CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)

Interview

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BLITZER: Yes, the Trump Organization, the Trump Foundation, the Trump inaugural, they're looking into a lot of stuff, various investigators.

Thank you very much, Sara, for that report.

Let's get some more in all of this.

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California is joining us. He's a member of both the Judiciary and the Foreign Affairs Committees.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

REP. TED LIEU (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, so what do you think? These federal prosecutors, they're now requesting these interviews with top Trump Organization officials.

What and who do you think they're investigating?

LIEU: Well, let me first say that the level of corruption associated with Donald Trump and his associates is extraordinary.

It looks like virtually every organization Donald Trump has touched is now under investigation. We know that these are prosecutors that are separate from special counsel Mueller's office. They all took an oath to uphold the Constitution. They did not take an oath to the president. They're going to do their job.

And we will see what happens with these investigations. It's hard to tell at this point exactly what they're going after. But we do know that Michael Cohen in federal court, under oath, basically said that Donald Trump directed him to make payments that turned out to be felony campaign finance violations.

I'm sure prosecutors will want to know who else in the Trump Organization knew about that.

BLITZER: How do you think the president will react, Congressman, if his children are drawn into these investigations?

LIEU: It is a matter of debate whether or not the president of the United States can be indicted.

There's no debate whether the president's children can be indicted or his son-in-law. They absolutely can. And so we're going to wait and see what happens with these investigations.

BLITZER: We can see from the subpoena of the Trump inauguration committee that investigators are looking into various subjects, including foreign money.

But this investigation is separate from Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. What does that tell you?

LIEU: That Americans understand the one thing that makes America great is the rule of law.

And we have investigators, law enforcement personnel and prosecutors that take their oaths very seriously. They're going to investigate and go where the evidence leads them, even if this is the president of the United States or his family.

BLITZER: Have you seen any evidence at all that President Trump's inaugural committee actually broke the law?

LIEU: I personally have not.

But what we do know is that this president and some of his family members do not seem to care at all about the Emoluments Clause, or having foreign influence affect their decisions, or using taxpayers' money to benefit themselves personally.

So it would not surprise me that part of the inaugural committee may have violated crimes.

BLITZER: Only one person in this subpoena is named, a man by the name of Imaad Zuberi. We heard about him. He's a former Obama and Clinton fund-raiser.

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Are some of these issues under investigation of concern for both political parties?

LIEU: It certainly could be, based on public reporting.

It looks like what they're looking at are activities associated with the Trump inaugural committee. What made this different is a huge amount of money was raised, but only part of it was spent.

And so I think prosecutors trying to figure out, well, where did the other millions of dollars go? Did they go to enrich Donald Trump or his associates, or would they legitimately spent on legitimate activities?

BLITZER: The acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker, as you know, he's agreed to testify publicly before your committee, the House Judiciary Committee, this coming Friday.

So why has the chairman, Jerry Nadler, prepared a subpoena for Whitaker if he's voluntarily going to appear?

LIEU: Because, in the past, we have seen administration officials say that they're not going to answer a question by saying that they're thinking they might actually use a White House privilege, but not actually go ahead and use it.

You can't do that. You have to either answer the question or exercise your privilege. So if Matt Whitaker simply says he's not going to answer the question and doesn't exercise a privilege, we will subpoena him on the spot and compel him to testify.

BLITZER: That hearing will be open to the public, right?

LIEU: Yes. It will be this Friday. It will be open to the public in the House Judiciary Committee.

BLITZER: The window, meanwhile, is narrowing to try to reach a deal on border security. Is there anything the president could say in his address to Congress tonight that would move you towards a compromise, including some funding for some sort of steel barrier, at least along part of the border with Mexico?

LIEU: It would be helpful if the president actually acknowledged basic facts.

So last year, Donald Trump's own words, he said that border crossings were at a 45-year low. We know from the latest FBI statistics that violent and property crime are down across United States. And study after study shows that immigrants commit less crime than native-born Americans.

If we can agree on those facts, then we can move forward and look at the border and say, OK, what discrete areas might actually need some physical barriers? And, by the way, have you seen a map of the administration that they have shown you with a border wall across the southern border?

They haven't shown such a map, because most of the border, in fact, doesn't need a wall.

BLITZER: If the president does go ahead and declare a national emergency and decide to go ahead, find money elsewhere, build the wall on his own, without formal congressional appropriation, what will you and your fellow Democrats do?

LIEU: We will see the president in court.

I note that, if there was a national emergency, Donald Trump would not have golf this weekend, nor would he have waited over two years before declaring a national emergency.

When Congress writes laws, we expect the words being what they say, national emergency. And you don't wait over two years and say it's a national emergency. And, clearly, there is none.

BLITZER: Congressman Ted Lieu, thanks so much for joining us.

LIEU: Thank you, Wolf.

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