CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Rep. Jimmy Gomez

Interview

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Joining us now, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat who serves on the House Oversight Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Let's get to the testimony. It makes it very, very clear that the White House acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, played a central role in setting up the so-called quid pro quo.

Does his refusal to testify leave a gap in your understanding?

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-CA): I don't think it leaves a gap, because you have Fiona Hill and you also have Lieutenant Colonel Vindman giving you the information that -- basically, that it was Mick Mulvaney who was coordinating it.

So I don't believe that leaves the gap. It would be great for him to come in. But if he does what he did when he -- at the press conference, he's just going to reaffirm that the fact that they did try to do a quid pro quo for the Ukrainians and national security assistance in order to investigate the Bidens.

But it's not necessary. I think we have the information we need.

BLITZER: "The Washington Post" is reporting, Congressman, that some House Republicans actually plan to argue that Rudy Giuliani, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the E.U., and the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, were acting actually on their own, not at the direction of President Trump.

Do you buy that?

GOMEZ: No, not at all.

One of the things is, like, I have heard people getting tossed under the bus, but three people all at once, that would be very impressive. No, it's been a coordinated effort. You had Rudy Giuliani, and you

had this -- I would say this alternative foreign policy, in exchange to get the information that they needed.

It goes all the way back until early February, and maybe even beforehand. And then you have the other information that shows that it was Mick Mulvaney that was coordinating with Ambassador Sondland. So it's connected, and it shows that it reaches directly into the West Wing.

Does it reach into the Oval Office? I believe so. But only time will tell.

BLITZER: We're learning more about how House Democrats are preparing for these public hearings next week? What do you hope the American people will get out of this, these televised hearings?

GOMEZ: I think the American people are going to see that this president abused his power, and that this president tried to get a foreign government to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, not because he was interested in corruption.

It was because he was interested in trying to undermine Joe Biden's ability to win the 2020 election. They're going to see that we have true patriots in Fiona Hill. You have Vindman. You have Ambassador Taylor. You have people who are stepping forward to tell the truth, to say what happened, because it was so appalling and it really shocked them, that we have to step forward.

So they're going to see that a lot is at stake. It's not just about one president, one party. It's about our democracy. That is what is at stake.

BLITZER: You just heard our congressional reporter, Lauren Fox, report that the preparations among House Democrats are exhaustive, even more thorough than what was going on in advance of Robert Mueller's testimony.

Tell us about that.

GOMEZ: First, the staff does a great job.

But if we're going to have an open hearing, where you're going to have information come out, additional information, you have got to be prepared. And a lot of it is going over the testimony, going over the previous testimony and the lines of attack.

The Republicans in the White House don't really have much to stand on, right? That's why, at first, they say it was a perfect call, nothing happened. Then they tried to say, OK, maybe, if something happened, the process is flawed.

Now they're saying, OK, we wanted open public hearings. Now they're getting that. Now they're backtracking even on that.

I once was telling myself staff. I said, I can't figure out if the president acts more like a child or a criminal, on facilitating before the two.

But this president and these Republicans are going to have to contend with the truth. That's what it's all about.

BLITZER: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's lawyer now says Bolton does have insight into additional meetings and conversations that are very relevant to your inquiry, but Bolton still won't testify unless the courts first weigh in.

What do you make of that?

GOMEZ: It's interesting that he's speaking up, because, according to a bunch of different witnesses that have been -- that gave depositions, it shows that Bolton had real deep concerns about what was going on with Rudy Giuliani, Ambassador Sondland, as well as Mick Mulvaney.

And I think that we would love to hear from him, because I believe that he would add extra context and connect more of the dots. But I believe that a lot of that information is there, but I would love to hear Ambassador Bolton has to say.

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BLITZER: Yes, a lot of us would love to hear what he has to say.

All right, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, thanks so much for joining us.

GOMEZ: Thank you, Wolf.

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