MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: "House Committees subpoena Sec of State Pompeo."

Interview

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HAYES: Yes, of course, the President extremely concerned out of nowhere suddenly about the issue of corruption in the Ukraine. All the while, the need for U.S. military and aid hung over the Ukrainian president`s head. In fact, thanks to the notes of the phone call, we know right after Ukrainian President Zelensky brought up buying more weapons basically let`s talk about that military aid what we are waiting for, President Trump immediately pivots to ask for a favor. It is also established that people in the White House freaked out after this happened. The whistleblower noting, "The White House officials who told me this information were deeply disturbed by what it transpired in the phone call," and then they tried to cover it up. "I learned from multiple U.S. officials senior White House officials had intervened to lock down all records of the phone call." They tried to bury the transcript in a special super-secret classified server. Tonight, CNN also reports the White House also tried to restrict access to -- and I`ll let you guess -- Trump`s conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We already know from journalism reporting and from Robert Mueller`s investigation that Trump has at best a questionable history of making deals with both countries. Then, when the whistleblower complaint about the Ukraine came over from DNI, William Barr`s Department of Justice tried to kill that and prevent Congress from seeing it. President Trump abused his power, people all across his administration tried to cover it up. They all got caught. Joining me now for more on the President`s conduct is Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of seven freshmen Democrats in frontline districts who called for an impeachment inquiry on Monday night, beginning a flood of over 90 new calls to investigate the president. Also, she`s a former CIA analyst who served as the Acting Assistant Secretary Defense for National Security Affairs under President Obama. Congresswoman, reflect on how you feel four days later after you co-wrote that op-ed and we still I don`t think at that point had the rough notes of the phone call do you feel that op-ed and you`re decision to support impeachment inquiry have been vindicated.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Well, I don`t think it`s about being vindicated or not being vindicated. The reasons why myself and my colleagues came out were very, very clear and they were based on our experience in national security. We had the president of the United States and his lawyer acknowledging that they used you know, the leverage of being the president to get a foreign leader to provide dirt on an opponent, and that just can`t be OK. And for us it was different and it called into question immediately the oath to defend and protect the Constitution. And it was prospective, right? It was looking forward to 2020 and about protecting the future not just reviewing the past. So we came out and things move quickly. And I think a lot of people were just taken by the differences in this particular issue from some other things we`ve seen beforehand.

HAYES: You worked at the CIA. I wonder your reaction in the president speaking to the staff of the U.N. mission from the U.S. the other day at a breakfast in which he said the person was almost like a spy. In the old days, we would treat them like traitors. We would -- essentially implying they should be hanged.

SLOTKIN: Yes. Well, I mean, this president has unfortunately attacked the Intelligence Community since nearly he was sworn in. And it just doesn`t make any sense to me as a former CIA officer because you know, the folks who are coming to CIA every day are risking everything to try and provide information that helps us protect the country. So I don`t know. It`s kind of like the coach of a football team attacking his own running back publicly. It just doesn`t make any sense. And you know, I think with his language, this is why we have whistleblower protections. This is why you know, Intelligence Community officials are now also protected by those protections because you don`t want retribution. And for the president, the commander in chief to talk about it like that it`s just -- it`s deeply I think disappointing and frankly scary for a lot of people in the community.

HAYES: Having worked at the CIA and also at DOD and having I would imagine interacted with all sorts of different levels of classified information, what do you make of this use of essentially codeword-level classification systems to bury what are perceived not as national security secrets but politically embarrassing documents, and reporting tonight that conversations with Putin and Mohammed bin Salman are also in that system?

SLOTKIN: Yes. So I was also a CIA detailee down to the National Security Council. And I worked on the staff of the National Security Council under George Bush and then under Barack Obama so I`ve used these systems. And you know, we have a whole set of rules around how you classify documents. And one of the first things you learn when you`re a new CIA analyst is you can`t just classify something if it`s embarrassing or if it`s politically sensitive. There are reasons and rules why we classify things so it was -- it was inappropriate and frankly violated, you know, executive order on -- that`s on the books on how you classify things by moving it from an unclassified to a very classified system. But I will be honest, I think it`s important especially in communicating why this whole thing is different that we focus on the big picture. And again, it`s about what the president acknowledged himself using his role to leverage, you know, a foreign leader. And with that, I just try to imagine you know a Democratic president going to China for dirt on a political opponent. That would never be OK. So I just -- it`s a different thing, and we got to focus on that top-line issue and not get stuck in the weeds.

HAYES: So then, is it your understanding on that point that that will be the focus of the now formal impeachment inquiry that was launched in the wake of these revelations and going forward?

SLOTKIN: Yes. So certainly, many of us have made our voices known to our leadership who`s been very receptive. For me, it`s extremely important that this process be different, that it be strategic, that it be clear, and that it be efficient. Strategic, meaning, we focus on the big picture, the strategic problem here which is protecting our 2020 elections and what the president has acknowledged that he`s done. Clear, meaning, we have to communicate with the American people. You know, with no offense to anyone in the media, the drip, drip, drip of information for almost two years now means a lot of people have tuned out. And we have to bring the public along with us. It can`t just be an insider Washington conversation. And then efficient, right, we don`t need a year and a half to work on this. We need to be clear that we`re going to get it done quickly. And that`s why I was so glad to see some of the committees staying back in Washington to move forward like this coming week.

HAYES: All right, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, it`s great to talk to you. Come back anytime.

SLOTKIN: Thanks.

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