CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Adam Schiff

Interview

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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, look, there are a lot of the abuses of the Justice Department power during the Trump administration, everything from intervening, to reduce the sentence of people who lied to protect the president, like Roger Stone, to making whole cases go away in the case of Mike Flynn.

But also, to go after press organizations, particularly those that the Justice Department and the president thought were hostile to the president's point of view. They apparently even went after the records behind the parody Twitter account that would criticize Devin Nunes.

These look like terrible abuses of power by the Justice Department, and I think they ought to be looked into, and I hope and believe that the new Justice Department leadership will take corrective action.

BLITZER: I hope so too. I'm a member of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the subject obviously very, very close to my heart.

All right. Let's turn to the prospects of a new commission inquiry to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Senate Republicans may filibuster in the coming days.

Is this commission dead on arrival?

SCHIFF: No, it isn't. But it's clear that Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are going to try to kill it anyway they can.

You know, I have to say, watching that clip of Mitch McConnell saying that after getting careful consideration, he's decided to oppose it. That careful consideration was probably no more than reading Donald Trump's statement saying you need to oppose this.

It couldn't be more of a contradiction to what he said after the insurrection when he promised that we would make every effort to get to the bottom of this.

This is not a partisan commission. Anything but. It was negotiated in a bipartisan fashion. It has five Democrats and five Republicans. You need a majority to issue a subpoena or their approval of the chair or vice chair, and it couldn't be more evenly balanced.

So, those arguments against it are just window dressing. The bottom line is Donald Trump doesn't want it, and they made the decision they are going to make their future with him, regardless of his role in that insurrection.

BLITZER: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says if this bipartisan commission fails in the Senate, it's no secret the backup plan could be what's called a select committee in the House to investigate the January 6th attack. Do you risk, though, Americans dismissing the findings if this investigation isn't done in a bipartisan way?

SCHIFF: Well, the ideal outcome here would be a bipartisan commission that has the kind of stature that the 9/11 Commission did, because it's recommendations are great credibility with the American people and they brought about very significant reforms. That's what we're aiming for here. But, you know, that was a time in 2001, 2002 when there was a much

greater willingness of the parties to work together. Here, Democrats are working in good faith, and indeed some Republicans, like John Katko, are working in good faith.

But that doesn't get very far with Kevin McCarthy or Mitch McConnell.

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If they are unwilling to establish what would be in the best public interest, we're not going to let the events go on uninvestigated. And so, there are other alternatives. They're not as ideal as a bipartisan commission, so we are going to make our effort to get that done. But we are going to insist on getting answers one way or another.

BLITZER: Yeah, we have to learn lessons on what exactly happens to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, thank you so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Wolf.

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