CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) is Interviewed about Impeachment

Interview

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REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): They have evidence to share with us. But, at the end of the day, I think we'll package the entire body of evidence and we'll send it to Jerry Nadler and the Judiciary Committee.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: But are you going to wait for Bolton and McGahn and -- I mean I want to get to the McGahn court decision today, but they could -- you know, the courts could drag this out for weeks.

ESPAILLAT: They may -- they may decide not to come in. So -- and this will take weeks and weeks. So I think that we will not wait, no.

SCIUTTO: OK. Do you think that's a mistake? I wonder. Because the key, you know, as you know from watching the hearings, because the key Republican defense at this point is that no witness has directly testified the president told me to delay this aid. Now, in fairness, all of the witnesses who could testify to that have been blocked by the White House.

ESPAILLAT: Correct.

SCIUTTO: But I wonder if you're concerned that that weakens your case and, therefore, you should take the time, wait.

ESPAILLAT: Well, look, I -- we'll leave it up to Adam Schiff, he's done a tremendous job at running these hearings. But we heard compelling evidence from Taylor, from Vindman, from Sondland, I think his back and forth was very telling. So there's enough there I think for us to really take a good look at this. But I'll leave -- I'll leave it up to Adam and Jerry Nadler to see where we go with this. For me, I am convinced with the evidence that has been presented.

SCIUTTO: You would vote -- you would vote to impeach the president today?

ESPAILLAT: I would do that, yes.

SCIUTTO: You're there. OK.

Let's go on to the broader scope of the investigation now because we've learned that a Giuliani associate, of course associate of the president's personal attorney, is willing to testify that Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, met with a former Ukrainian official who wildly disparaged, by of our allies and the U.S., to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.

Should Nunes be investigated for that meeting?

ESPAILLAT: I think we ought to take a look at it. Meeting with a disgraced prosecutor, Poroshenko (ph), that not only the United States but the European Union and many countries across the world felt that he was very corrupt, leaves a lot to be desired, right? We ought to take a look at what that conversation was about.

And, in fact, this -- this -- this entire impeachment proceeding is about whether we twisted Ukraine's arm and forced them to handle an illegal investigation that will have an impact on an election. This is not about whether we do quid pro quo for national security or other matters that are important to America. This was for personal gain --

SCIUTTO: Right.

ESPAILLAT: For the president to have an edge, an advantage in next year's election.

SCIUTTO: Yes, Fiona Hill called it a domestic political errand in her phrasing.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct.

SCIUTTO: Of course the holidays are a time for you and your Democratic colleagues to go home and meet with constituents. The president was tweeting yesterday thanking Democrats, in his word, for the impeachment inquiry, saying, his own information is it's driving his poll numbers up. We haven't seen that necessarily. But we do know that many Democrats, voters are uncomfortable with this.

Are you hearing from your constituents that this is not where we want to be spending our time?

ESPAILLAT: That's not what I heard. I was out -- I was out and about last night in the community and people were not communicating that to me at all. In fact, they want us to push harder. I represent naturally a very progressive district, but I think across America people understand when they hear and see the truth and I think that the arguments and the evidence presented during this couple of weeks is compelling.

SCIUTTO: But you do have some, as you know, some nervous colleagues in less progressive districts than your own, particularly ones that won in swing districts in 2018 --

ESPAILLAT: That's correct (ph).

SCIUTTO: Flipping from red to blue. Do you hear from them concern that this -- this puts me in trouble?

ESPAILLAT: They're -- most of them, if not all of them, are already there. And they've been through this process already. Again, good -- good government is good politics. I think it was good government for us to engage in this impeachment process. It was (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: Final question. You're from New York.

ESPAILLAT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: There's another New York politician who is now officially in the race.

ESPAILLAT: I saw that.

SCIUTTO: Of course, the former Mayor Mike --

ESPAILLAT: It was all over the media last night.

SCIUTTO: Michael Bloomberg. What does that mean for Democrats in this race?

ESPAILLAT: Well, look, I think the American people are uncomfortable about somebody coming in with lots of money and so like throwing their money around. But, you know, he's had --

SCIUTTO: They elected one in 2016.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct but they -- he had a good record in the city with regards to gun control and climate change. But he didn't have such a good record with regards to criminal justice reform and how the city became so expensive that working-class people continue to struggle. So there's mixed views on it and let's see what develops.

SCIUTTO: Could he win the nomination?

ESPAILLAT: I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

SCIUTTO: OK. We'll be watching.

Congressman Espaillat, thanks very much, as always.

ESPAILLAT: Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Happy Thanksgiving to you.

ESPAILLAT: Same to you.

SCIUTTO: I know you're going to be serving meals later this week out there.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct. That's correct.

SCIUTTO: So good on you and I hope you get some time for yourself.

ESPAILLAT: Enjoy your turkey.

SCIUTTO: OK. I will.

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