MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

O`DONNELL:  OK, let`s get there straight.  All of William Barr`s letters about the Mueller report were written by staff people.  That`s true of most attorneys general before William Barr. 
 
In Washington, complaining about a letter being written by staff people is the ultimate reveal about how much of a problem that letter has become for the person who is complaining about it. 
 
Joining us now, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who questioned William Barr today, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. 
 
Senator, thank you very much for joining us tonight. 
 
What for you were the most important moments in that hearing? 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  That moment was a profoundly important one, Lawrence, because not only was the attorney general deeply dismissive and demeaning about one of the great prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country but he was deliberately obfuscating and deceiving about that letter. 
 
There`s no mention in that letter of the press misinterpreting the Barr four-page summary.  The letter says that William Barr was misleading and deceptive about the nature, context, and be conclusions of the Mueller report.  And it is doing damage to public confidence in the credibility of that investigation. 
 
Regardless of who wrote the letter, it has Bob Mueller written all the way around it, and that`s why enraged and I think also scared William Barr. 
 
O`DONNELL:  I want to take a look at an exchange that`s going to take us a minute, like a full minute to run it where I believe what I was watching was you discovering something in your cross-examination to the attorney general and then following it, something you didn`t know was necessarily there.  Let`s just watch this. 
 
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
 
BLUMENTHAL:  I want to ask you whether on those remaining investigations, the 12 to 14 investigations, whether you have had any communication with anyone in the White House. 
 
BARR:  No. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  And will you give us an ironclad commitment that you will in no way --
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
BARR:  By the way, I`m not sure, you know, the laundry list of investigations.  But I certainly haven`t talked the substance or been directed to do anything on any of the cases. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Well, let me give au opportunity to clarify. 
 
BARR:  Yes. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Have you had any conversations with anyone in the White House about those ongoing investigations that were spawned or spun off by --
 
BARR:  I don`t recall having any substantive on the investigation. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Have you had any non-substantive discussion? 
 
BARR:  It`s possible that a name of a case was mentioned. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  And have you provided information about any of those ongoing investigations?  Any information whatsoever. 
 
BARR:  I don`t recall, no. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  You don`t recall? 
 
BARR:  I don`t rule providing any. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Is there anything that would refresh your recollection? 
 
BARR:  If I -- probably looked over a list of cases. 
 
(END VIDEO CLIP)
 
O`DONNELL:  And we can`t look over a list of cases because those cases are secret.  He knows what those cases are.  We don`t.  So we don`t know if a relative of his isn`t involved in one of those cases. 
 
What I was struck by I saw the attorney general give a solid no.  You asked him about any communication with the White House about those cases, no.  You move on.  That`s the answer you`re expecting.  That`s what I think I`m watching.
 
Then I wanted the attorney general start to crawl back and change the no, like he realized, I`d better change that into an I`m not sure, I don`t recall because there are a bunch of people in the White House who might some day be saying yes, they discussed those cases. 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  And he could see almost in his mind`s eye six months from now the rerun of that answer and his being held responsible for lying to the Congress.  But here`s the important point. 
 
O`DONNELL:  You just, you knew what you had, right?  As an experienced prosecutor when someone wants to go back and change a no, you knew what you were chasing? 
 
BLUMENTHAL:  I knew that he had had conversations with people in the White House and the reason that I was so struck by it was that reading the Mueller report, one of the signs of obstruction of justice is the fact that in fact, there was an ongoing pattern of White House officials talking to Sessions and trying to shut down the investigation.  So we`re seeing the same playbook here with a new attorney general, different investigations, William Barr knows exactly what they are. 
 
When he said to me, do you know what they are?  Can you tell me what they are?  I thought that was almost a humorous moment except it was so deadly serious. 
 
And the other point here is that the rebuke from Robert Mueller is really unprecedented.  It`s stunning.  It`s memorialized.  It`s on paper.  And it is for the ages.  It`s for history.
 
And so I think the American people have a right to know more about what Robert Mueller will say.  We need Robert Mueller and his team, not just him, but his team, to testify before the United States Congress along with Don McGahn and others.
 
O`DONNELL:  Senator Blumenthal, thank you very much for joining us tonight.  I have to say, someone who spends a lot of time in courtrooms, it was really a pleasure watching you work and I say that as a kind of neutral observer of professional legal skills.  Thank you very much.
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Wow.  That`s high praise.  Thank you.
 
O`DONNELL:  Really appreciate you being here.  Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source