MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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HAYES:  All right, Harry Litman and Carol Lam, thank you both for joining me.  My next guest sits on the Senate committee with direct oversight of the Justice Department, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
 
You know, an e-mail went out today, Senator, that I thought was interesting after Barr`s comments.  The RNC sent an e-mail out that says the hunters become the hunted.  An RNC e-mail highlighting bar spying comment, the hunters become the hunted.  What do you -- what does that say do you think about what happened today?
 
SEN. BLUMENTHAL (D-CT):  What it says, Chris, very clearly is that the Barr initiative and it was his doing on his own using the word spying was a dog whistle.  In fact, it was a screaming shout out to the far right ecosystem to the false Trump narrative about his being the victim not the perpetrator and the Republican National Committee is going to use this clip in ads.
 
It`s hard to see how this could not have been a calculated step by William Barr because this term is so incendiary, so loaded.  No professional would ever use it.  Remember, the person who authorized those warrants sits down the hall from him, Rod Rosenstein.
 
And he depends on Rosenstein mentions him frequently as having concurred with his four-page summary of the Mueller report.  So this kind of feeding the narrative I think was a calculated decision.
 
HAYES:  You hadn`t exchanged today with a someone before your committee, Deputy Attorney General Nominee Jeffrey Rosen about sort of ensuring the independence of the Department of Justice even where he to be confirmed.  I want to play that and ask what you came away from that exchange with.  Take a listen.
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Will you commit to this committee and the United States Congress that you will protect the ongoing investigations in the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York from any and interference by the White House either to fire or discipline members of those United States Attorney`s offices.
 
JEFFREY ROSEN, NOMINEE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, UNITED STATES:  So I think what I would say about that is what I`ve said before which is I see and I think the chair -- Mr. -- Chairman Graham alluded to this.  There`s different functions in the department and the function with regard to law enforcement investigations and prosecutions is one that needs to be free of improper political influences, by the way from any source.  That includes Congress as well as any other source.
 
BLUMENTHAL:  I agree.  And will you commit that you will protect against any attempt to interfere in those ongoing investigations to fire a United States attorney, to discipline anyone in those offices, to remove anyone from those investigations, otherwise interfere with investigations of the President United States who has been named in fact as an unindicted co- conspirator Individual Number one?
 
ROSEN:  So I don`t think I can do better than what I just said before.  I think that what I said before is accurate.  You embedded some additional things that I`m not addressing.
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Well, I`m not inventing anything Mr. Rosen, I`m stating what the facts are and the need for the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice.
 
(END VIDEO CLIP)
 
HAYES:  Was that lawyerly carefulness in Mr. Rosen`s part or something other than that?
 
BLUMENTHAL:  It left me with less than full confidence in his backbone, his determination to stand up to the President of the United States.  And as you said at the very outset of the show, the question here really is about law enforcement, the independence of our justice system.
 
And Mr. Rosen has a long and varied career, that`s what he has called it, representing corporate clients, some in public service but none of it as a prosecutor, none of it making decisions about how to defend his line prosecutors.  So I`m left with the impression that the Department of Justice is going to serve as the Roy Cohn for this administration and that the Attorney General and his deputy are consiglieres more than representative people of the United States.
 
HAYES:  Senator Richard Blumenthal of the Senate Judiciary Committee, thank you very much for your time.
 
BLUMENTHAL:  Thank you.

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