CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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Thanks for coming into THE SITUATION ROOM, Senator.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Let's talk about Donald Trump Jr.'s subpoena fight.

How should the Senate Intelligence Committee handle his refusal to come and talk to members of the committee about that Trump Tower meeting, for example, in New York?

What should the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Republican chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina, do?

BLUMENTHAL: There is absolutely no excuse, no legal basis for Donald Trump Jr. to resist this lawful subpoena.

BLITZER: If he does, though, what can they do?

BLUMENTHAL: They can issue a subpoena and they can enforce it through a contempt citation in the courts. Remember, Wolf, he has no executive privilege. He's a private citizen. He has no lawyer-client privilege with the president of the United States. He is the son of the president but there is no son of the president privilege.

He can claim the Fifth Amendment but he is required to come before the committee and claim it himself. And the kinds of resistance we're seeing here is nothing more than putting himself above the law.

BLITZER: It's pretty extraordinary, because the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- and you're on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- Lindsey Graham, he's a Republican, as well. He's suggesting that -- [17:10:00]

BLITZER: -- Donald Trump Jr. simply ignore the subpoena from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee.

If witnesses, though, do ignore these kinds of subpoenas, as Senator Lindsey Graham, the chairman of your committee, the Judiciary Committee, is suggesting, what else should Congress do?

BLUMENTHAL: I disagree with Chairman Lindsey Graham. I was in the Judiciary Committee when Donald Trump Jr. came to the committee. And I believe his answers, seemingly, were misleading and deceptive on exactly the points the Senate Intelligence Committee now wants to question him: the Trump Tower meeting with Russian agents, the negotiations on the Moscow Trump Tower, the welcoming of dirt on Hillary Clinton, his messaging with WikiLeaks on the hacked Russian emails.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has a responsibility to protect our nation against continuing Russian attacks.

BLITZER: Do you think Senator Lindsey Graham understands, knows, has been briefed by his Republican colleagues, including Senator Burr, about why they want Donald Trump Jr. to come, what specific intelligence-related information they have, that's resulted in this extraordinary move to subpoena the son of the president of the United States?

BLUMENTHAL: Whether he has that information or not, suggesting that Donald Trump Jr. is above the law strikes me as unfounded and contrary to the positions that he took on Richard Nixon and on Bill Clinton and others, where he has argued that the law applies to everyone. And that's the ruling of the United States Supreme Court.

BLITZER: If Donald Trump Jr. listens to Senator Graham, what will this do to the credibility of Senate subpoenas going forward?

BLUMENTHAL: Fortunately, the Senate Intelligence Committee is acting on a bipartisan basis. It's a glimmer of hope that we're going to see some bipartisan effort to protect our nation against these continuing Russian attacks.

And Christopher Wray has warned, as has the entire intelligence community, the Russians are doing it again. They were successful in 2016 beyond their wildest dreams, as Jim Comey said the other night on the CNN town hall.

And they're doing it again right now in Europe and around the world. So my hope is that we will have a bipartisan urging to Donald Trump Jr., that he come forward and now tell the truth.

BLITZER: You're suggesting that he didn't tell the truth the first time he appeared before the committee under oath?

BLUMENTHAL: I am strongly suggesting that his answers were seemingly misleading and deceptive. There are serious questions about his truthfulness before the committee. He now has an opportunity to clear up the record.

BLITZER: Well, should he be charged with perjury under oath, testimony that's not true, before a Senate committee?

That's a crime.

BLUMENTHAL: He has an opportunity now, as he should use it, to clarify the record, make sure that his answers are completely truthful, based on what we have found since then. And, clearly, the Mueller report shows that the Trump campaign happily accepted, indeed, welcomed assistance from the Russians.

BLITZER: What do you make of the president now going after the FBI director, Christopher Wray, who he appointed to lead the FBI?

The president tweeting, quote, from a supporter of his, "The FBI has no leadership. The director is protecting the same gang that tried to overthrow the president through an illegal coup."

BLUMENTHAL: The president apparently is, again, lashing out, because he dislikes Christopher Wray's answer to the question about spying on his campaign, contradicting his attorney general, who implied that there was spying on the Trump campaign.

In fact, that claim is totally belied by the details in the Mueller report about how the investigation by the FBI got started, with reports, credible reports, from the Australian ambassador about hacked emails.

But here is really my main concern. You know, every day, professionals in the FBI go to work. They interview witnesses, they try to protect our nation against the Russian attacks, against other kinds of counterintelligence issues. They do testimony in court.

Their credibility is undermined. Their ability to do their job is undercut by these kinds of attacks.

BLITZER: Let me ask you about this trade war with China.

Now how worried are you that, if it continues to explode, as it has been, that it could undermine the economic growth, the economy that we've seen pretty impressive numbers, recently?

BLUMENTHAL: I am deeply concerned. The president is betting the farm but he's betting somebody else's farm. And that happens to be his M.O., throughout his financial career, where he's bet with other people's money. Now he is saying, trade wars are good and easy to win.

They're easy to get into, very hard to get out of. And I see no strategy, absolutely --

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BLUMENTHAL: -- no clarity and no direction in what the end game here is. And that view is reflected in the stock market today. The plummeting stock market reflects uncertainty. And there are

issues where creating uncertainty may be a strategy. But when you're dealing with the economy, what the business world wants is more certainty.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks for coming in.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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