CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview Of Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) On Impeachment

Interview

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The President, though expected to continue his usual comments. What we've heard from him so far, of course, is that his phone conversation with Ukrainian President was perfect, and that all of his conduct was perfect. And that's what we expect to continue to see from the President -- Brianna. KEILAR: All right, CNN's Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much from West Palm Beach for us.

And joining us now is Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota. Thank you so much for coming on. We really appreciate it.

SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): Thank you, Brianna. It's great to be with you.

KEILAR: So you, yesterday said it was a bad night for democracy. Can you take us through what it was like there in the room?

SMITH: Well, of course, by the time we made those votes yesterday on whether or not the Senate was going to hear witnesses, we had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen.

And for me, what made it so disheartening was to see so many of my Republican colleagues abandon a historic bipartisan precedent of Senate impeachment trials, including witnesses.

I think in that time, the Senate abandoned its role and its responsibility. And to me, that's a very dark day.

KEILAR: What do you say to your Republican colleagues like Senator Alexander, who say, you know, this wasn't a perfect call? They say it was inappropriate. But they also say it's not impeachable.

SMITH: Well, we are seeing this transformation of the defense of the President that has gone from, he did nothing wrong to, he didn't -- yes, he did what he is accused of, but it's not impeachable, to even some people suggesting, well, maybe it's impeachable, but we shouldn't impeach him anyway.

And to me, that is the most cynical and honestly, the most partisan of arguments. I mean, our responsibility is to the constitution and not to our party, and that is what I keep coming down to.

I asked myself, would I have the courage to vote to remove a President of my own party, who is accused of the kinds of abuses of power that we've seen in the in the impeachment trial? I hope that I would.

KEILAR: So all of this new information that's been coming out through the courts, also from John Bolton now, do you think in retrospect, it was a mistake for House Democrats to pass this off to a Republican controlled Senate when they did and to not subpoena John Bolton?

SMITH: Well, remember, they tried to get John Bolton to testify and he refused. He was blocked.

We have seen the most kind of whole scale blocking of the White House participating in any kind of providing evidence --

KEILAR: But the subpoena is a different thing. A subpoena is a different thing than a request.

SMITH: That is right. And they -- but, you know the White House -- excuse me, the House did attempt to get documents, they did a subpoena, and I think that of course, the Senate has the opportunity to subpoena and get this data. And that's why I was so disappointed that we turned down that opportunity.

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SMITH: And of course, even yet today we're seeing that the White House has two dozen e-mails that would give us more information about what was in the President's -- what the President's intent was around withholding this security aid. And yet, we won't have the opportunity to see that.

And you know, the thing is, the truth will come out. With this many people who know what happened here, the truth will find a way.

KEILAR: But if it did come out in the span of the House investigation, which was rather quick, would that have been more helpful than it coming out when it's in the middle of a Senate trial where Republicans are in charge?

I mean, it seems -- you know, it seems like Democrats are relying on Republicans to do really what they would want to see done and that's just not how it works.

SMITH: Well, I think it's important to remember that the whole scale blocking of information in data that the White House participated in in the House, we've never seen before. Unprecedented.

Richard Nixon provided data and documents and witnesses. Bill Clinton provided data and documents and witnesses, and this White House said absolutely not.

And so I think the most important thing is that we get to that information, and I don't think it's right to say, oh, well, you know, it's the House's fault that they didn't get the information when it was the White House that was blocking it all along.

KEILAR: Senators are going to have time this week to speak on the floor before the final vote, is that something you're going to take the opportunity to do?

SMITH: I do plan to speak on the floor. You know, the trial is not over yet. We have closing arguments on Monday beginning at 11, and I will -- I expect to speak on the floor sometime between then and when the final vote is on that Wednesday.

KEILAR: What do you want people to know? What's your objective?

SMITH: What I will want people to know is why I make the final decision that I will make about my decision and how I'm going to vote and I want people to really think about what it means, what the purpose is of this trial to remove the President? What is behind the reason that we go through all of this? Which is to protect the very basic fabric of our democracy, which is that no person is above the law.

KEILAR: Senator Tina Smith, thank you so much for joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM. We really appreciate it.

SMITH: I appreciate it, too. Thanks so much.

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