MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: "Facebook takedowns"

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MADDOW: Update for you tonight in the criminal court offshoot to the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Trump. As you know, four guys have been charged in that criminal case for allegedly illegally funneling foreign money to Republican candidates and campaigns. As of Friday, we were able to report that three of them had made bail. Only one guy, the guy on the far left of your screen, Lev Parnas, the guy who went as Rudy Giuliani`s date to President George H.W.`s funeral, as of Friday night, Lev Parnas was only one who was still in custody while the others have bailed out. Well, now, we can tell you as of today, Mr. Parnas is also out. He was released this morning on al $200,000 cash bond. He is reportedly under house arrest. He has to submit to GPS monitoring. Mr. Parnas, Lev, and the man he was arrested with, Igor Fruman, the two of them are due in court in New York the day after tomorrow to be arraigned. And that`s when they`ll both enter a plea for the first time. That said, tomorrow on Capitol Hill, the impeachment proceedings will proceed right alongside this. Veteran U.S. State Department official Bill Taylor expected to testify before the impeachment committees tomorrow. Ambassador Taylor is the guy when they convinced to pinch hit at U.S. embassy in Ukraine after that campaign by Rudy Giuliani and, according to prosecutors, some of these defendants, to fire the existing ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, after that campaign was successful and they ousted Yovanovitch, Ambassador Taylor was sent in to kind of, again, pinch hit for her. Ambassador Taylor`s real claim to fame, though, may be as the author of the most refrigerator magnet friendly text from this whole scandal. He`s the one who said, quote: I think it`s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. Ambassador Bill Taylor is not just going to be a fact witness here. That text message is now important evidence in these impeachment proceedings. Joining us now is Congressman Jim Himes. He`s a member of the Intelligence Committee, one of the committees that will be hearing that deposition tomorrow. Sir, thanks very much for your time tonight.

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Hi, Rachel.

MADDOW: So we`ve watched the deposition schedule change a little bit and we`ve watched as the sort of calendar has shifted in terms of who`s actually expected to turn up. Do you think that the State Department will try to block Ambassador Taylor from being there tomorrow?

HIMES: Well, they may. But, you know, what`s remarkable about the last couple of weeks is despite the three or four-page letter that Congress got from the White House saying, we`re not helping you, this is a fake inquiry, it turns out that actually State Department people, retired and not retired are showing up for their depositions. So, I do imagine that Mr. Taylor will show up and I do imagine that the rest of the witnesses will. Obviously, we got delayed a bit because my colleague, Elijah Cummings` memorial service will be at the end of the this week. But things are moving along, despite that bizarre letter from the White House saying they weren`t cooperating.

MADDOW: In terms of Ambassador Taylor and what you`re going to ask him. I know this is a closed-door deposition and it hasn`t happened yet, but obviously, his texts, which we`ve now seen, I think it is crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign, the reason that is so striking, the reason that has become the refrigerator magnet of this -- of this scandal thus far is because it really appears like he was putting that in writing in order to make sure there was a record of what was going on. At least from what we can see from the outside, it appears that`s what the implication was of that text. From all you have seen thus far, from being inside these proceedings, are we interpreting that the correct way?

HIMES: I think that`s right. And, you know, I think it`s important that we understand why it was that Bill Taylor, a professional diplomat, a guy with, you know, diplomacy to do, not anybody`s political interests to look after, twice in two separate texts said, my god, what are we doing here? Some version thereof. We need to understand why he got that impression. Why did he think there was a quid pro quo? I would point out that, Rachel, that -- you know, when the chief of staff gives a public press conference in which he says, yes, sure, there was a quid pro quo, and where the American people can read the transcript where the American president says, hey, will you do me a favor, though? You know, the facts are not really in dispute. So, when you step away from tomorrow`s testimony, I do think we`ve got a little bit more work to do to understand exactly who helped implement the orders to withhold the military aid, to withhold a White House meeting for the new president, who was in that line of command? And by the way, we don`t talk about it much, but one of the truly bright lights of the diplomatic service, Marie Yovanovitch, was dismissed from her post in Ukraine. The dismissal of an ambassador is a pretty big deal. The secretary of state would generally know about that sort of thing. That is also a very significant abuse of power if it was undertaken because Giuliani is running around spreading rumors that she`s not on the team. So, we do have a little bit more work to understand exactly who is in the line of decision making of these uses of American public resources to accomplish this bizarre and seedy aim for President Trump`s re-election.

MADDOW: Congressman Jim Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, thanks for your time tonight, sir. I know it`s going to be a very, very busy week. I appreciate your making time for us.

HIMES: Thank you, Rachel.

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