MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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HAYES:  All right.  Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you so much for making some time this evening.
 
Here with me now is Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, presidential candidate and a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hosting, if I`m not mistaken, Bill Barr tomorrow.
 
Your reaction to this news, senator.
 
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, (D) MINNESOTA:  Well, it means I`ve certainly had to update my questions, Chris.
 
I was actually surprised that this is coming out the day before the hearing, but I`m not surprised that Director Mueller would write such a letter, because we knew from the beginning that this four-page summary didn`t do the report justice, that there were issues with that summary and how it created confusion, and it`s really downplayed what we later read in the report, even though we don`t have all the report, it really downplayed the Russian interference, but it mostly downplayed, of course, all the details about obstruction, only acknowledging that there was a difference of opinion and there were two sides to it, in the words of Attorney General Barr.
 
So this means for me and the committee, we`re going to have to ask even tougher questions now that we`re going to have to demand that Mueller comes testify when there`s clearly a difference of opinion here.
 
HAYES:  On that, is that something that you -- I mean, you`re in the minority on the Judiciary Committee.  Lindsey Graham, I think, is on the record -- in fact, I`m certain, on the record saying, look, I don`t need to talk to Mueller.  We got the report.  It`s fine.
 
Do you think this changes things?  And can you prevail upon the Republican chair to actually
call Mueller before your committee?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, we will keep trying and keep pushing him.  And that`s why there will be many questions asked about this, and that we want to be able to talk to the people who were involved in
gathering this evidence. 
 
I mean, this is not about politics in the end, it`s about protecting our democracy, it`s a national security issue.  All week we heard reports about the Homeland Security secretary being told not to talk to the president about Russia`s invasion in our election.  We were told that basically the White House has been down playing this, and I personally know that because I`m the Democratic lead on the Secure
Elections Act with Senator Lankford, and we know that people in the White House made calls to senators to stop the advancement of that bill when it was ready to have a markup in the rules committee. 
 
And that`s about back-up paper ballots.  And it is a bill about audits.  And it`s a bill about protecting our elections from a foreign country that`s invading our country.  So I do not understand -- by the way they didn`t use missiles or tanks, they used -- instead they hacked in.  And I don`t understand why the Republicans would want to allow a foreign country to have this kind of influence over our election.  And next time it`s going to be them that they`ll do it to.
 
And so this news today just more and more fortifies the argument that this White House is not standing up for our national security.
 
HAYES:  Are you -- what is your characterization or conclusions about the attorney general of
the United States` general comportment in his role as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I did not support this attorney general for this very reason.  It looked to me that he did a job application when he submitted a memo before he was even being considered about his
views that the president had expansive executive power and should be able to basically make his own decisions about laws and shouldn`t have to at all respect the power of congress.  So that was my first reaction.
 
The second was that in his hearing, he verified that more. 
 
And so then we come to this report coming out, and I`m not surprised at all that he would do a four-page conclusion to try to tilt the politics.  Instead of just being the people`s lawyer, he was acting as the president`s lawyer. 
 
And again, I believe that we must respect the rule of law, and we must respect the constitution.  Add this attorney general has gone way out on a limb here to the point where he is not allowing the 448-page report to speak for itself.  And that`s why we will continue to demand we hear from Director
Mueller as well as the other witnesses.
 
HAYES:  All right, Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for your time. 

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