MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna

Interview

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REID: Joining me now is Congressman Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who sits on the oversight committee.  Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. 
 
REP. RO KHANNA (D), CALIFORNIA:  Joy, it`s good to be on. 
 
REID:  OK.  So let`s go get into this leak.  Obviously, now, the committee now has the documents that walk your committee through the process of how Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump got their security clearances.  What now does the committee want to do about it?  Is this -- is this going to trigger hearings and could we see Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner forced to testify or White House officials who granted them their clearances? 
 
KHANNA:  Well, Joy, let me explain why this is such a big deal.  For a president who spent the entire 2016 campaign trail railing against Hillary Clinton`s private e-mail servers, this is a far bigger national security crisis.  There are allegations that Jared Kushner had sensitive information that he has allegedly been giving lists to MBS, the Saudi crown prince, about Saudi dissidents.  That he`s been on WhatsApp with Saudi Arabia`s crown prince. 
 
And we need to know what is it in his background that was causing concern?  Has he been sharing sensitive top-secret information with people in Saudi Arabia or other countries?  Why is it he has not disclosed a number of his foreign business relations? 
 
So this is not a partisan issue.  It`s not a bureaucratic issue.  This is our most sensitive information that may be getting into the wrong hands. 
 
REID:  And can I ask you, does the committee have the contemporaneous notes that John Kelly, the former chief of staff, and the White House counsel Don McGahn wrote about the obtained -- about these two obtaining these clearances, do you all have those notes? 
 
KHANNA:  I don`t think we have those yet, but as you pointed out, both John Kelly and the White House counsel at the time were opposed to the decision to give Jared Kushner top secret clearance.  They were so opposed to it, that they felt the need to write a memo documenting how concerned they were and why Jared Kushner shouldn`t be getting this information. 
 
And this has implications about our policy in the Middle East.  I mean, the president has made Jared Kushner the point person on Middle East peace and
* or Middle East policy and we need to know what information he has and who is he sharing it with. 
 
REID:  And in the documents that were leaked to the committee, is there anything in those documents that indicates to you that Jared Kushner might have shared classified information with the Saudi prince? 
 
KHANNA:  I can`t say it`s in that, but there has been public reporting on a number of key points.  One, that Jared Kushner had access to the president`s daily brief, in that daily brief were numerous reports about Saudi dissidents and he allegedly shared that list with the Saudi crown prince.  Second, Jared Kushner has allegedly had meetings with the Saudi prince without having anyone in our embassy there.  That is not standard protocol. 
 
And we know the crown prince most likely ordered the killing of Khashoggi.  We know he`s ordering the bombing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Yemen.  And here there are serious allegations of what Jared Kushner is sharing with him. 
 
This is not a bureaucratic issue.  This is a hugely sensitive issue about the highest national security of this country. 
 
REID:  And we know just from public reporting that one of the challenges that Jared Kushner likely had getting a clears was the fact that he was in a lot of debt.  He had a building here in Manhattan that had a big balloon payment due.  His father was reportedly looking -- helping him to try to look for ways to pay that bill. 
 
Have you found in anything of those leaked documents, any of those leaked documents, anything that would indicate to you that Jared Kushner was seeking funding, seeking money from the Middle East while he was in the Middle East purportedly negotiating on behalf of the United States? 
 
KHANNA:  I can`t comment on those documents, but just in general with the public reporting, there are huge reports that Jared Kushner hasn`t been fully forthcoming about all of his overseas business dealings and all of his foreign contacts.  You know, I had a security background check when I worked at the Commerce Department.  You have to disclose every single person you`ve ever met with in a foreign country in the past seven years. 
 
And for Kushner not to have disclosed financial transactions or his overseas contacts puts him and the country in a vulnerable spot.  It might not have even been something that he realized put him in a vulnerable spot, but that`s why we have those background checks, to see if someone could take advantage of him, and I have concerns whether the Saudis have been taking advantage of the situation. 
 
REID:  All right.  Congressman Ro Khanna, member of the House Oversight Committee -- thank you so much.  Really appreciate your time tonight. 
 
KHANNA:  Joy, thanks for having me back on. 
 
REID:  Thank you very much. 

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