MSNBC "All In With Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Ted Lieu

Interview

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REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you Zerlina for your question. Like all Americans, Congressman Matt Gaetz is entitled to the presumption of innocence. But he is not entitled to sit on the House Judiciary Committee. That is an honor and a privilege.

And this committee has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice, which is the very department that has opened a criminal investigation in which Matt Gaetz is a subject, that is a clear conflict of interest and leader Kevin McCarthy must remove Matt Gaetz from the committee immediately.

MAXWELL: Why are you asking for this to happen? Why isn`t Kevin McCarthy speaking up and saying Matt Gaetz should step down from his committee assignments himself?

LIEU: I am on the House Judiciary Committee and I believe this is a conflict of interest. I hope Republican leader Kevin McCarthy also sees that this is a conflict of interest.

And you know, for a party that in the past used to proclaim family values, this seems very antithetical to family values.

MAXWELL: Do you think he should resign from Congress entirely Matt Gaetz?

LIEU: So, again, Representative Gaetz is entitled to presumption of interest of innocence. But I do want to say that these charges are extremely serious.

If the allegations are true, and Representative Gaetz did in fact, either pay for sex with a minor or entice a minor for sex, under federal law, that is a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

And then, there`s already Florida State law that makes it illegal for anyone over 23 to have sex with a minor and that is punishable by up to 15 years of imprisonment.

MAXWELL: Hypocrisy these days, I mean, particularly in this post-Trump era. I don`t know that this version of the Republican Party cares that much if we say, hey, you`re being hypocritical, you asked Katie Hill to resign, you asked Al Franken to resign without proof of their guilt that was preempted that -- do you think that Republicans care about hypocrisy at this point?

You know, Matt Gaetz is still in Congress and I don`t really hear anybody except Adam Kinzinger saying that there`s a problem here.

LIEU: I`m glad that Adam Kinzinger has spoken out. I hope more Republicans speak out. I believe every Republican member of Congress should be asked why they still support having Matt Gaetz on the House Judiciary Committee.

And again, this doesn`t have to do with whether or not Matt Gaetz did these allegations. It has to do with that he`s under a criminal investigation from the very department over which the House Judiciary Committee has oversight. It`s simply a conflict of interest.

The Republicans can put someone else on the committee temporarily. It`s not like they`re going to lose a slot which simply you can`t say you can`t have Matt Gaetz there.

MAXWELL: Congressman Ted Lieu, thank you so much for being here and please stay safe. Have a great weekend.

LIEU: Thank you.

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