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

Interview

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BLITZER: We're following the breaking news on a deadly helicopter crash on top of a New York City skyscraper. More on that coming up.

But there's also breaking news here in Washington on the Justice Department agreeing to give the House Judiciary Committee key evidence from Robert Mueller's obstruction investigation.

Joining us now, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

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

BLITZER: So, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jerry Nadler, seems pretty optimistic about this new deal with the Justice Department. He says the full committee will now see Mueller's most important files.

How significant is this?

BLUMENTHAL: It is very significant, Wolf, because it is a first step and a very significant step forward toward presenting this case to the American people.

Remember the power of nine minutes of Robert Mueller talking about what's in the report, not anything new, really, just a cut-and-paste from the report. And, likewise, this evidence, the findings and the documents coming from the Department of Justice that further give life and voice and face to the black and white of this report can be extremely impactful to the American people.

And there's a parallel with Watergate. In Watergate, only 19 percent of the American people favored impeachment before the hearings. After those Watergate hearings, more than half the American people did. So this kind of evidence production will lead to the American people seeing the movie, so to speak.

They may not read the book, but they're going to see the movie. And the Mueller nine minutes is a kind of trailer or a preview of that very important set of hearings.

BLITZER: And we will see if Mueller actually appears and testifies in public.

As you know, Chairman Nadler, he's been privately lobbying the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to open formal impeachment proceedings. Should he rethink his approach, now that the Justice Department is offering this new concession?

BLUMENTHAL: There have to be hearings.

And whether you call them impeachment hearings or oversight hearings or investigative hearings, what's really important is that the American people see and hear Mueller, his team, McGahn, and as many of the other witnesses as they can do.

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And the other part of Chairman Nadler's work today that's so important is that he will be seeking to petition the court for an order requiring McGahn and others to appear. And the court can enforce those kinds of orders with contempt citations and decrees and severe penalties.

So he is moving ahead in a very methodical way. And his strategy, I think, is the best one to hold the president accountable. That's the common goal here, to hold the president accountable for obstruction of justice and to protect the American people and our country against the ongoing Russian attack that Mueller so eloquently and powerfully warned about.

BLITZER: The Justice Department today said the attorney general William Barr's investigation into the start of the Russia probe will be, in their words, broad in scope and multifaceted. You have called for the attorney general to resign. So do you have concerns about how he will be conducting this new investigation of the investigators?

BLUMENTHAL: I have very deep concerns about the politicization of this investigation, in fact, the political weaponization of it against the president's enemies.

And some of his enemies are apparently the intelligence community and the FBI professionals who sought to protect this country when the Russians were meddling in our election. The president is one of the few people on the planet who still expressed doubts about that attack on our democracy.

And it is a disservice to protecting our country in the future. He believes Vladimir Putin over our intelligence community. So I'm concerned that the attorney general will serve the president's political purposes here, that he will be the president's Roy Cohn, as the president has always wanted.

And, remember, there are ongoing investigations already. The inspector general of the Department of Justice and others are looking into the origins. And Mueller's report graphically and powerfully describes how the FBI and the intelligence community began the investigation of Russian meddling.

So this whole attorney general inquiry seems more like a political stunt and a weaponization politically of the Department of Justice machinery.

BLITZER: But the U.S. attorney from Connecticut, your home state, John Durham, he's going to be in charge of this new investigation. Do you have confidence in him?

BLUMENTHAL: I supported John Durham to be United States attorney. I have great respect for him.

I think this investigation is a waste of his talent. And I am trusting and hopeful he will do the right thing here.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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