MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Mathews" - Transcript: "Whistleblower alleges WH tried to cover it up."
Interview
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MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. That was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of course, earlier today confirming that the focus of the impeachment inquiry, the proceeding under way right now into President Trump, will be the allegations laid out in the whistle-blower complaint regarding Ukraine. A majority of the House, by the way, now, 223 Democrats -- 2-2-3 Democrats -- and one independent, have now expressed support for some kind of impeachment action. It doesn`t necessarily mean they would vote up or down -- or up, rather, to impeach the president yet, but I think they`re heading there. Speaker Pelosi said she doesn`t have a deadline to complete the impeachment inquiry, or to move forward with articles of impeachment. The house has just 29 days, however, still in session this year between now and when it adjourns December 12th. I`m joined now by Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, of course. She`s so well-known, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Madam Chairman, you`re one of six chairs now.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): Yes. Yes.
MATTHEWS: I guess the question, can the Congress meet the goal of striking while the iron is hot, while the country is focused on this betrayal of the country with the Ukrainians and the deal for dirt.
WATERS: Absolutely. I am so pleased Leader Pelosi has taken charge and she`s formalized the impeachment inquiry, and we`re going to move as quickly as we possibly can and I`m extremely optimistic we can get it done.
MATTHEWS: Do you believe in focusing on the Ukraine, the complaint -- the whistle-blower`s complaint, the evidence we now have he was trying to deal out foreign military aid in exchange for political dirt?
WATERS: Well, I think that has to be an important part of what we do, and whether that is all that we do or is that the focus with other things, it remains to be seen. We have to discuss that. The six committee chairs will be getting together with the speaker, and we`ll decide what the impeachment resolution should include, it will be then forwarded to the Judiciary Committee.
MATTHEWS: How do you think -- tell me what you have in your mind now of how -- you have six chairs, you`re one of them --
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: -- all been working on stuff the president`s done wrong --
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: -- probably unethical and worse --
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: -- impeachable.
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: How do you condense that to perhaps one or two articles that would go to the Judiciary? Would you guys, together, you chairs put that together before you go to the Judiciary or would the Judiciary Committee decide what would be the articles --
WATERS: Now, the idea is that we will get together, we will put on the table everything that we know, everything that we`re doing that we think would be good and important and substantive for an impeachment resolution, and we`ll come to some consensus, some conclusion about it, and then it`ll be forwarded to the Judiciary Committee.
MATTHEWS: It takes -- you know, I did work up here for a while to know how the game is played.
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: I mean a game with high personal stakes with the country.
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: But it comes to numbers.
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Can you get 218, a majority, 218 votes out of the House?
WATERS: Oh, absolutely we`re there.
MATTHEWS: Really?
WATERS: Oh, absolutely.
MATTHEWS: For an article of impeachment?
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Well, you`re getting into my questions here. So, I don`t know where to go now. Let`s talk about this, what do you make the fact that the White House people, all around the National Security Council, went to such an effort to hide the president`s phone call that they took the word by word account of it electronically and buried it in some top secret system where nobody can get to it?
WATERS: Well, you know, we`re dealing with a bunch of crooks in the White House. We have the president who`s dishonest, who has lied, who has done all kinds of things we never expected of anybody who would serve in that high office. So I`m not shocked or surprised by anything they would do. We have an administration that is undermining our democracy, that has aligned itself with Putin and the oligarchs and the Kremlin, who have had secret meetings, who will not condemn Putin despite the fact --
MATTHEWS: What`s he got -- what`s -- I`m sorry.
WATERS: Yes, what`s he got on him -- I know what you were getting ready to say.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: I always think of something really dirty. This guy seems to dance through -- he jumps through the hoops whenever the guy has got something.
WATERS: Knowing that he undermined our election system, knowing that has been absolutely identified as work that was done by Russia or by intelligence community, and he still will not condemn him, will not -- but more than that, this would be going toward doing the same kinds of things in the 2020 election that was done in the last presidential election. He was on -- on the road to talking about how do we undermine the elections again to ensure he gets elected.
MATTHEWS: Every time I see those two guys together the president and Putin--
WATERS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: -- Putin has got this weird smirk like he owns him. It`s awful. Anyway, thank you.
WATERS: Well, he knows something.
MATTHEWS: You`re the best. Thank you, Congresswoman. Great to have you on tonight.
WATERS: Thank you so very much. Thank you. All right.
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