MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Benghazi Report

Interview

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Joining us now is Congressman Adam Schiff of California. He`s a member of
the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select
Committee on Benghazi.

Congressman, thanks for joining us tonight.

So, the bottom-line question to start with, when are we going to get to see
this report?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, I hope soon. It will depend on
how quickly the CIA can declassify it. I have to say, though, that this is
much in the CIA`s interest to declassify because it largely concludes the
CIA had adequate security, acted properly during the events, that there
were conflicting intelligence reports and threat streams coming in, but no
advanced notice of a particular tack and certainly no intent to deceive
people in its initial and flawed assessment of how that protest or non-
protest began.

So, I think it`s in the agency`s interest to see that the classified
probably unlike the Senate report, so they may act on with it some speed.

KORNACKI: You, obviously you know your colleagues on this committee,
Democratic and Republican, very well. You guys have been looking at this
for two years. You guys voted, as we said, unanimously, to declassify this
report.

Obviously, we know in the air, sort of in the conservative talk radio,
whatever, you hear lots of conspiracy theories about Benghazi. But do you
think the Republicans on this committee, your colleagues who you work with,
do you think when this report comes out they will speak up and say, you
know what, guys, we looked at it, there`s nothing to this. Do you expect
them to say that based on your conversations with them?

SCHIFF: No, I don`t expect them to say that. GOP members of the select
committee still think there`s more to be found here, there are some hidden
facts, or that if they served on the Government Reform Committee, didn`t
have access to what another committee learned that maybe there`s
information that they can collate a different way.

But as you pointed out, Steve, what we found out after a pretty exhaustive
investigation in the Intelligence Committee, is that in terms of all the
conspiracy theories about there being a stand-down order, the state
department interfering with the military rescue or military assets not used
or deliberate intent to deceive on talking points. Basically this report
says, no, no, no, no, no.

KORNACKI: So, what --

SCHIFF: And -- yes?

KORNACKI: You say they don`t expect they`re going to be satisfied.
They`re going to be -- have they given you a sense of what they might find,
some kind of unifying theory at the end of this?

SCHIFF: No, there isn`t. And that is why the formation of this select
committee was so controversial, because there have been multiple reports,
bipartisan reports, nonpartisan reports like the State Department when you
mentioned. So, they have I think in large part the select committee is
still in search of a mission.

You know, one hearing we are going to have in September is something I
recommended the chair if we`re looking for something constructive to do and
not retread the same old ground, let`s look into how we are a couple years
later in implementing recommendations of that accountability review board
in making our facilities around the world safer. That`s something that
requires continual monitoring to see how we`re progressing.

We are going to do that. I think that`s constructive. But once we get
beyond that, Steve, I`m not really sure where we can add value. And I`m
concerned that I think the chairman of the committee is going to be under
enormous pressure to produce something. To warrant the creation of the
select committee, to warrant the millions they`re spending on it, and that
may be very hard to do without simply spinning whatever results we come up
with like crazy.

KORNACKI: And do you -- just to give us a preview of how you think those
committee hearings are going to go, what role do you see yourself playing
as a Democrat on that committee, given what you`ve just said?

SCHIFF: Well, look, I didn`t think the committee was formed. I wasn`t in
favor of participating on it. Now, we made the decision, which I respect,
to do that. So, I view my role as trying to make something constructive
out of this, trying to not only allay the concerns that some have about
what may have gone on by things like the publication and declassification
of the intelligence report, but also looking at things that haven`t been
examined already or at least haven`t been recently examined, like, how are
we doing in making our securities more secure?

Now, the two most important questions, you know, I think for people are,
where are we in the hunt for those who are responsible? And how are we
doing in protecting our people going forward?

On the first question, we want to make sure we`re not interfering with the
criminal investigation. So there`s a limited amount we can do there.
But on that latter question, I think there`s room for us to be productive.
But I think we have to resist the effort to politicize this by simply
dragging in high-profile witnesses that really can`t necessarily contribute
in an effort to either sway the midterms or motivate the base or those
improper purposes.

KORNACKI: All right. Congressman Adam Schiff of California, thanks for
your time tonight. Appreciate that.

SCHIFF: You bet.

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