MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Adam Schiff

Interview

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MADDOW:  I`m very pleased to say that joining us tonight for the first time since he has been named chairman of the Intelligence Committee is Adam Schiff, Democratic congressman of California. 
 
Mr. Chairman, congratulations, and thank you very much for being with us tonight. 
 
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE:  Thank you.  It`s good to be with you. 
 
MADDOW:  So I have a lot to ask you about.  So I`ll warn you right now. 
 
First of all, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is going to be in the House tomorrow, answering questions about why he has signed off on relaxing Russia`s sanctions against companies owned by Oleg Deripaska.  He is, of course, a sanctioned oligarch and one to whom the Trump campaign chair reportedly offered private briefings during the middle of the presidential campaign.  I know you are one of the committee chairs in the House who requested this briefing from Secretary Mnuchin. 
 
What are you expecting from that tomorrow? 
 
SCHIFF:  Well, I`d like to know why.  Why is this effort being made to accommodate Oleg Deripaska, this oligarch close to Putin.  The deal itself still gives Deripaska enormous control over these companies.  I think a 45 percent or 43 percent share in this aluminum company.  It`s a pretty sweet deal for Deripaska and for these companies. 
 
Why are we bending over backwards to accommodate them only about nine months after the imposition of these sanctions.  Something just doesn`t smell right about this transaction.  I`d also like to know whether the Treasury Department and the people that enforce these sanctions were of one mind about this, or whether there was internal dissent or opposition to this decision, because it just doesn`t quite add up to me. 
 
MADDOW:  In terms of that type of process that you`re describing there, if there was dissent in the Treasury Department, are you as chairman of the intelligence committee, are you and your colleagues allowed access to those internal negotiations, that internal process and the records thereof from the Treasury Department as part of your oversight responsibilities? 
 
SCHIFF:  Well, we`re certainly going to try to find out tomorrow whether there was uniform opinion about this or whether the treasury officials that in fact pushed for these sanctions to be imposed not just on Deripaska, but on his companies somehow changed their minds or whether they continue to think that those sanctions are warranted.  Deripaska is of course not the only Russian oligarch whose been sanctioned.  There are a great many others, and a great many of them are likewise in charge of very large companies and have very large holdings. 
 
Why are we treating this particular oligarch differently?  I just don`t understand the rationale. 
 
MADDOW:  I also want to ask you, sir, about the reports concerning Paul Manafort and these allegations from the special counsel`s office which we learned about through a strange process yesterday, these sort of miffed or muffed reactions that Manafort`s lawyers tried to impose on a court filing but screwed it up.  But given their mistake, we have learned that the special counsel`s believes that Manafort was sending internal polling data overseas to a Russian intelligence source and to a pair of oligarchs during the campaign. 
 
Am I right that your committee was unaware of that until we all learned it yesterday because of that screwed up court filing? 
 
SCHIFF:  Yes, you`re absolutely right.  We had wanted to bring Manafort in earlier, and at the time he became a person of interest to the Mueller investigation, and that opportunity was foreclosed.  We had hoped thereafter to get access to him once he was cooperating, but obviously his cooperation is far less than complete or candid. 
 
But we`re also interested in bringing Mr. Gates before the committee, and it`s certainly clear from these pleadings that he has relevance -- or these reports, that he has relevant information as well.  What I find so striking about all of this, and you`re asking the right questions, why would the Russians want this data, what use would they make of it, but you look at this in the context of what is going on at the time, the Russians are embarked on this massive media campaign to tilt the election in Trump`s favor.  You`ve got Manafort trying to get money or get debt relief from these oligarchs like Deripaska that he has owed money or owes money to, offering data on the campaign. 
 
You`ve got at the same time this lawyer that we learned more about, Veselnitskaya, who was indicted this week setting up this meeting in Trump Tower, having this close relationship with the Russian government, offering dirt, the president`s son saying they would love to get that dirt, and the president seeking this deal in Trump Tower and seeking Kremlin help to put it together while lying about it to the American people. 
 
All of that is going on in a matter of the same months.  It is a situation rife with conflict, a hornet`s nest of compromise, and it`s no wonder that the special counsel is concerned about this, as we are. 
 
MADDOW:  Congressman, Mr. Chairman, those -- that list of things that you just described, now that you are chairman of the Intelligence Committee, there are a number of questions that I have about how the division of labor works and how you understand the division of labor between yourself and your committee and Robert Mueller and the special counsel`s office and the Justice Department more broadly.  If you can stick around with us for just one more segment, I`d love to talk with you in a little bit more detail. 
 
Can you stay with us? 
 
SCHIFF:  Certainly, of course. 
 
MADDOW:  Congressman Adam Schiff, chair of the intelligence committee, stays with us.  We`ll be right back.

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