MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: "Flint Water Crisis doc to air tomorrow on PBS."

Interview

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MADDOW: Historic vote, February 6th, 1974. Had it only happened once before in the history of the republic in the administration of Andrew Johnson. After Nixon, it wouldn`t happen again until October, 1998, when the Republican-led House voted to proceed with an impeachment inquiry to then President Bill Clinton. But now, the Judiciary Committee is about to do it again, for only the fourth time ever, announcing today that by the end of this week, they`re going to vote to set the rules for their own impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump. Joining us is Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. She`s vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. Congresswoman, thanks so much for being here. Appreciate your time.

REP. MARY GAY SCANLON (D-PA): Thank you.

MADDOW: So we have heard the chairman of your committee, Chairman Nadler, say for sometime that essentially the impeachment inquiry is underway. But this is going to be a formal vote. How will this resolution change what happens going forward?

SCANLON: Well, you know, we spent a great deal of time spinning our wheels trying to get hold of the evidence underlying the Mueller report, trying to get hold of the Mueller report itself. We`ve gone to court to do that now, but our investigation has to expand. We`re trying to move by the end of the year to determine whether we`re going to file articles of impeachment or not. And there are a number of things beyond the Mueller report that we need to look at. We need to look at whether there was corruption in the election. We need to look at, you know, the president`s profiting off his public position, and we need to look at whether he`s abusing his powers through things such as offering pardons to people to impede the investigation or cover up wrongdoing that he has ordered.

MADDOW: In terms of that sort of time frame -- I mean, part of the way that we have to think about how much time you and your committee will need is to imagine the scope of things you are going to look into. I mentioned at the top of the show tonight kind of half joking that it may be hard to figure out where to start. I mean, obviously, the Mueller report on -- particularly on obstruction of justice gives you 10 different things to look into, the sorts of issues you were just describing, dangling pardons, profiting from his office, other abuses of power, even just today`s news would give you five or six different places to start. Do you think you`ll have enough time to focus on what is going to be the most potent issues by the end of the year?

SCANLON: I think -- I think we`re going to have to. I mean, it`s a matter of constitutional integrity, it`s a matter of, you know, the future of our country and the separation of powers. So, we`re just going to have to make the time to do it. It is really interesting, as you noted, there are so many things to look at. Personally, I`ve been trying to focus on the things that were outlined by the authors of our Constitution and it was things like misuse of pardons, bribery or corruption in an election, being under the sway of a foreign government, profiting off of your public position. What the Founding Fathers didn`t expect is we would have a president who would try to tick all of the boxes.

MADDOW: I noticed specifically in the resolution, as they laid out -- I know you haven`t voted on it yet, but in terms of what was released from the committee, that there`s a provision that allows lawmakers to review grand jury material in classified settings. This is material that was presented by witnesses to a grand jury, usually that`s treated very -- with a lot of respect for its secrecy and it`s all in the legal process. How important is that and do you expect that`s going to be key in terms of the central issues that you`re going to focus on?

SCANLON: I think it`s going to be very key, as Bob Mueller made clear when he testified before us, he didn`t make prosecutorial recommendations with respect to obstruction of justice because he viewed it as impossible under rules of engagement of the Department of Justice. We`ve seen a similar thing with respect to the allegations of campaign finance fraud and the payment of hush money to folks who might have impacted the election. Also, that Southern District of New York investigation and grand jury didn`t proceed with charges against the president who has only been identified as individual number one in that proceeding, but we need to look at this whole array of evidence that, under the Constitution, as the Department of Justice is interpreting it right now, they say they can`t do anything about it, but as Bob Mueller said, that`s Congress` job.

MADDOW: Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee -- oh, I have one thing I wanted to ask you. It was also announced that Corey Lewandowski is going to come appear next week. Is that going to be an open hearing or closed hearing?

SCANLON: As I understand it, if he shows up, it`s going to be an open hearing.

MADDOW: Aha, thank you very much. I sneak it in at the end there. It`s actually a very -- it`s bad practice in terms of an interview, but I forgot I needed to ask you that.

SCANLON: Well, happy 11th.

MADDOW: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

SCANLON: OK.

MADDOW: Eleventh there is that it`s our 11th birthday as a TV show, which means in dog years, we are 632. We`ll be right back.

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