MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: "AG Barr moves to shield Trump."

Interview

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MELBER: I`m joined by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries who is on the Judiciary Committee and a member of Democratic leadership. Thanks for being here.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Good to see you.

MELBER: Great to see you. As you know, that was a slightly different context with Justice Scalia was speaking for part of why the court ruled ultimately that being president is not a get out of subpoena free card.

JEFFRIES: Well that`s correct. You know, Donald Trump is not a part-time school board member, with all due respect to hard-working school board members, he`s the President of the United States of America, the leader of the free world, the most powerful individual on the global stage. He has a responsibility in the context of our constitutional Democratic Republic to recognize that the House and the Senate were designed to be separate and co-equal branches of government for the people. We don`t work for Donald Trump. We work for everyday Americans. And so we have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. We are undertaking our lawful constitutional legislative oversight responsibilities. Bill Barr is rewriting the Constitution claiming we have no legitimate purpose. The Constitution is our legitimate purpose.

MELBER: And that lays out sort of the battle in the courts. Then you have the specific issue of Mr. Bill Barr. Dahlia Lithwick who I`m sure you know as a legal scholar, she`s an independent expert, she`s not a part of you know, Democratic team, but she has argued here in THE BEAT that really there is a problem with how Mr. Barr is carrying out his role. To take a look.

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DAHLIA LITHWICK, SENIOR EDITOR, SLATE: It feels like Barr sort of leaping in front of the president yet again and saying first and foremost my interest is not the Justice Department or the United States people, it`s protecting this president.

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MELBER: Win or lose, I mean the courts are ultimately going to decide and it could go to the Supreme Court which we just heard from in a different context about what the President has to -- has to deal with. Are you at all concerned that Mr. Barr though has interceded in cases that seem more personal than public in nature?

JEFFRIES: Definitely. And you know, the so-called attorney general has since flushed his personal integrity down the toilet. That`s a shame. And so many members of the Trump cabinet have done that over the last three years or so. And I expected that will continue because the president surrounds himself with sycophants. But look at what is at stake. We want those Deutsche Bank records because we believe that they could show potential evidence of criminality. The Deutsche Bank employees on the ground recommended that suspicious activity reports be filed as it relates to Donald Trump`s business activities and transactions in 2016 and 2017. Higher-ups at Deutsche Bank vetoed that recommendation and squelched it. We want to know what Donald Trump is potentially hiding as part of our oversight responsibilities so we can share that information with the American people.

MELBER: Now, the last thing I want to ask you about because that -- I understand we coming from on that is impeachment. You remember those old -- those old toothpaste ads that would say like nine out of ten dentists prefer this toothpaste. Can nine out of ten dentists be wrong?

JEFFRIES: That`s right.

MELBER: OK. Well, can 126 Democrats in your caucus, and I know you`re part of leadership, that`s the majority of your caucus that you work with them, like toothpaste, sir, I ask you, can 126 Democrats be wrong?

JEFFRIES: They definitely can`t be wrong but there are different perspectives. And what we`ve decided to do is to make sure that every member has an opportunity over the next couple of weeks during this district work period in August to talk to their constituents and then follow their conscience.

MELBER: Follow their conscience, but you and Speaker Pelosi still disagree with them that you should move forward on impeaching Trump.

JEFFRIES: No, what my view is that Jerry Nadler is in the midst of an impeachment investigation. I`m part of that impeachment investigation.

MELBER: You`re on the Judiciary Committee, but you -- every time we`ve talked about -- you check me if I am getting the history wrong. Every time we talk about it, you`re defending the speaker.

JEFFRIES: Well, because I believe the speaker has the correct perspective in terms of making sure that we follow the facts, apply to law be guided by the Constitution. Come together after the August recess in September, we`re going to have to make some decisions. But in order for us to proceed with any form of accountability inquiry including an impeachment inquiry, we need fact witnesses and we need documents. That`s why we`re fighting before the Second Circuit fighting, before the D.C. Circuit, eventually, we`re going to have to fight before the Supreme Court so we can get the information to them present to the American people.

MELBER: Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, very interesting getting you on multiple items.

JEFFRIES: Thank you.

MELBER: Thanks for coming on THE BEAT, sir.

JEFFRIES: Good to see you, Ari.

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