CNN "The Situation Room" - Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna

Interview

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BLITZER: All right, Phil Mattingly up on Capitol Hill, thank you.

Joining us now, Congressman Ro Khanna. He's a Democrat, serves on both the Oversight and Reform Committee, as well as the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for coming in.

REP. RO KHANNA (D), CALIFORNIA: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: What's your reaction to the advice offered by Hillary Clinton in this "Washington Post" op-ed?

KHANNA: I agree with every single word of that op-ed. Every member of Congress should read it.

I take three things away from it. One, she's basically endorsing the strategy Speaker Pelosi has outlined. The committees should do their job. Second, she understands the power of television, and how that can actually inform American public opinion.

And, finally, she says, let's listen to Sam Ervin as a model, and how Sam Ervin got White House aides to testify and got around the executive privilege.

BLITZER: You obviously want these hearings. You want them on television. You know how powerful that would be, to hear some of the president's former aides say on television what they said to the Mueller team, and that's all in writing.

But the president is vowing, as you know, to fight every single subpoena that House Democrats issue. Do you agree with the chairman of your Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, who says this is a -- this represents a growing pattern of obstruction?

KHANNA: It does. And it's unprecedented. I mean, every White House goes to war with the legislature, but they

at least give some documents. They at least have some people come and testify. This has been no cooperation.

And, look, these individuals can be held in the contempt of Congress. That's a serious thing. It could destroy their future career. So, they need to weigh carefully whether they really want to take a bullet for the White House and be held in contempt.

BLITZER: Well, what does a subpoena from Congress really mean, if the president says, no way, you're not getting anything?

KHANNA: Well, look, Sam Ervin in Watergate, he said he was going to send the sergeant of arms to get folks. And people showed up. I don't know if we will go that far. But we could vote to hold them in contempt.

And then, in the courts, we will win because Congress' power to subpoena is at its peak when there is misconduct.

BLITZER: But a legal battle like that in the courts could go on for months and months and months.

KHANNA: I agree with that. And that's the president's strategy, to drag this out, to drag it past the election. That's why I support holding them in contempt and voting on contempt.

And I don't see why any single person would want to be held in contempt of Congress.

BLITZER: Your Democratic colleague Gerry Connolly of Virginia says the president's actions, in his words, "are pushing a lot of Democrats into the impeachment camp."

Do you think that's true?

KHANNA: We're not going to be swayed by the president's action. We're going to be swayed by the facts. And we need to do our job and let the committees do their job.

But this is a data point. He's certainly not helping his cause.

BLITZER: As you know, the president has specifically directed two officials not to comply with your committees' subpoenas. You say you're going to go to court over this.

But how is a fight like that going to unwind, continue over the next few weeks?

KHANNA: Well, let's take the example of Don McGahn.

I don't understand why he wouldn't want to come testify. I mean, he's actually the hero in this case, where he's defying the president.

BLITZER: He's the former White House counsel, who is now a private citizen.

KHANNA: Private citizen. And he's the one who convinced the president not to fire Mueller. The president should be thanking him. And McGahn should be coming in front of Congress to redeem himself.

I mean, he did the right thing. So my hope is that McGahn is going to look at this and say, why am I going to cover up for the president, when I did the right thing? And I'm going to tell the Congress what I did.

BLITZER: He spent 30 hours answering questions from the Mueller team. So this notion of executive privilege seems to be far-fetched, if they have already let him do that.

KHANNA: Exactly.

I mean, he waved his executive privilege by already talking to the Mueller team. So for him to claim executive privilege now is wrong. I think this will get settled. What happened in Watergate is, public opinion shifted. And public opinion at least demanded that people come to these committees.

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House Democrats aren't going to roll over. I know Elijah Cummings. He's going to fight back.

BLITZER: He's a tough guy, as we know.

KHANNA: He is. Tough and fair.

BLITZER: Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks so much for coming in.

KHANNA: Thanks, Wolf.

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