MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna
Interview
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HAYES: Joining me now, a member of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Ro Khanna of California who is questioning Michael Cohen earlier this week. Congressman, I want to talk about the specifics but first I guess the question is are we closer to the truth? Do you feel after the hearing and with the agenda before your committee now that we are getting closer to the truth?
REP. RO KHANNA (D), CALIFORNIA: I think we are. We know that there was a criminal conspiracy between the President, his son, Weisselberg, and Cohen for financial fraud and that the Southern District of New York is investigating this ongoing conspiracy. So that is closer to the truth. We need more people that come before the committee and testify to continue to corroborate it.
HAYES: I want to play you something that Rudy Giuliani said about the reimbursement payments. Of course, this is something they have lied about over and over. The President lied to everyone on Air Force One when he was asked about it. He lied about it subsequently. And this is -- this is Giuliani today, today, what he had to say. Take a listen.
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RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER OF DONALD TRUMP: We brought out ten months ago that he made the payment. It`s our -- its our view of it that the President didn`t know about it at the time. And then, the President, when he found out about it, made arrangements for reimbursement.
HAYES: There is literally tape of him talking to Michael Cohen about it at the time. What is your response when they try to sort of gaslight us all this way?
KHANNA: Well, obviously, they`re lying but it`s more serious than that they`re lying. The President didn`t just pay Michael Cohen through his personal check. He set up an elaborate trust through his financial organization, the Trump Organization and they cooked the books in the Trump organization to reimburse Cohen. And Cohen brought in the checks.
Here`s the thing, every time they attack Cohen`s credibility, you don`t have to believe a word Cohen says. He has smoking-gun evidence. Just look at the evidence. Cohen corroborated everything he alleged with evidence. The evidence was that the President, his son, and Weisselberg elaborated their whole scheme to commit financial fraud.
HAYES: You`re committee has announced, the chair Elijah Cummings already was looking into the security clearances issue which has been an issue above and beyond just Jared Kushner. The chair wrote another letter today in the wake of the Kushner revelations from the New York Times. Explained why this is an important issue for oversight and isn`t just something that the President can grant or not grant as he pleases.
KHANNA: Well, here`s why it matters. The President has had a systemic assault on expertise and civil servants in our democracy. Look, I know Jared Krishna. We worked at the White House office of innovation to pass a bill on the Idea Act and this isn`t a partisan issue. But who puts Jared Kushner in charge of Middle East peace?
And when you give him a top secret clearance, and you know that he`s on WhatsApp with MBS at Saudi Arabia. And then this may be affecting things like the war in Yemen, there are real concerns.
So this isn`t some partisan issue this is saying that the president has disregarded foreign policy advice. He`s put his son-in-law in charge of the Middle East peace process and the son-in-law is getting sensitive information that he may be sharing with MBS and who knows else around the world.
HAYES: There`s reporting today from NBC that the House Democrats are preparing a case to request the President`s tax returns. That would be the Ways and Means Committee. That that`s the one that has jurisdiction, but it`s been coordinated with chairs of other committees. Is that something you would support?
KHANNA: Absolutely. And let`s remember why we have this authority. It goes back to the 1920s, the Teapot Dome scandal when there was corruption and bribery. And then Congress said, well we can`t just rely on the President to tell us that if there`s corruption we got to get the tax returns. And so there`s precedent for this and we should absolutely get the tax returns.
HAYES: All right, Congressman Ro Khanna on the Oversight Committee, thank you so much.
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