CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Steve Cohen
Interview
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BLITZER: Jim Acosta, thanks very much.
Let's get some more on all of this. Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee is joining us. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee. He was there throughout the day.
Congressman, you just voted to hold the attorney general in contempt. Did you accomplish really anything practical today, or was this simply a political stunt, as your critics allege?
REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: It was a proper activity for the Judiciary Committee to take.
Barr has been contemptuous of us last week, in not showing up and trying to dictate the rules of how he would be questioned. And he was contemptuous today by not giving us the documents that we had requested.
So it's appropriate that we do it. The contempt that we brought will probably end up in the courts, and it will take some time before anything happens. And it could even be through the election.
I would rather have done inherent contempt, but we chose not to do it, because I want to take strong action to show that this attorney general, this administration, this president will not sully the Constitution and the work of our founding fathers and what this country, this building where I am in now, was built upon, and that's what they're doing.
BLITZER: Your chairman, Jerry Nadler, says that he may pursue a civil lawsuit. But, realistically, is that going to have any effect on the attorney general?
COHEN: None whatsoever.
He is a Roy Cohn for Donald Trump, who is standing in the shoes of Joe McCarthy.
BLITZER: The Justice Department says that you have terminated negotiations for the unredacted Mueller report by holding this contempt vote today.
Have you undermined, Congressman, your own effort to get that information?
COHEN: Well, we will have to see what happens. And that's possible that's what they will do.
[18:15:01]
They want to stonewall everything. Trump has said that they're not going to respond to any subpoenas Congress issues from any of the committees. And I suspect that they wouldn't have complied with this one.
What they offered us was just nothing. They suggested additional staffer would be able to go. They said that people that could participate in the hearing could keep their notes. That was their concessions.
It's really the Judiciary Committee, the Intelligence Committee should both see the entire report. And that would all be appropriate. We have legislation and powers that we have that it's necessary to have all that information at our disposal.
BLITZER: But, as you know, President Trump today asserted executive privilege over the entire Mueller report in response to your vote. Is that a legitimate use of executive power?
COHEN: I think the courts will find that it is not.
They have -- not only have they allowed these people to testify before Mr. Mueller and/or testify before grand juries. They have basically given up executive privilege. But to exert executive privilege over an entire investigation, over an entire special counsel's report is unheard of.
And I think the courts will rule on our side that that's not appropriate. But this is all part of their stonewalling, delaying tactics. Trump is just trying to stay alive. He's like the Bee Gees. He's staying alive.
BLITZER: The chairman of your committee, Jerry Nadler, says discussions they have the special counsel, Robert Mueller, testify are ongoing.
Are your efforts better spent on securing that testimony, rather than escalating this fight with the attorney general, which may simply wind up in court and drag on and on and on and go nowhere?
COHEN: Well, I'm not sure what would be best.
I know where we are. And I think we're doing what we should do, because he's been contemptuous of the Congress. And he lied to the Congress when Charlie Crist asked him about Mueller and the Mueller team and their opinion of his 3.5-half-page summary.
He lied last week, I believe, also when he was in the Senate. So, when you lie to Congress, when you're contemptuous of Congress, Congress needs to take actions. We don't need to -- we play too nice with this man. And we play too nice with the Russians.
And the Russians influenced the election, and Trump's in. And they're taking all of the activities they can. And they're grifting their way through to try to finish this term and see if they can't con the American public and their supporters into another term. That would be the worst thing that could happen to this country.
It would just be catastrophe. And it'd be the end of America as we have known it.
BLITZER: One final question before I let you go, Congressman.
You have been getting some criticism, some flack for bringing the fried chicken to that hearing where the attorney general didn't show up, suggesting your opinion that he's a chicken. We're showing our viewers some video of that.
Any regrets for having done that?
COHEN: Only regret I have is that I bit into the chicken, because there's a lot of photographs, and it's hard to bite into chicken and look real good afterwards.
I regret that. But I don't regret doing it. I think we created a hashtag for him and we brought to a lot of people's attention the fact that he did chicken out, that he was cowardly, didn't appear before our committee, and brought it to an audience that otherwise wouldn't have known it, people that don't watch THE SITUATION ROOM.
But they might watch the late-night TV shows. And I think, effectively, it got that message out, and a visual sometimes is better than the talking or writing. And so I think we succeeded in that.
And it was a bit of humor. I don't -- I have always had humor in my life. Maybe it's "Mrs. Maisel." I binged on "Mrs. Maisel" this past week. And so I was a bit Mrs. Maisel-like in a way. But I like comedy, and I thought it was a little funny.
And as far as the late-night TV show folks that might not have been that wild about it, and see if they get booked in Congress.
BLITZER: Congressman Steve Cohen, thanks so much for joining us.
COHEN: You're welcome, Wolf.
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