CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Blumenthal

Interview

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BLITZER: And it's interesting, he's avoided meeting with reporters, even answering a few questions from reporters, skittering away, as they say, to avoid obviously what would be some pretty tough questions.

Jim Acosta at the White House, thank you very much.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He's a key member of the Judiciary Committee. Senator thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Thank you, Wolf. Thanks for having me

BLITZER: All right. So the Justice Department calls the House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler's subpoena for the un-redacted report "premature and unnecessary." Why have Democrats decided to move forward with this subpoena to reject the opportunity to see more of the Mueller report, because the Justice Department, the attorney general is saying, they could basically see everything, at least some limited members of the House and Senate, with the exception of grand jury material.

BLUMENTHAL: Well, that's exactly the point. The number of members of Congress would be extremely limited to literally a handful, and the conditions of that viewing would exclude grand jury material and perhaps other material that's redacted. If you read this report, you see page by page, key details that are scrubbed, sanitized, edited out. It's like a road map that detours the traveler into the woods. And that's exactly what William Barr has done from the very start of release of this report, holding the president accountable, demands that we have all the facts and evidence from this report, as well as the full report itself. Mueller, as a witness, with his team, and others who are named in this report as having key facts about the collusion with the Russians and clearly, the obstruction of justice by the president and his inner circle.

BLITZER: What sort of information do you think might be behind those blackened sections? And we're showing our viewers some pictures of those redactions.

BLUMENTHAL: Probably sources of information that are important for the Congress to know, because we'll have to consult with them, in determining what steps to take next. President Trump needs to be held accountable in the Congress, through hearings and other actions, in the court of public opinion, through the ballot box, and maybe through the courts themselves. And all of those proceedings, for accountability, as well as protecting our country against a continuing Russian tack require that we know all the facts and evidence, such as the testimony before the grand jury that will provide greater details or sources of information that Mueller has presented in the report. That kind of detail is immensely important.

BLITZER: In a rare critical statement, that you heard it, Republican Senator Mitt Romney now says he's, in his word, "sickened by the dishonesty revealed in this Mueller report." Do you think that will translate to any action in the Senate?

BLUMENTHAL: That is really the question that most concerns me, Wolf. Whether my Republican colleagues will join in a bipartisan effort to act against the continuing Russian attack on this country. We see a Department of Homeland Security in disarray, with key positions unfilled. That's the department that is supposed to protect our electoral process against the kind of attack that Russia launched in 2016. And they are preparing to launch again.

We need bipartisan effort, acknowledging that the Russians committed an act of war against the United States. They hacked into our computers. They stole information. They conducted a misinformation campaign.

And the president of the United States is denying it. He is still in denial, as you saw on the stage at Helsinki, he believes that Vladimir Putin, over our Intelligence Community, that is not only irresponsible, it is profoundly dangerous.

[17:20:07] And my Republican colleagues should join in a bipartisan effort to stop this continuing attack on our country. It's an issue of national security that affects all western Democracies these days because that's Putin's playbook.

BLITZER: When you say - BLUMENTHAL: -- to conduct this attack for a disarray.

BLITZER: When you say, Senator, an act of war, obviously, it doesn't get tougher than that. What would you have the U.S. do to Russia?

BLUMENTHAL: We need to respond in kind, with stronger sanctions. President Obama started sanctions. There have been increased sanctions since then. By the way, I use that term "act of war," in hearings of the Armed Services Committee. Literally, years ago and a number of my Republican colleagues seemed to agree with me. I hope that we will have bipartisan action because the future of our Democracy and the upcoming elections is at stake.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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