CNN "Erin Burnett Out Front" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep.Adriano Espaillat"

Interview

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BURNETT: All right. Alex, thank you very much. And I want to go now to the Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat who is on the Foreign Affairs Committee. So, obviously, you've heard whether to say for the Inspector General and, of course, you're investigating as well what's going on between Rudy Giuliani and the President of Ukraine.

If this reporting is true, right, what we understand here that there were at least eight times on one phone call where the President pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and his son, do you see a crime there?

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REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): If that is the case, that is another troubling behavior by this president. Whether it is a crime or not, we'll have to get to the bottom of this, that's why we need to get to the complaint brought forward by the whistleblower.

For the first time and since 2010, when the IG's office, the Inspector General's office was created, a complaint of this nature is withheld from Congress. Even when the complaint is not deemed urgent or even credible, they're sent over to Congress anyway. This is the first time since 2010 when the office was created that a

complaint of this nature that was deemed urgent and credible by the inspector ...

BURNETT: Has been withheld.

ESPAILLAT: Has been withheld.

BURNETT: So, look, we understand on this call from our reporting that Trump did not explicitly discuss the aid package. So he's saying to the guy about eight times, investigate, investigate, investigate, investigate, investigate, right? OK. But he's not saying or I will.

But then he delays the aid, and he delays the aid, and he delays the aid, he doesn't release it until you and other committees launch your investigation into the phone call.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct.

BURNETT: Could that be a quid pro quo?

ESPAILLAT: It could be abuse of power if it's determined that in fact it was thoroughly put in that fashion to Ukraine. But we are concerned about how this whistleblower is being treated, there's retaliation, if you may, against him or her.

BURNETT: Yes.

ESPAILLAT: We don't know who the whistleblower is. We want to protect that person's identity.

BURNETT: You don't know the gender?

ESPAILLAT: We don't know the gender. And so this person appeals or compelled to come with a complaint before Congress. It has to do with a phone call that was made to the Ukrainian president, so this is troubling.

BURNETT: Have you anything? Obviously, you've been investigating Rudy Giuliani, the President's personal attorney who was over there trying to push for an investigation. Trump himself and the Ukrainian president, have you found anything potentially criminal or that you think could be?

ESPAILLAT: Well, I don't want to jump to categorize his behavior as criminal yet. We want to take a look at the complain. We want to dig deep into this, but certainly having Rudy Giuliani fly out to Madrid and meet with the officials, high-level officials from the Ukraine, we really don't know whether he's acting as his personal lawyer or someone from the State Department and so this is troubling as well the role that Rudy Giuliani is planning all of this.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Congressman. Thank you very much as always.

ESPAILLAT: Thank you so much.

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