CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: Attorney General Appointment

Interview

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MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy, who sits on the committee responsible for keeping the Department of Justice in check. He joins us this morning from New Orleans. Senator, would you like to respond to anything that the congressman said there? And what is your interpretation of the special council's statement regarding this report?

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY (R-Louisiana/@SenJohnKennedy): My-- my understanding, Margaret, and I sat through every minute of the hearing is that there is an FBI rule that says an investigation report is not released. It's given to the attorney general. And the attorney general reports on the report. Now I've said how I feel about it. I think they ought to release Mueller's report--

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: --for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's going to leak anyway. Washington, DC leaks like the Titanic. And number two, I think the American people have a right to know. If there is a rule that gets in the way I hope that Mister Barr Will consider, consider waving it. But any-- but anybody--

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that-- is that a factor in you deciding to vote him in for confirmation?

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: No, I think Barr is imminently qualified. But-- but anybody who thinks--

MARGARET BRENNAN: And you're a yes vote.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: --yes. If any-- anybody who thinks this report is going to remain confidential has been smoking some of that medicinal marijuana.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But back-- back to the question about the report in BuzzFeed regarding whether the President directed his attorney to lie. What do you understand--

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: Right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: --the special council's comment on that to mean?

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: I found what happened with respect to the BuzzFeed article, it was embarrassing. I think the First Amendment was bruised. Look, reporters make mistakes. We all do.

MARGARET BRENNAN: BuzzFeed stands by it.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: But I-- I was-- I understand. BuzzFeed also has to answer to the fact that the Mueller said it's not true. And-- and what surprised me was not that somebody made a mistake intentional or not, but it was just the-- it was astonishing to me that so many folks didn't stop and say, hey, you know, let's think about this.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: Could this be true. The sources? Have these particular reporters had problems before? It was-- it was almost as if what-- some of the reporting was not reporting it was wishful thinking. And I think that hurts the First Amendment.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, I'm coming up against time. So, I'm going to ask you briefly. Will you vote for the proposal put forward by the President to end the shutdown?

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: Yep. It represents progress, not perfection. But progress. Miss Pelosi's response was predictable, but I can promise you that the more censorious Democrats right now are glad the President put something on the table. Third point, I'll make is I talked to the President about this issue for about an hour last week.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY: And if you bring a plan to him that doesn't include a wall it's dead as four o'clock.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Kennedy, thank you very much for your time.

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