MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: "One-on-one with Senator Amy Klobuchar."

Interview

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MELBER: I`m joined now by Senate Judiciary Committee Member, and 2020 Presidential Candidate, Amy Klobuchar. Thanks for coming on THE BEAT.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Ari. Great to be on again.

MELBER: Great to have you back. I want to begin with some news you`re making. You`ve written this new letter to the Justice Department, calling for an investigation into who is financing Giuliani - Giuliani`s efforts, and also determine whether he violated a law by soliciting foreign assistance in U.S. elections. Strong words! What are you - what are you going after here?

KLOBUCHAR: Well I`m going after the fact. First of all, I`m - serve on the Judiciary Committee. But I`m also the Ranking Member, the highest Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, and we have jurisdiction over elections, Federal Election Commission. And my concern here is these people are business associates of him. And they were clearly up to incredibly shady things, illegal things, getting money, funneling foreign money. And you pair that with the fact that they worked with him, and that he was out trying to get dirt on a political opponent of the President of the United States, and this leads us right to where the whistleblower is. So, under the election laws, it is a violation, of course, to take foreign money. But it`s also a violation to get something of value from a foreign government, which could include digging up dirt, and getting that information. And so, that`s why I think it`s really important to look at what Giuliani`s role was, and if he violated the law himself, and urging them to look at it. Remember--

MELBER: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: --when the whistleblower complaint came over, they said it wasn`t criminal, Barr`s Justice Department, and then they didn`t even send it over to the Federal Election Commission, which they`re supposed to do.

MELBER: Yes. It`s a very fair question. Indeed viewers that have been watching our reporting over the course of this - of this program will know that there`s a lot of open criminal questions left that pertain to Giuliani. And, as you say, Mr. Barr seemed to try to immediately say "There`d be no probe whatsoever of any of these issues." Maybe SDNY didn`t - didn`t get the memo. And yet, even given that logic, you know I have to press you, and ask something else, which is some of your critics are going to look at this, and say, "Well, wait a minute. If it`s wrong for Donald Trump to talk about investigations into Clinton, "Lock her up," or Biden, are you going down a similar path in - in calling," as I read your letter, "for a criminal probe of Mr. Giuliani, who`s very aligned with the President."

KLOBUCHAR: This is an impeachment proceeding that`s going on in the House. And you have even had Republican Governors say that it should proceed. You have had Chuck Grassley, who was once the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, make it very clear that the whistleblower has rights, and should be protected. And you have people like the former Presidential - Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, say something`s wrong here. So, look at what this is. This is - this is a very clear path where the President of the United States, there is a phone call with a record--

MELBER: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: --was trying to put his own political, partisan, business interests, you name it, in front of our country`s. And if he is looking of something of value, that is a violation. And it is a narrow focus in the House on this subject, not re-litigating the past, as so many of these other matters have done. They`re looking at ongoing conduct.

MELBER: Copy.

KLOBUCHAR: Right now.

MELBER: I have to ask you about breaking news out of the Washington Post, and I want to warn, in fairness, you may not have read this article, but you`re well-versed--

KLOBUCHAR: No.

MELBER: --on the issues. But in the last 10 minutes from the Washington Post, a really blockbuster story that says officials, up to four different National Security officials raised alarms about the Ukraine policy issues, before, and directly after Donald Trump`s now infamous call with Ukrainian President. I`m going to read a little bit of this lead, for the benefit of our viewers, and - and see what you think. I know you`ve been--

KLOBUCHAR: OK. Oh, I`d love to hear it.

MELBER: --working on these issues.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

MELBER: Washington Post says at least four national security officials were, quote, so alarmed by the Trump Administration`s attempts to pressure Ukraine for political purposes, they raised concerns with the White House lawyers, Senator, quote, both before and, quote, immediately after the call, according to U.S. officials. The nature and timing of these previously undisclosed discussions with NSC Legal Adviser, John Eisenberg, indicates the officials were delivering warnings through, and this I think is striking, quote, official White House channels earlier than was previously known. Senator, the implication here being that far from one or two whistleblowers, all sorts of senior people viewed this as a red siren event, again, with the caveat, in fairness, we try to be fair to all our guests that you haven`t read the whole story.

KLOBUCHAR: No, it`s fine.

MELBER: Anything you want to say about it?

KLOBUCHAR: I`m a former prosecutor, and I`ve been predicting this, because these were, of course, as reported, at least it`s that the whistleblower is a CIA agent, and you can imagine there were a lot of people with knowledge of this, including high-level people that are no longer in the White House that may well know about details related to this. There was one document that started this, one whistleblower. But then I think it`s opened a dam of information because we have Ukraine. And I went there with John McCain and Lindsey Graham, stood there on the frontline with them, where we had Russian troops on the other side, saw what a fledgling democracy it is, how much they depend on America`s credibility, and America`s aid. Trump freezes part of that aid, and then makes the call, and says, "I need a favor." This just smells to high heaven that this was not about putting our country first. And it`s that simple, and it doesn`t surprise me at all, when you have Patriots, and other people, who are trying to protect the interests of our country, and not Russia, are coming forward when we have long-standing support for Ukraine and Ukraine`s independence, and this just puts everything on its head and continues to in our work we must be doing with Ukraine and the other Baltic nations.

MELBER: Really laid out there, a lot of food for thought, given the scandals, and the levels. Senator Klobuchar, thanks for coming back on THE BEAT.

KLOBUCHAR: Well, thanks. Watch, President Trump will be in my state, claiming he can win it tonight, which he can`t. I will not let that happen. But that`s where he is tonight and it`s his first rally since this investigation opened.

MELBER: Amy Klobuchar sort of anti-plugging the Trump rally.

KLOBUCHAR: Anti-plugging, that is exactly right.

MELBER: Senator, I`ve got to go to "HARDBALL." Thank you again.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you.

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