Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Rep. Mike Johnson: Democrats have 'weaponized' the oversight responsibility of Congress

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BARTIROMO: Welcome back.

Attorney General William Barr expected to face questions about his letter summarizing the Mueller report during his congressional testimony.

That is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday, this as Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee vote to subpoena the actual full report, along with the underlying evidence that goes along with it.

Joining me right now is a member of that committee, Republican Congressman from Louisiana Mike Johnson. He's also chairman of the Republican Study Committee and a former constitutional law attorney.

Sir, it is an honor to have you here this morning. Thanks so much for talking to us.

You are getting set for this testimony of William Barr on Tuesday. This is supposed to focus on the budget, right?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, R-LA: It is.

The House Judiciary Committee has oversight over DOJ. And this is a regular thing that the A.G. does, comes in and talks about the budget.

But I fear that this meeting may turn into a circus. Our Democratic colleagues, as you have seen over the last several weeks, are really on a tear. They really want to dig into Attorney General Barr. And they're not giving to him, I think, the respect that is due.

The subpoena that they voted to release at our meeting last week was completely unnecessary. I mean, Maria, you know the attorney general has said that he's working diligently to release the Mueller report. The House voted 420-0 to release that.

But our understanding on the Republican side is that that would be done within the bounds of the law. That's the attorney general's responsibility. I think he's doing that diligently. And I hope that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will allow him to do just that.

BARTIROMO: So, let's talk about that.

What is in the bounds of the law? You're a former constitutional lawyer. Tell us about the law as it relates to grand jury testimony.

JOHNSON: Yes, there's -- the federal rules of criminal procedure are very specific about this.

This is part of the rule of law in this country, is that we don't release grand jury matters. It's very sensitive information, for all of the obvious reasons.

Now, there are exceptions to that, but you have to go to a federal court and convince a judge that certain portions of grand jury material is subject for release. The House Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Nadler, have decided to bypass all that.

And in a straight party-line vote last week in our meeting, they decided to issue a subpoena to Attorney General Barr to release everything, all of the underlying information and everything else. We think that's a big mistake.

BARTIROMO: Yes. I...

JOHNSON: And at the end of the day, Maria, the problem here, well look, they have weaponized the oversight responsibility of Congress.

This is for pure partisan politics, and it's a Pandora's box that I think we shouldn't be opening.

BARTIROMO: Honestly, Congressman, I think the American people are sick and tired of hearing politicized, weaponize our agencies that we have so much trust in or had such trust in.

Stay with us, Congressman. We're taking a short break.

I want to talk more about this issue and what you're expecting in this upcoming week, Congressman Mike Johnson, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: And we're back with Congressman Mike Johnson.

And, Congressman, I don't know how this is going to go down in 2020, when you have got so many -- so much pushback of this president.

They wanted the Mueller report done. They got it. No collusion, and yet we're still talking about releasing the whole report, so that they can hang on to this idea for dear life, all the while coming up with really not a lot in the way of proposals for the American people.

You are the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress. And your group came out with a report on the Green New Deal. This is a 13-page pretty much takedown of the Green New Deal.

Tell us about your response to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal?

JOHNSON: Well, it's patently absurd.

And I think most everyone recognizes that now. At the Republican Study Committee, we do a deep dive on these issues. And we put staff in our -- some of our smartest members on this. And we produced a 13-page report to combat the 14-page Green New Deal.

And the findings are just extraordinary. If you look at the estimates of what this would cost the American people, it's somewhere in the negotiating of between $90 trillion and $95 trillion. And, of course, they would want to end air travel and most of our vehicles and all the rest.

It's just absurd. And the sad thing is, Maria, that we're in a political climate where you have leading Democrats, people who want to run for the presidency of the United States, who sign on to these absurd ideas.

BARTIROMO: Right.

JOHNSON: We have got to get back to facts and realistic truth. And that's what we're trying to do at the RSC.

BARTIROMO: And that's just one of other proposals that really create a bigger government, overall federal programs to control more and more people's lives, like Medicare for all.

JOHNSON: Yes, a completely unwieldy proposal.

And I think most people who are honest will tell you that it would never work. That's the problem that we have. There's two competing philosophies right now. We believe in individual freedom and limited government and the rule of law and peace through strength and fiscal responsibility, some of these ideas that are getting lost in the political debate right now.

And we have got to remind the American people that those are the ideals that made America great, and we have to preserve those if we're going to continue this great republic, the greatest nation in the history of the world. We can't abandon it to these crazy ideas of socialism.

Socialism is an evil. It has been responsible for the death of tens of millions of people, in Marxism at its root. All of those things are not American. And we have to take every opportunity we have to remind the American people of who we are and why we truly are the great nation that we are.

BARTIROMO: And...

JOHNSON: And, at the RSC, the Republican Study Committee...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

JOHNSON: ... our members are excited about that debate.

BARTIROMO: Yes, and, all the while, they want to just keep fighting Trump about collusion. It's just extraordinary, Congressman.

It's good to see you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us. We will see you soon.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source