MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: "House Democrats push for impeachment."
Interview
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MELBER: As promised, we bring in Congressman Hakeem Jeffries from the Judiciary Committee and the fifth ranking member of the House. Good evening to you on a busy night. Thank you for being here. I`ll be judicious with your time sir. #1, what changed today in your view?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, the release of the whistleblower complaint just confirmed the troubling nature of the allegations that have been unfolding over the last few days. It`s clear as they - that Donald Trump betrayed his oath of office, betrayed the American people and has engaged in serious acts of wrongdoing. he very act of pressuring a foreign government to target an American citizen for political gain is in and of itself outrageous. Now it appears that the White House has engaged in a cover-up, understanding the nature of the behavior and trying to hide it both from Congress and the American people.
MELBER: Let`s dig into that sir. The cover-up, as alleged and as deemed credible by Trump officials, includes a bunch of people we`re going to put up here, from the President and the Vice President to the Attorney General to Rudy Giuliani to other officials who are less known but still have important jobs, the Ambassador - former ambassador to Ukraine, people at the State Department. How many of these people do you think the Congress should subpoena to hear from?
JEFFRIES: Well, that`s a matter for Chairman Adam Schiff in the Intelligence Committee to determine. We have great confidence in what they are going to do in terms of uncovering the truth for the American people. They`re going to follow the facts, they`re going to apply to law, they`re going to be guided by the United States Constitution. This is a serious matter. This is a question of our national security. It`s an issue of the integrity of our elections. This is about patriotism and we have to get to the bottom of it. Let me clear--
MELBER: I hear you. Let me ask you this. I hear you deferring to congressman Schiff. He has clearly handled this in a manner that has worked in the sense of inter branch conflict. In short order, he combined with, I guess, the colleagues and some would argue some of the pressure in the Senate as well, have pried out of the administration these important and many argue incriminating materials faster than some other investigations. As you know there are reports that the Speaker is going to direct things a little bit away from the Judiciary Committee on which you serve and towards the Intelligence Committee. Do you think that is right? Do you think if there are articles of impeachment they will focus solely on this Ukraine issue?
JEFFRIES: Well that remains to be seen. But we`re going to keep the focus for the time being on this national security issue and the Ukraine scandal. The Speaker has made clear and she`s provided tremendous leadership over the last few days, as she has throughout her entire career, that we are operating under a impeachment umbrella with six Committees of jurisdiction. But because of the nature - the urgent nature of the Ukraine scandal, the lead in terms of investigative fact-finding, will be the Intel Committee. But at the end of the process--
MELBER: And you`re part of the Speaker`s leadership, have you or the Speaker talked to chairman Nadler about that. Is everyone on one page here?
JEFFRIES: Everybody`s on the same page. In fact, I participated in the Judiciary Committee meeting led by Chairman Nadler yesterday where we all understand that the Intelligence Committee is taking a step forward. But on the end of the process, the Intel Committee and the other Committees of jurisdiction, including the Oversight Committee and the Financial Services Committee, will make recommendations to the Judiciary Committee as to how to proceed. And then we`ll--
MELBER: Let`s - yes, let`s get into that.
JEFFRIES: --consider potential articles of impeachment.
MELBER: We`re talking about the whole enchilada here. We`re talking about the existential question of what the House does with the President. You`re saying the way it would work then is, this is confirmed that the Intel is taking the lead. Whatever they find here, they then send ultimately to Chairman Nadler and your Judiciary Committee. And if you decide to move forward on articles of impeachment, they go from Intel the Judiciary to the House floor?
JEFFRIES: Yes. That would be regular order. And that`s consistent with the fact that the Intel Committee has jurisdiction over this issue. It involve a conversation between the President and a foreign leader as well as the attempted use of taxpayer dollars in terms of the hundreds of millions of dollars that had been allocated by the Congress to Ukraine and withheld. This is a country that is under attack from Russia at this very moment. The President clearly wanted to use that aid in the sensitive position that Ukraine was in, in order to extract an investigation targeting Joe Biden and the Biden family for political gain. That all falls within the jurisdiction of the Intel Committee and that`s why the Intel Committee will be taking the lead because of this subject matter.
MELBER: Understood, and all very interesting, including you telling us a little bit about the meetings and the considerations. I have a tougher a question for you, sir. A lot of people are impressed with what you and the Speaker and Chairmanship Schiff are doing this week. And you just laid out the urgent national security case, and yet the House is going to - then go on recess tomorrow. Do you really think that is consistent with the claim that this is a national security emergency? Is that a good idea? Should you and the Speaker rethink that stay at work on all this?
JEFFRIES: Well, I think two things are going to happen. One, that it`s important given the solemn and serious nature of what we have to do as it relates to the impeachment inquiry. That everyone should have an opportunity to go back home and talk to their constituents on the ground, in person in an intimate way to communicate the approach that we`ve taken. At the same time the Intel Committee is going to proceed with hearings and investigative matters over that recess to continue to uncover the truth, to follow the facts, to present the evidence to the American people.
MELBER: So you don`t think you`re going to lose, shall we call it a momentum here?
JEFFRIES: Well the Intel Committee is going full steam ahead and I think that`s going to be most important. At the same time, we`ll be communicating in our districts to the American people why this is so important, why this is a national security concern, while we have taken this important step forward.
MELBER: Congressman Jeffries, always appreciate you taking the question sir.
JEFFRIES: Thank you very much Ari.
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