MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Pete Aguilar

Interview

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O`DONNELL: Leading off our discussion tonight is Democratic Congressman Pete Aguilar of California. He`s a member of the January 6th Committee and he`s the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Thank you very much for joining us on this important night.

When did you realize that the committee was going to be unanimous on this vote?

AGUILAR: I think it became pretty clear once we started having the communication back and forth and the communications with the Bannon counsel was detailed in the report that we produced, but it became clear they would not be as corporative as many other witnesses that came forward and subpoenas as well. So, that`s when we knew this might be a little different.

O`DONNELL: What can you tell us about the cooperation of say, Mark Meadows that had a date where he was supposed to testify. He did not show up for the date but he is not being recommended for criminal prosecution?

AGUILAR: What I can tell you is that Mr. Meadows and Mr. Patel are engaged with the committee, that`s all I can say at this point. And so that`s why Mr. Bannon is the only one where you`re seeking to elevate to this level with the full House vote for contempt.

O`DONNELL: And the chairman mentioned tonight that you`ve reached out to dozens of witnesses. Does that mean you`ve interviewed dozens of witnesses already?

AGUILAR: There have been dozens of interviews that have taken place and there is coordination and discussion. There were also 11 other subpoenas that that were made public for individuals who played a role in the financing of -- and planning of the January 5th and January 6th rallies. We`re engaged with those individuals and it`s our expectation they will produce documents, as well as sit for interviews.

O`DONNELL: The chairman wasn`t sure at the point of time where you were voting tonight when the full House would vote on that. We now know the full House will vote day after tomorrow. The House has already a busy day pre -- that was already scheduled for tomorrow and you also apparently have to go through the rules committee on this.

Do you have to go through the rules committee before going to the House floor on Thursday?

AGUILAR: Yes, the chair and the vice chair will both present to the rules committee and if reported out favorably, it will go to the house floor on Thursday. That`s our understanding.

O`DONNELL: And so what is your expectation after Thursday? Rachel Maddow was reporting in the previous hour that the last time the House did this, it took eight days between the time the House voted to recommend a criminal prosecution and the Justice Department actually brought charges against a regular administration official. That passage of time was eight days.

AGUILAR: Well, that`s up to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and department of justice how fast they proceed. Our expectation is that they will follow the law and so after we pass this off of the House floor, the speaker will certify it. It will get transmitted over to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the federal law is clear that that individual has a duty to bring it before a grand jury. And so that`s our expectation that it would follow the law and bring this to the grand jury.

So that`s what we hope the process that they follow will be on Thursday.

O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to the way Liz Cheney made this point about how the privilege argument appears to suggest that Donald Trump actually was personally involved. Let`s listen to the way she put this.

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CHENEY: Mr. Bannon`s and Mr. Trump`s privilege arguments do however appear to reveal one thing. They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of January 6th. And this committee will get to the bottom of that.

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O`DONNELL: What was your reaction to that point?

AGUILAR: It was a strong statement, it was a great statement and Representative Cheney, Vice Chair Cheney has been an amazing colleague to work with an the issues. She`s not going to be shy about calling it like she sees it.

CHENEY: Mr. Bannon`s and Mr. Trump`s privilege arguments do however appear to reveal one thing. They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of January 6th. And this committee will get to the bottom of that.

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O`DONNELL: What was your reaction to that point?

AGUILAR: It was a strong statement, it was a great statement and Representative Cheney, Vice Chair Cheney has been an amazing colleague to work with an the issues. She`s not going to be shy about calling it like she sees it.

And so, we`re going to continue to follow the leadership of her and the chairman as we guide through this process.

We`re in uncharted territory here. We know that. We have a duty and obligation to find out the truth. That`s all we`ve said we want.

We don`t bring any joy and the chairman talked about this. We don`t bring joy about taking this step. We hope people comply. We hope they feel the patriotic duty to comply with the lawful subpoena.

But if they don`t, there have to be consequences. And we promised the American people we would get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th. This is the next step to do that.

O`DONNELL: How can you get to the bottom of it without sending a subpoena to Donald Trump?

AGUILAR: Well, we`re going to take one step at a time. And so, this is where we are today. Upon every interview we take, we`ll continue to learn more details and we will unlock more issues that we will have to chase down and that will lead to more individuals who we have to interview.

That`s just going to be the process. It`s going to be an investigative process and we`re going to follow that game plan and we`re going to chase every lead as the chair and vice chair have said and to ultimately produce a report for the American public but we won`t get ahead of ourselves. We`re not going to be shy about doing that if warranted but we need to accomplish these few steps first.

O`DONNELL: So just to be clear, you`re not going to be shy about subpoenaing Donald Trump if it is warranted?

AGUILAR: We`re not going to be shy about subpoenaing anyone with knowledge of the events of January 5th and 6th and what led to the violent insurrection of the Capitol.

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And so, that`s our posture. That`s our position. We`ll chase every lead wherever it goes.

O`DONNELL: Congressman Pete Aguilar, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it.

AGUILAR: Thank you.

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