CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Interview
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[09:48:45] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back.
Minutes from now a source tells us that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will call for the resignation of the president's labor secretary, Alexander Acosta. Acosta is facing growing criticism over that sweetheart deal that he helped get Jeffrey Epstein some ten years ago when Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges. Well, today, he is charged with allegedly operating a sex trafficking ring of minors and abusing dozens of underage girls.
My next guest has been calling for months for the DOJ to investigate Acosta. Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is with me this morning.
Thank you so much for being with me.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): You're welcome. Good morning.
HARLOW: And even after -- even after your calls for the DOJ's inspector general to look into Acosta, you said just yesterday, if the DOJ will not adequately review an account for the miscarriage of justice that Acosta authorized, Congress must step in and provide that vigorous oversight.
You sit on the House Oversight Committee.
SCHULTZ: I do.
HARLOW: Obviously it's the Senate that confirmed him. What should we expect Congress to do about this?
SCHULTZ: I mean, really, what we're -- what we're dealing with here is that the president essentially knowingly appointed someone to be his secretary of labor, who, by the way, is responsible for policing human trafficking laws in this country, who coddled a sexual predator, who allowed a sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein, to get off without prison time, to get off without any real consequences. And finally, thanks to the Southern District of New York, there's been an arrest and now for new charges there's -- there's going to be a case that will move forward.
[09:50:20] What we need to do in Congress is be very careful about not interfering with that prosecution. And so while Congress certainly needs to engage in accountability here, and I want to see -- I want to see that happen, we also have to make sure that we are careful, as we usually need to be, when there is a criminal case moving forward.
HARLOW: OK, so you're waiting and watching, it sounds like.
But this criminal case against Epstein --
SCHULTZ: No. No, I wouldn't say I'm --
HARLOW: Well, just -- I guess I'm just wondering what you --
SCHULTZ: Yes, I wouldn't say waiting and watching.
HARLOW: OK. OK. Fair enough.
What you would like Congress to do, as it pertains to Acosta's position, right, as the feds prosecute Epstein, what do you think should happen in the meantime to Acosta?
SCHULTZ: Well, first and foremost, the president should fire him. If the president doesn't fire him, he -- he certainly should resign. This is a person, again, who is responsible for the human trafficking laws, responsible for enforcing child labor laws and protecting the vulnerable from being abused. And when he was the U.S. attorney in -- in my community, he allowed Jeffrey Epstein to get off nearly scot- free. He sexually abused dozens of girls and is accused once again of that. And this is the last person on God's green earth that should be responsible for protecting the vulnerable in this country.
HARLOW: And just to note, for people who -- who don't know all the back story here, it wasn't just getting -- cutting this sweetheart deal. It was also moving part of this to Miami to keep it out of the hands of the press, away from the victims, many of whom, you know, were very poor --
SCHULTZ: For protecting the people who assisted him, Poppy.
HARLOW: So --
SCHULTZ: I mean Acosta cut a deal that allowed others to get off.
HARLOW: But --
SCHULTZ: They hid -- they hid the non-prosecution agreement from the victims. A federal judge has said that that violated the Crime Victim's Rights Act and that they broke federal law with the non- prosecution agreement.
But yet President Trump is still coddling this --
HARLOW: So --
SCHULTZ: This -- this guy who -- who protected a sexual predator, which we shouldn't be surprised about because the president himself has been accused by more than 20 women of sexually assaulting them. So it's not really -- it shouldn't surprise us.
HARLOW: All -- all of -- all of -- and the president has denied vehemently all of those accusations.
Let me get to this, though, because he was confirmed by the Senate in 2017. Senator Tim Kaine questioned him extensively about this case. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): My understanding is that there's a pending civil lawsuit filed by a couple of the victims in that case seeking to argue that they should have been given notice prior to the plea deal being entered into. Is that your understanding as well?
ALEXANDER ACOSTA: The -- my understanding is that there is a pending civil lawsuit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So there's that. But, still, you had nine Democratic caucus members, including independent Angus King, who voted to affirm Acosta. Six of them are still in the Senate.
In fact, here is what West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said, quote, about Acosta, if he made a mistake or a judgment call or something like that, does that affect the way he's doing his job now? I'm basically going to judge him on the job he's doing and how he is doing it.
What's your message to him?
SCHULTZ: If Senator Manchin made that comment recently, then I vehemently disagree with his assessment. I've led an effort with my -- with my other colleagues to insist that the Justice Department have their independent office of inspector general do an investigation about the appropriateness of that non-prosecution agreement and for there to be consequences for all involved, including Acosta. And what they did was they sent it over to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which has no accountability because that line of authority goes right to the attorney general, who's essentially functioning as the president's personal lawyer, and his only interest is in protecting the president.
So, at this point, thanks to the really incredible investigative journalism by Julie K. Brown at "The Miami Herald," we know a lot more than we did when that confirmation hearing took place. You know, there has been a massive spotlight shown on just how awful the results and the impact of this non-prosecution agreement was. You know, even if the president and his administration would say they didn't really know as much as they should have when they first nominate him, now they do. And the last thing he should be doing is protecting a sexual predator -- someone who allowed a sexual predator to nearly get off scot-free. And he should resign or the president should fire him. But this is not a person who should be at all responsible any longer for protecting the vulnerable. And, again, the secretary of labor is responsible for --
[09:55:20] HARLOW: Right.
SCHULTZ: Enforcing the child labor laws --
HARLOW: Congresswoman --
SCHULTZ: And making sure that we go after human traffickers.
HARLOW: We have to leave it there. Thank you very much for being with me.
SCHULTZ: You're welcome.
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