MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: "Bob Mueller to detail evidence."

Interview

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MELBER: Bob Mueller`s famous declaration about how he wants to testify will be tested tomorrow. And my next guest is one of the lawmakers questioning Mueller and may want to push beyond the comfort zone. Congressman Joe Neguse serves in the Judiciary Committee which begins the questioning first thing in the morning. Thanks for joining me on the eve of your big day.

REP. JOE NEGUSE (D-CO): Yes. Thanks for having me on, Ari. Good to be here.

MELBER: What do you want to know?

NEGUSE: A lot. There`s a lot of ground to cover for our committee. I mean, look, tomorrow, the Judiciary Committee which I`m honored to serve on, the Intelligence Committee, the Congress, and ultimately the American people will finally have the opportunity to hear directly from the special counsel at length about his findings, the exhaustive investigation --

MELBER: I know that. We`ve been reporting -- I`m asking you -- we`ve been reporting that all night. What do you want to know? What are you going to ask him?

NEGUSE: Well, I`m not going to reveal the questions I intend to post tomorrow morning, Ari. Suffice to say that the committee and committee staff and members have been working diligently for quite some time preparing the question. We`ll let you know tomorrow.

MELBER: OK, all right, let me try another way. We both -- I deal with difficult witnesses like you right now, I mean that nicely, and you deal with one tomorrow. Let me ask you a different way. If Bob Mueller says to you and your colleagues see the report, I address that in the report, I`m not going to go beyond the report. Is that acceptable in your view as a guidepost for those hours which to some degree people would say what was the point of all this or do you feel that your role as a co-equal branch of government means it`s your call to get that info from him and not his call or the Justice Department`s call to say we`re not going to say anything?

NEGUSE: I would say two things, Ari. First and foremost, I do think there is value in the Special Counsel providing clarity and context to his findings tomorrow in public testimony before the committee. And so as you know, most of Congress has not read the report and most of the American public has not read the report. So having the special counsel come in and be able to actually detail his findings out loud, I actually think that that will be incredibly helpful and will be important for the American people to hear. I would also say obviously as you`ve covered on your program, that to the extent the special counsel decides to stick within the four corners of the report, that`s you know his decision to make. That is not in my view you know a rule by any means that he has to adhere to. We`ll see what happens during the hearing.

MELBER: Bill Barr -- yes, Bill Barr said that the rule.

NEGUSE: Yes. Well, I think Bill Barr is wrong but that`s not the first time that I`ve found that the Attorney General has made the wrong legal conclusion. So again, suffice to say, Ari, there`s a 448-page report that most people have not read. And so the ability for the special counsel to go into greater detail about his findings I think again is going to be important for the American public to be able to hear that directly from him.

MELBER: And finally on that, which elements and incidents of obstruction outlined there are most concerning to you?

NEGUSE: It`s a tough question. What I would say, Ari, is I think that in particular the obstruction incidents involving White House Counsel McGahn to me are the most disturbing and in some respects the most egregious. So I`m interested to hear more about that from the special counsel tomorrow.

MELBER: And do you think Don McGahn is still trying to defend Trump sort of or is he past that?

NEGUSE: I hope not. I mean, I think we all were puzzled by his decision to defy the congressional subpoena that was duly issued a few months ago. And you know, I`m hopeful that eventually, we will secure his testimony before the committee. I think he`s going to have to be compelled at the end of the day to testify as are a number of other fact witnesses as you know.

MELBER: Congressman Neguse, you did not reveal your whole playbook, you did not answer every question to the fullest extent but nor did you violate the law of your oath. It`s a preview of tomorrow is what I`m jokingly saying. I know it`s a busy night for your whole committee. I really appreciate you coming on THE BEAT and giving us some of your thoughts.

NEGUSE: Of course, I`m happy to share more tomorrow evening, Ari. Thanks again.

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