MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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HAYES:  Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is a member the Senate Judiciary Committee and she joins me now.  I`m going to ask you about Matthew Whitaker but since I just asked Ian about this, Ivanka Trump using her personal e-mail, an apparent violation of the Presidential Records Act in the White House.  Is that something you think Democrats should look into and investigate?
 
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA:  I had just -- this is the first I`ve heard about it and obviously there`s been a lot of talk about e-mails over the years and you want to make sure all the rules are followed. 
 
HAYES:  What is your position?  You`re not one of the three plaintiffs in this lawsuit filed by some of your colleagues, but what is your position on constitutionality of the current acting Attorney General?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, I support what they did here.  And as you noted, this is really similar to the two other lawsuits and it`s saying the same thing.  This is not constitutional.  One, because for this high-ranking cabinet position of Attorney General, we weren`t allowed to give our advice and consent and that`s secondly the statute that should have been followed here is the succession statute which should have trumped so to say, the one that he used which was the vacancy one. 
 
And it`s so clear, you know, he fires Sessions and basically puts Whitaker in the day after the election so he`s not held accountable and now is claiming that he didn`t know about Whitaker`s views which he had so clearly said about how you know we could starve this investigation and he could then-Attorney General could by not providing enough budget money or actually the absurd statement that there was nothing connecting the Trump campaign to Russia when you have the campaign chair and the National Security Adviser charged and convicted of things related to Russia.
 
HAYES:  So the President is now saying -- I want to play you what he has said about the back and forth on the written answers and get your response to how important you think it is the president actually talked to communicate with Mueller.  Take a listen.
 
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
 
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Your team is preparing written answers to questions about --
 
TRUMP:  No, no, not my team.  I`m preparing written answers.  I`m the one that does the answer.  Yes, are they writing them out?
 
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Yes.
 
TRUMP:  Yes.  They`re writing what I tell them to write.
 
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Are they going to be submitted?
 
TRUMP:  At some point, very soon, yes.  I`ve completed them.
 
(END VIDEO CLIP)
 
HAYES:  Now, he said he`s not going to talk to Mueller even though he said for almost a year they`d love to.  I guess my question is how important is it just abstracting away from Present Trump, that a president comply with inquiries from a special prosecutor?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, of course, it`s important.  And you go back to the only real case law we have on this is the Nixon tape case law which allowed them to get those tapes.  Now, I think you should also comply with these rules.  He`s not above the law.  And one of the things that we want to make sure to do is to protect that investigation.  And that`s why you see Senator Flake standing up and he won`t vote for any more judicial nominees until we pass a law that allows us to protect this investigation.
 
And that`s what really concerns me.  It`s -- when you look at all of the dots, it`s not that hard to connect them.  This happened the day after the election.  He fires the Attorney General, put someone in who is clearly on his side on this investigation and it`s our job as was just pointed out to be a check and balance and to make sure this continues.  And my Republican colleagues need to step up and not just say they want to protect it but protect it.
 
HAYES:  How concerned are you that there is a clock ticking right now with Whitaker fulfilling that office, going to report to DOJ every day, running the Justice Department of the United States.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  It`s very concerning because as you know, not just because of the investigation but this is someone that a -- Marbury vs. Madison decision that has some very extreme views when it comes to the law.  And that`s why we believe that a nominee should be put forward and we should have the right to advise and consent.  And clearly, that would allow us to make sure that this investigation be completed.  And if they have an opening right now, it should be filled by the deputy who is Rod Rosenstein.
 
HAYES:  Take me through you`re thinking if I were to talk to you a year ago or two years ago about your belief of Mitch McConnell`s willingness to rein in the president if things got really bad a year ago or two years ago versus now.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, I think it`s going to be interesting with a number of Republican Senators up if this same track continues where the President keeps doing things that basically as you could see from the House elections were very harmful to a number of Republicans.  And this time we didn`t have many Republicans up and one of them that was up Dean Heller lost.  And so I think it`s going to be really interesting to see if McConnell actually does stand up to him more, but clearly, we didn`t see it. 
 
And when I go back thinking back to that dark day of that inaugural speech and the track we`ve been on, we`ve seen a number of them stand up and say things from time to time but we haven`t seen a lot of action in terms of a check and balance.  And that makes our role very important and certainly the House of Representatives and Adams Schiff`s role, I will say his name correctly. Adam Schiff`s role very important in standing up for the rule of law.
 
HAYES:  Yes, thank you for saying that correctly.  I would be mortified if I made that mistake either intentionally or unintentionally but I`m just in cable news though.  Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you very much.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, thanks.  It`s great to be on. 
 
HAYES:  Still ahead, Stacy -- what was that?  Senator, wait, Senator, Senator, we cut you off.  What were you saying?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I said -- I was saying make sure and ask Stacey Abrams if she`s going to run again for something else because there`s plenty of things for her to run for and she did such an excellent job and we want her to stay with us.
 
HAYES:  All right, I`m going to ask for that very question.  Thank you, Senator. 
 
KLOBUCHAR:  OK.

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