MSNBC "All In With Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Adam Schiff

Interview

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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, you know, I have to say, can any of us really question that if Donald Trump could use the military to remain in power that he would have done so. I think invariably, he would have chosen to use the military if it would have helped him retain power.

And, you know, it`s shocking to see these things come to light now. I do wish others, including General Milley had been more outspoken at the time about their fears, and had been more forthcoming with the American people about the dangers that we face to our democracy.

But we certainly need to know a lot more about those weeks leading up to January 6, what took place on that day and the aftermath, whether this insurrection was, you know, an attempt to claim to power by other means.

And I think of all the issues around January 6 that we have the least amount of information, that involving the White House is the biggest black box. What was going on in the White House in the days leading up to on that date and in the aftermath? What efforts were made to send relief? What efforts may have been made to withhold relief? Was this part of a broader effort to overturn the election? Those are some of the unanswered questions.

HAYES: I wonder if I could put the graphic again of the folks that did go over to that -- to the Department of Defense, at the time, it really seemed bizarre. I mean, you know, Esper is fired, it`s after the election. All these folks are sent over. Christopher Miller becomes the acting Secretary of Defense. Kash Patel and Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who I think you probably know fairly well, because they were staffers for Devin Nunes on the committee that you were -- that you`re on him with. Anthony Tata, who was unable to get confirmed by Mitch McConnell Senate.

And do you feel like we have the story of what they were up to over there? The cover story or the thing they said publicly was, Donald Trump is so intent on getting us out of Afghanistan, and is being resisted by the brass that he has to get his people in so that in the last two or three weeks, they can be laser focused on U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan which seemed preposterous at the time. But do you understand what they were doing there?

SCHIFF: I don`t certainly have a full picture of what they were doing there. But this is part of the broader tale of the Trump administration, which is he brought in one group at the beginning. He churned through them. He ate people up and spit them out. When people wouldn`t do, you know, the next unethical thing that he asked him to, he would throw them out or they would be forced to leave.

And he would go from one team to a worse team to a worse team until you have nothing left but the Kash Patels who are willing to do anything he wanted. And, you know, that might be, you know, accelerate withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it might also be deployed military troops when the existing leadership refused to do so to put down peaceful protesters.

So, there`s no telling except we know that Donald Trump wanted people whose only qualification was that they were yes man to Donald Trump and would do whatever he asked no matter how unethical it might be.

HAYES: Is General Milley the kind of person that you can imagine being called before the committee?

SCHIFF: You know, it`s certainly possible. We haven`t made any decisions yet apart from the first hearing where we`ll hear from some of the frontline Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officials, but really, we intend to follow the evidence wherever it leads. If he has relevant testimony about the National Guard and why it took so long to deploy. If he has relevant testimony about any instructions he may have received from the White House to deploy military troops in a way that is relevant to the events of January 6, then that is certainly possible. But we`re going to defer those decisions until we have a full complement of our members, and simply follow the facts where they lead us.

[20:15:29]

HAYES: Final question. You don`t have a full committee yet because the Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, has not named anyone. He`s having lunch with President Trump today. Are you expecting he`s going to name any members?

SCHIFF: Well, I don`t know. I expect he`ll do whatever Donald Trump wants him to do. That`s really his sole reason for being, is to serve the former president. And that, I think, explains why he opposed the commission to begin with. And, you know, whether he`ll put people on who are just merely staunch defenders of the president, or he`ll put people on that he hopes will be disruptive, or he won`t appoint people at all. My guess is that Donald Trump will be calling the shots.

HAYES: Congressman Adam Schiff, who sits on that House Select Committee to investigate both the runup to and the day of January 6. Thank you, Congressman.

SCHIFF: Thank you.

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