CNN "The Lead With Jake Tapper" - Transcript "Interview with Rep. Madeleine Dean"

Interview

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Joining me now is Democratic congresswoman from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Madeleine Dean.

Congresswoman, thanks for joining us.

[16:20:02]

Your reaction to the resolution that just posted within the hour?

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): I'm pleased with it. I think it's the right step forward. If you read the very first line of the resolution, it directs the committees, the Oversight Committee, I happen to be on the Judiciary, to continue our investigation as to whether sufficient grounds exist to bring to bear our constitutional authority of impeachment.

So, I think it's -- it's an excellent step forward. It is a matter of process and due process as your report just laid out.

TAPPER: And what kind of evidence will you need to vote to impeach the president, do you think?

DEAN: Well, that's a question down the road. That is why again I like the opening statement of this.

What we will need is the evidence from the witnesses that are being collected now. I look forward to the public hearings that we will have. I look forward to the transfer of the report to the Judiciary Committee, so that we can determine whether or not to draft articles of impeachment and then, of course, to have hearing or mark-up on drafted articles.

TAPPER: I heard a lot of Democrats complaining about the House Republicans storming the SCIF last week. Are you worried that Republicans are going to take advantage of public hearings to try to distract, change the subject, undermine, turn them into a spectacle in the view of Democrats?

DEAN: I certainly hope not. And that is what was sort of grounding about this resolution. It shows the seriousness with which our party, our caucus takes where we are headed. Speaker Pelosi has said so many times we're in a solemn place. Nobody wanted to be here. This is a very difficult time for our Congress and even more difficult time for our country.

But when you have a president who behaves as though the law does not apply to him, when you have a president who abandoned his oath of office, when you have a president who would rather compromise our elections than actually work diplomatically with Democratic partners around the world, putting them at risk, when you have a president who attempts to shakedown a foreign president for dirt on a political opponent for his own personal and political gain, we have no choice but to take this very, very seriously.

I hope my Republican counterparts on all of the committees of oversight take it that solemnly, that seriously. This should not be filled with stunts or circuses.

TAPPER: "The Wall Street Journal" published an op-ed about the decision for the resolution and for the vote on Thursday. It says, quote: This is what you say when you know your critics have been right but you don't want to admit it. Perhaps Mrs. Pelosi realized that the House process so far has looked like a partisan railroad job, unquote.

Should the public look at this resolution as a concession of sorts that the Republicans had a point that the process needed to be far more transparent?

DEAN: I think not. And here is why. I disagree with the premise of the editorial by "The Wall Street Journal" board. They said it is as though she said, yes, you were right. I should have had a vote on a formal inquiry. This is not that vote. This is a vote laying out process and due process including for the president and his own counsel, so it's actually that the premise of the editorial is just plain false.

TAPPER: And also, describe if you would -- the resolution also brings some sort of clarity to the role of transferring evidence to the committee on which you sit.

DEAN: Yes.

TAPPER: The House Judiciary Committee. What kind of physical evidence is there?

DEAN: Well, we will get copies of transcripts of all of the depositions, as well the American people. I think that's incredibly important, transparency is incredibly important to prosecute this case and to see whether or not high crimes and misdemeanors exist. We're going to see evidence -- obviously, you know today the very evidence of the lieutenant colonel on the Ukraine phone call and how concerned he was about what was going on.

We heard from Bill Taylor, his courageous testimony with corroborating notes that talked about he was deeply concerned about a shadow foreign policy being performed by Rudy Giuliani of all people, and that things were contingent upon President Zelensky making sure he opened up an investigation into Biden and Burisma and also that he publicly made a statement about that.

We've seen this pattern of behavior before by this president. We read the exact same pattern in the Mueller report, where the president wants somebody to do something for him publicly, that will benefit him politically and personally. That kind of evidence from these courageous folks who are coming forward to testify and others who will still come in open settings is the evidence that is important.

TAPPER: Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania -- thank you so much for your time as always.

DEAN: Thank you, Jake.

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