MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi

Interview

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HAYES:  Today the documents, the testimony, and the edits by Trump`s lawyers about the message, the big lie of the campaign no business in Russia, no dealings with Russia, Russia has nothing over me, that is now in the hands of congressional investigators.  And that`s not the only thing.
 
Tonight, ABC reports that shortly after the FBI raided Michael Cohen`s home and office last spring, two attorneys claiming to be in close contact with Rudy Giuliani who is, of course, Trump`s current personal attorney reached out to Cohen.  And again, according to ABC, the attorneys who have no known formal ties to the White House urged Cohen not to leave the joint defense agreement, the sources told ABC News, and also offered a plan B.
 
In the event, Cohn opted to exit the agreement they could join his legal team and act as a conduit between Cohen and the president`s lawyers.  Sources said there was an implicit message that if Cohen hired these lawyers, it could preserve or increase his chances of a pardon down the road.  OK.
 
For his part, Cohen revealed plenty in a statement to ABC about he -- about how he couldn`t comment.  He says, unfortunately, this topic is something that`s being investigated right now by the Southern District of New York and I`ve been asked by them not to discuss and not to talk about these issues.
 
Meanwhile, the New York Times has obtained six more checks that President Trump or his trust paid to Cohen while Trump was president.  Checks Cohen says were reimbursements of course, for the hush money he paid Stormy Daniels on president`s behalf before the election.  And as experts warned, the existence of these checks puts Trump at risk of criminal prosecution once he leaves office.
 
The Times reports the following.  Some people close to Mr. Trump have privately predicted he will ultimately choose to seek a second term in part because of his legal exposure if he is not president.
 
Joining now Congressman Roger Krishnamoorthi who`s a Democrat from Illinois.  He sits on both the House Intelligence Committee that heard from Michael Cohen privately today and the House Oversight Committee that heard from him publicly last week and got to ask him some questions.
 
So the documents your committee got today, what is their significance?  What do they mean for what you can now learn?
 
REP. ROGER KRISHNAMOORTHI (D), ILLINOIS:  Well, thanks for having me on, Chris.  I think the significance of the documents is that they help to corroborate his testimony.  I think that whenever you have written testimony to bolster oral or verbal testimony, I think you just come across as more credible and I think that`s how Michael Cohen came across.
 
HAYES:  Don`t you think that the -- I mean, there`s a real question about a cover-up here, right.  I mean, there is a -- just a factual question of what edits were made by which lawyers when pertaining to the lie that he pleaded guilty to Congress or relying over.  That`s something that is now fairly resolvable based on the documentary evidence you have in your possession, correct?
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  Potentially.  I can`t get into the specifics of the testimony as you know in this closed-door setting.  But sufficing to say that the documents do shed light on a lot of these types of questions and I think they also point to why the investigation needs to continue and more witnesses need to be questioned quite frankly.
 
HAYES:  I want to play for you just because what -- at the center of all this of course, is the President`s contention throughout the campaign back in 2016 that there was no business relationship with Russia at all.  This was a central contention and it was central enough that Michael Cohen chose to lie under oath about it.  I just want to give you a flavor of what the president was saying during the campaign.  Take a listen.
 
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
 
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I mean, I have nothing to do with Russia.
 
I mean, I will tell you right now, zero.  I have nothing to do with Russia.
 
I have no relationship to Russia.
 
I don`t deal there.
 
I have nothing to do with Russian, folks, OK.
 
I have nothing to do with Russia, folks.
 
I have no dealings with Russia.  I have no deals in Russian.  I have no deals that could happen in Russia because we`ve stayed away.
 
I have nothing to do with Russia.  I have -- John, John, how many times do I have to say it.  Are you a smart man?  I have nothing to do with Russia.  I have nothing to do with Russia.
 
(END VIDEO CLIP)
 
HAYES:  Is it significant that that`s the core lie here?
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  I think that definitely seems to be a falsehood based on the three days of testimony that I`ve heard from Michael Cohen.  And you know, during this Cohen trilogy so to speak, you know it`s clear that even in the oversight hearing which was open to the public, you know, the negotiations with the Russians continued not through just January 2016 which was the initial lie, but it continued all the way through June 2016 at the least.
 
And according to Rudy Giuliani, it might have gone all the way up to the election.  So when President Trump says that he had nothing to do with Russia during the election, I think that`s just a plain falsehood.
 
HAYES:  I want to get your reaction of this story from ABC.  Again, it`s not independently confirmed by NBC and the details of it are strange.  I don`t even quite know what to make of them.  But the idea I guess is to lawyers approaching Michael Cohen is essentially claiming to be intermediaries of the president`s legal team about essentially coordinating in some way.  Is that something you would like to know more about?
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  Absolutely.  I`d like to know more about this.  You know, during the Oversight hearing, one question that I asked Michael Cohen is when was the last time that Donald Trump or any of his advisors contacted Mr. Cohen, and he said just a couple months after the raid which is highly unusual timing as you can understand and your viewers can understand.
 
And so we need to get to the bottom of why that happened.  He wasn`t willing to tell us during the oversight hearing because he said the Southern District of New York is investigating it.
 
HAYES:  That`s right.  That was -- your line of questioning was the President or his agents basically, when`s the last time you talked right after the raid.  Tell me more about that.  And Mr. Cohen says, I can`t because the Southern District is actually looking into that, which is the same thing he said in responses ABC story.
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  Yes, sir.  Yes, sir.  And then I asked the follow-up question which you may have tracked which was, is there any other wrongdoing or illegalities that we haven`t discussed this afternoon that you can tell us about.  And he said, yes.  I asked him again what is it, and he said again, I can`t talk about it because the Southern District of New York is investigating.  So those might be connected, I`m not sure, but we need to get to the bottom of it.
 
HAYES:  And you have not learned anything further on that specific question since you asked that question at the hearing?
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  Well, I can`t get into the specifics of the closed-door testimony but I don`t have all the answers yet.  The one thing I can say --
 
HAYES:  It`s not a no.
 
KRISHNAMOORTHI:  The one thing I can say, Chris, is you know we and Congress have to get to the bottom of this because unfortunately we can no longer trust that the U.S. attorneys who are operating under the supervision of William Barr, the new Attorney General are actually going to turn over the findings of their investigations just as Mr. Barr has intimated or hinted that he`s not going to turn over the Mueller report which is completely unacceptable in my opinion as well.
 
HAYES:  All right, Congressman Roger Krishnamoorthi, thank you very much. 

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