BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Congressman Doug Collins joins me now. We should note that we reached out to several Democrats on the Judiciary Committee as well and they were not able to join us for this segment tonight. We hope that they will in the future.
Congressman Collins, thank you very much for being here tonight.
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): Martha, it's great to be with you.
MACCALLUM: I want to play for everybody a little bit of what you had to say today. Because you were definitely fired up, as I said. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: They want to do this out front. They don't try to actually get information. That's what real oversight is. My majority made a promise, we'll impeach him, we'll investigate him, for most of them, it happened in November 2016, because they couldn't believe that Donald Trump won.
Mr. Chairman, there's so much that we could actually do together. There's so much. But as long as we don't have time, we'll continue with rerun season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: All right. So, that's how you started out today. What was your reaction when all was said and done about how it played out?
COLLINS: This was a sad day, Martha. It's one of those saddest days in committee, I've been up for 6-1/2 years. And today, we watch the majority to simply trash procedure, they trash everything because they're so just be in on getting this president.
I termed with what has happened today is bring a big donor to workday. Because at the end of the hearing, which we objected to, they allowed a staff member, who's a big donor Mary Burke, $70,000 to the Democratic Party.
He got to ask 30 minutes of questions. 30 minutes and he's a contract employee of that committee. He doesn't have to give up his practice anywhere else, he comes and does what he wants to.
So, let's bring a big donor to workday, and he got to ask questions. But when it came time for the 30 minutes of staff questions on our side, they would not let the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee take that 30 minutes and use it.
They said members had already had their time. I'm not sure that American people are going to understand how you let a paid donor, who is now a contract employee, not a staff member, overriding an elected representative.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
COLLINS: This was a sad day, Martha.
MACCALLUM: You know, in terms of what happens going forward as I mentioned at the top of the show, there are a number of avenues of Investigation. The president's taxes, there's also a New York investigation that has asked for eight years of the president's taxes, where do you see this going next on your committee?
COLLINS: Anything that they can do to get a headline. This is simply the chairman has turned this into a press release committee. All they want to do is have cameras show up and press show up. And they'll throw anything they can to get the president, to try and tear him down. They have become the literally, the political arm of the DCCC.
The problem we're having is, here is Corey out and stated so well. He made his statements today, he's testified before Congress many times. They've gained nothing in these investigations. But people are getting tired of it. They're going to see it even more so.
And when the people actually look at really what happened today, how they just trampled over time and rights. And then, actually, put a paid democratic person up there, and bring a lobbyist and basically bring a donor today.
That's just amazing to me when they did that over the rights of our duly elected representatives of the U.S. Congress -- States Congress.
MACCALLUM: Representative Collins, good to see you, sir. Thank you very much.
COLLINS: Good to see you too. Take care.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT