller is a seasoned and honest prosecutor who is playing by the book, working methodically and systematically to determine what the facts and the evidence are.

BLITZER: In this "New York Post" interview, the president also issues a direct threat to Democrats in the House of Representatives, who will be the majority after January 3.

He says he's prepared, in his words, to declassify documents that will be devastating to his opponents, the Democrats, if the Democrats go after him with investigations in the new Congress.

I will read a quote. He says: "If they want to play tough, I will do it. They will see how devastating those pages are."

What's your reaction to that?

BLUMENTHAL: My reaction is that the threat to use classified information for political ends is a deep disservice to our national interest.

And it indicates further a kind of contempt for the intelligence community that was demonstrated again today by failing to have Gina Haspel come to the Senate briefing that we had today. The president has tried to use intelligence for his own political ends.

Using these classified documents, even the threat to do so, is really improper.

BLITZER: You have seen our exclusive reporting today on some of the written answers to Mueller's questions that the president submitted the other day.

He says Roger Stone did not tell him about WikiLeaks. He says he was not told about that June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between some of his top campaign advisers, including Paul Manafort, his son-in-law and his son, with Russians.

How significant is it that Mueller now has the president's answers in writing?

BLUMENTHAL: The special counsel has the facts and the evidence that can be used either to corroborate or dispute that contention by the president, assuming that reporting by CNN -- excellent reporting -- is true.

But the report that he had no knowledge of it is a contention by him that may or may not be supported by the facts, and that's what Robert Mueller wants. He wants to know the facts.

BLITZER: Apparently, in his written response, he used the words his best recollection.

You're a former attorney general in your home state of Connecticut. What does that say to you?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, that's a caveat, a qualification that is typically used, best recollection, as best I can recall.

It provides a sort of safety valve, in the event that the special counsel has some statement by that individual himself that would contradict it. And he can always deny his recollection. But the fact is, something like this would be remembered by the president of the United States.

And the more facts are developed, the more we see the ties and connection between Stone, Corsi, Manafort and WikiLeaks and the bombshell disclosures of those memos that the Russians obtained and then made known through WikiLeaks.

BLITZER: I suspect that Mueller is getting closer and closer to wrapping this thing up. We will see fairly soon.

Thanks so much, Senator, for coming.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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