Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Interview with Steve Scalise, Devin Nunes and Lee Zeldin

Interview

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I'll start with you Congressman Nunes, what does Pelosi's refuse of the whole this vote tells tonight about the state of things?

REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF.: There are clearly some differences in her caucus that she still has the problem that she cannot hold onto power unless she impeaches. And so what they're trying to do is to short-circuit the process. I don't think they're going to end up having this formal process and they may just submit a report and then just go straight to a vote on an impeachment because it's all about her holding power.

INGRAHAM: Congressman Zeldin, there is now some thought that maybe they're seeing this is in the big silver bullet that they thought it was against President Trump. A certain poll notwithstanding, doesn't seem like the needle has moved as Kim Strassel just said on this impeachment thing.

I think what you saw tonight with that Democrat debates - my god, this is a war on capitalism, the free market, religious liberty and apparently general principles of due process. This is a sham behind closed doors and it's becoming more and more obvious. I think they are freaking out about this. I did not think they are cool as cue converse at all.

LEE ZELDIN, R-N.Y.: They are wrong on the process, they're wrong on the substance. A lot of people who are pushing this, they wanted the President to impeach when his hand on the bible getting sworn into office. On the process there should be a vote. The minority party should have subpoena powers.

The President should have - counsel present at the hearing should be able to cross-examine witnesses, to be able to present evidence and precedent. House Republicans when they were impeaching Bill Clinton in the 90s provided all of these rights and there was a voting same thing with the Nixon impeachment.

By the way, we are the ones calling for total transparency. We want - all sunlight, as much as possible. We think that the American public should be able to watch this live because of the importance of it on the substance. Ambassador Volker, which was the first deposition, the transcribed interview telling everyone we are allowed to talk about. Ambassador Volker blew up at this quid pro quo charge but it's a fairy tale that Adam Schiff has been making--

INGRAHAM: But there are other people testifying since and the Democrats seem to be banking on that.

ZELDIN: I'm telling you, I've been at all the depositions, the entire day. I can't talk about the depositions that happened after it--

INGRAHAM: Someone is talking. This stuff is all coming out.

ZELDIN: We don't - there are strict rules on deposition that's why the Republicans have not been the sources of any of those leaks. I will tell you what I knew going into it and what I saw during Ambassador Volker's testimony. Zelensky did a July 25th call he had no idea there was a hold on aide the readout of the call nothing about quid pro quo or hold on aide.

INGRAHAM: There's nothing about it to the aide isn't connected to what he is saying. He is talking about the missiles that were part of the military packages that he wanted more off. But they paid for this. This wasn't being given to the Ukraine.

ZELDIN: 100 percent no quid pro quo.

INGRAHAM: I've got to get here to Congressman Scalise because Schiff tonight is standing by the entire process, it's aboveboard, it's what the American people need. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SCHIFF, HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, D-CALIF.: Republicans are completely represented. All of the members of these three committees have been invited to attend and participate and ask questions, notwithstanding I think some of the representations are to the contrary, there was full participation by the GOP in each one of these interviews and depositions and there will be in the open hearings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: How many witnesses have y'all been able to call?

STEVE SCALISE, HOUSE MINORITY WHIP, R-LA: Laura, you know who is not invited to these meetings by Schiff? The American people. He is trying to hide from the American people which really going on behind these closed doors and think about it. They are trying to remove a President of the United States.

Donald Trump was duly elected in 2016. They don't agree with the election, they are trying to overturn the election. We got in the election next year but and Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi are single handedly trying to take that ability away from the American people. It all ought to be in public.

What is Adam Schiff trying to hide? Why is he trying to have this sham witch hunt type meandering run? They thought the Mueller investigation was going to be their silver bullet. They thought the whistleblower was going to be the silver bullet now they don't even want the whistleblower--

INGRAHAM: But they're saying John Bolton is going their silver bullet. Perhaps, now do you notice how this stuff comes up? Well, Bolton says that Rudy this and that, he is running renegade and he's wrecking everything.

But it's all these tactical little leaks, and what are you guys to do except everyone leaks and we complain about the process. So how do you guys defeat this?

REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF.: I think, Laura, what they are doing IS, it's the same thing why your viewers are so frustrated right now as they watch this, because every day is Groundhog Day, a new leak, a new narrative, a new story. But what's ultimately going to happen to them is their stories aren't adding up, right. So we can't talk about everything that went on in these depositions, but I can tell you that their star witnesses, the testimony conflicts, just within their star witnesses. Now you see that they don't want to bring the whistleblower. OK, the whistleblower is not going to come forward.

INGRAHAM: At a secure location.

NUNES: They're going to bring the whistleblower at all because --

INGRAHAM: Christine Blasey Ford can testify.

NUNES: It's going to be deadly for this whistleblower --

SCALISE: they are keeping the whistleblower wherever they are keeping Jerry Nadler. They're trying to keep him away. Every impeachment goes through the Judiciary Committee, you can't find Jerry Nadler because Pelosi is trying to hide him from this whole thing. He's in witness protection program somewhere.

INGRAHAM: But here's what I'm going to say -- again, it dovetails into what we were saying about Hunter Biden. They are turning the Hunter Biden saga where he gets all this money with no expertise in Ukraine into what about the Trump kids? OK, so they're trying to switch that. It's lame, doesn't work. But they are trying to do the same thing, Congressman Zeldin, with you're all complaining about this transparency thing, saying, you are all just stonewalling -- this is a new narrative of the day, Republican stonewall, #stonewall. That's what they're saying, and you guys are afraid of actually seeing this vote come to fruition because in the end they say Donald Trump is going to be impeached, so you all try to throw up some pixie dust in the air, but the facts are the facts. That's their argument.

REP. LEE ZELDIN, R-N.Y., HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: This whole thing, Adam Schiff, you know about the cherry-picked leaks. He's also withholding key facts, and he outright lies. This entire thing started with, actually, Adam Schiff and his team were in contact with the whistleblower before there was a whistleblower complaint, before he had a whistleblower attorney. He goes on national television and he says we haven't been in touch with the whistleblower but we'd like to be. That was a lie. When he said President Trump called him President Zelensky to, quote, manufacture dirt on the Bidens, that was a lie. When he stood before the House Intelligence Committee, the acting director of national intelligence, and gave an opening statement, there's a precious look on Devin Nunes' face, like, is he really saying this?

INGRAHAM: The ends justify the means. We have the censure tomorrow, are you going through that on Adam Schiff? Which one of you are doing that?

SCALISE: We ought to bring that up. This is Andy Biggs' censure resolution. I'm a cosponsor. I think my colleagues here --

INGRAHAM: What does that get you. For people who don't understand, what does a censure actually get?

SCALISE: You need to get more Democrats on record because they are trying to play both sides of this impeachment thing. Back home they are going we're not really for impeachment, and up here they are pushing for impeachment, and that's why Pelosi refuses to have a vote on the House floor. All three times that there have been impeachment inquiries before, they went to vote on the House floor.

INGRAHAM: They don't care. They don't care about that. They don't care about precedent. It's about getting Trump.

Congress Nunes, we're out of time, but as far as I see it, AOC is really as close to a thought leader in today's Democrat Party. What she thinks now will be the position, maybe not today, but maybe two weeks or a month or two months or three months. Is that accurate?

NUNES: I think it's not only accurate, but you saw on tonight on the stage on the Democratic debate. You had, as you said you have these people who are totally against capitalism, they are going to take out all businesses, and that's what really AOC, her Green New Deal, that's what it was all about. Don't forget, Bernie Sanders and others were cosponsors of the Green New Deal.

INGRAHAM: Yes, so this is the direction we're going. But that's the thought leader. So again, Trump is taking the masks off a lot of people, and a lot of people are being revealed. I think that's healthy. We know where everybody stands.

ZELDIN: They are ripping the country in half. They are willing to do it to appease a radical.

SCALISE: Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

INGRAHAM: They don't care. It's about winning at all costs. That's what this is all about.

ZELDIN: Great news. The president cut a new deal today with China.

INGRAHAM: I know. We saw it. We're getting into that later this week. Congressmen, thank you so much, great to see you.

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