MSNBC "All In with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: "Mueller to testify before Congress tomorrow."

Interview

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HAYES: Joining me now, one of the members of the House Intelligence Committee who will be questioning Robert Mueller tomorrow Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. Congressman, what do you see as your job tomorrow?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): I think your guest has spelled it out pretty well. We`re overcoming the misleading -- dramatically misleading statements of the Attorney General and educating the American public. I think there`ll be a variety of means to list exactly what the key points of that report are coming from the special counsel. I think that if you read the report or watch tomorrow`s hearing, an educated understanding person will come to the conclusion that the Trump campaign was filled with conspirators, crooks, profiteers, liars, and people who were using Russians attack on a democratic process to profit themselves, and only a carnival barker, that P.T. Barnum would be proud of the Attorney General could say otherwise.

HAYES: Have you -- have you coordinated -- what are the sort of different lanes as you see them between the House Judiciary Committee and your own House Intelligence Committee?

QUIGLEY: Look, obviously the Judiciary Committee is going to be focused on obstruction and the Intelligence Committee will be focused on the Russian interference and those that cooperated with them to move forward their goals. Aside from that, most congressional hearings require some preparation. You`ve seen that work to a certain degree sometimes other than others. I don`t know that I`ve ever seen a time where I`ve seen the members so focused, so determined to do this the right way to again educate inform the American public as to what took place and why it matters.

HAYES: Do you think -- you know one of the summaries that both the Attorney General United States in his press conference prior to the release of the full report and the president and the president`s allies and supporters in Trump T.V. they say no collusion no obstruction. Is collusion or that concept for what it means important to you to talk about tomorrow or get Robert Mueller to talk about?

QUIGLEY: Well, it is to an extent. I think a broader question for him on that because collusion as says you know, isn`t a legal term.

HAYES: That`s right. He says that explicitly.

QUIGLEY: Even if you believe that the special counsel`s collusion was +tcorrect, and I don`t, that there wasn`t the sufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy, getting the Attorney General to admit that it was horribly wrong using the colloquial treasonous for those that were involved to do the things they did, you know Manafort passing on polling data to Kilimnik, someone tied to Russian intelligence, the president welcoming talking about WikiLeaks actions. I think in the last month of the campaign he talked -- he referenced WikiLeaks over 100 times. This is horribly wrong. The American public needs to know what took place.

HAYES: What do you expect -- your committee has had some remarkable moments over the last two years since Donald Trump became president particularly when Devin Nunes was the chair of that committee. What do you expect from your Republican colleagues?

QUIGLEY: I think the best way to put it is the Russians attacked our country. To a certain extent, the Republicans joined in on that attack, right. They didn`t call the FBI when these things happen, they attacked the FBI. And I suspect that`s what you`re going to see tomorrow. They have done permanent damage to the entire Intelligence Community and its integrity. They`ve also done a great deal to hurt and it continues the independence of the Justice Department or the Justice Department holding press conferences to defend the president, the Justice Department saying -- telling the Attorney General what he can and can`t say before Congress. It is legal fiction, it is dangerous, it is misleading.

HAYES: Final question. I believe you are on the record supporting the opening of an impeachment inquiry. How do you see what happens tomorrow in relationship to the fundamental constitutional question of impeachment?

QUIGLEY: I think an impeachment inquiry has took place under the Watergate process, the Watergate hearings is the right way to go. And in the final analysis, the American public is the jury, it`s not just the Senate, right. This has to come organically from the American public forcing their lawmakers to do the right thing. Tomorrow, hopefully, will take a giant step forward educating the American public and letting the Senate know they can`t just brush this off.

HAYES: All right, Congressman Mike Quigley, thank you so much your time.

QUIGLEY: Anytime. Thank you.

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