MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Interview

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VELSHI:  Neal, thanks always for your analysis, Neal Katyal.  I want to turn now to a Member of the House Judiciary Committee which is where impeachment proceedings would originate should Congress decide to move forward with that.  Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington joins me now.  Representative, good to see you.  Thank you for being with us.
 
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D), WASHINGTON:  Good to see you too, Ali.
 
VELSHI:  You voted to launch -- I`m trying to not oversimplify this but you voted for a bill that would launch impeachment proceedings or not tabled them last year and that was very preliminary.  But has your position changed on whether or not members of Congress should proceed with impeachment of the President the United States.
 
JAYAPAL:  Well, at the time that we had the bill, it was really to have a debate on the floor about whether the President had committed impeachable offenses.  And if you remember this entire two years, we on the Judiciary Committee have been trying to get hearings to really do the work that we are supposed to do this within the jurisdiction of the committee.  That hasn`t happened, that will happen come January.
 
And now I think the evidence is stronger than ever.  We have -- you know, something is really rotten in the state of the White House.  I feel like I`m in a Hamlet play.  But there is political corruption at the highest levels and felonies being alleged by the prosecutor that involve Donald Trump directly, 14 contacts of Russians.  So this is really troubling, Ali, and I think that the president has to be worried about this and I think the American people have to understand this culture of corruption has got to stop.
 
VELSHI:  At some point, I was talking to Neal about this that there are legal arguments and we read a lot of them on Friday night about why the President may have some legal jeopardy in this.  But there`s really ultimately when it comes to being the President of the United States, there are some limitations about where the justice system can take us.  There are fewer limitations as to where the political system can take us although it`s impeachment is not a light or uncomplicated thing.  How in your mind do Americans best guess get justice for a president who may have committed a felony?
 
JAYAPAL:  Well, I think what you`ve seen already is a lot information put out by Mueller in all of these filings.  So even though he hasn`t gone all the way yet, it is clear that this president is being investigated for obstruction of justice, for collusion, that he has been a central figure in the committing of felonies.  And so what will happen now is that information has to be really put out to the American people.  Donald Trump`s lies have to be shown.
 
And then it is a political process as you know if we`re going to move forward with any kind of impeachment.  We do need to make sure we continue to see the information from the Special Counsel.  And then let us let the American people see for themselves how many have been defrauded and lied to by this President.  That`s what you`re going to see happen I think starting January, but certainly through these Mueller filings and indictments that he`s put forward.
 
VELSHI:  Republicans in the House see it differently.  Here`s what Kevin McCarthy had to say on Fox News today.
 
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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), CALIFORNIA:  It looks like what they`re going to focus on is just more investigations.  I think America is too great of a nation to have such a small agenda.  I think there`s other problems out there that we really should be focused upon.  We`ve investigated this for a long period of time, both sides have come up with nothing in the process.  I think we should put the American people first.
 
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VELSHI:  Both sides have come up with nothing in the process.  What`s your response to that?
 
JAYAPAL:  I just think it`s so disheartening.  It is such a disservice.  It is such lies.  And I can`t believe that the Republican majority is to say we don`t care about the Constitution, that we can have a president that is committing potentially crimes, felonies, impeachable offenses and that the Republicans aren`t going to stand up.
 
I don`t think that in the end the American people will stand for that and I think that Republicans will be forced to roll some of this back and to participate in a real upholding of the Constitution.  That`s what we plan to do on the Judiciary Committee as Democratic majority and frankly the Special Counsel is putting a lot of stuff out there that is making it less and less likely that the President or Kevin McCarthy or any of these Republicans can continue to obfuscate, lie, and then cover up what is real fraud of the American people.
 
VELSHI:  Representative Pramila Jayapal, good to talk to you.  Thank you again for your time tonight.  All right, I want to bring in Philippe Reines.  He was a top adviser to Hillary Clinton.  Philippe, good to see you.

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