CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Chris Van Hollen

Interview

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COOPER: Well, the attorney general trying to explain himself there. Earlier, I spoke with Senator Chris Van Hollen whose earlier exchange took center stage today.

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COOPER: Senator Van Hollen, what is your reaction to what the attorney general said today, trying to square what he told you last month with Mueller's letter? Because it seems a complete contradiction.

VAN HOLLEN: Yes, Anderson. It seems to me that we see just a continuing pattern of deception from the attorney general. We know that he put out his four-page memo to spin his version of the Mueller report, and then Mueller sent him a letter expressing deep concerns.

Then when I was asking the attorney general about the Mueller report many weeks ago, he was dodging questions on the issue of obstruction of justice. So I asked him, well, does Mueller support your conclusions? And what he told me at that time was he didn't know, but he had in his possession a letter from Bob Mueller clearly expressing concerns about the conclusions that Barr reached.

And so, that was directly misleading both to me, the Congress, and the American people. And this is an attorney general that I think has lost any, you know, basis for trust, and that's why I do believe he should resign.

COOPER: I mean, even his explanation about the question you had asked him and his answer, I just -- I mean I'm not that smart, but I just couldn't follow. I don't know what he was saying. I mean I know he was using words, but they didn't seem to make much sense in any particular order.

Do you think the attorney general of the United States flat-out lied?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, what I believe is that he flat-out deceived me and the Congress. Now, maybe that's a thin distinction there.

Here's what I mean. What he told me when I asked him the question was he didn't know whether Mueller supported his conclusions. But instead of telling me what Mueller had told him in the letter, he obviously gave his non-response. And so, by omission, by refusing to disclose at that moment what Mueller had already put to him in a letter, he obviously was deceiving myself and the Congress.

COOPER: At one point, the attorney general said that Mueller's letter was, quote, a bit snitty, and suggested it was probably written by a staffer. Is that remotely plausible in your view? Not the snitty part, but the idea that Mueller would put his objections in writing is a pretty remarkable thing to begin with, and the idea that he would sign his name to something that he, himself, did not write or did not believe everything that was in there seems not plausible.

VAN HOLLEN: Not plausible and another indication of how this attorney general is sort of belittling this process, treating it as frivolous. To have that throwaway line that I think some staffer wrote it.

Bob Mueller is the consummate professional. And clearly what happened is that Bob Mueller saw that four-page memo from Barr and said, hey, this is a mischaracterization of my conclusions. And, therefore, I'm going to go on record right now, making it clear that I have these concerns.

And, you know, that's why it was so deceptive and misleading for Barr to answer my question the way he did, because essentially what I was asking him was, hey, does Mueller have any concerns with your report?

[20:25:11] And his answer was he did not know.

Well, he did know.

COOPER: Senator Van Hollen, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

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