WEBVTT 00:02.100 --> 00:03.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: We reached out to more than 50 Republican members of the House of Representatives 00:03.800 --> 00:05.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to come on the program tonight. 00:05.666 --> 00:07.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% None of them accepted our invitation. 00:07.900 --> 00:12.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% For a Republican perspective on today's news, I'm joined by longtime GOP strategist and 00:12.466 --> 00:16.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% former press secretary for Speaker John Boehner Michael Steel. 00:16.300 --> 00:18.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Welcome to the "NewsHour." 00:18.400 --> 00:22.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Republicans have been criticizing the process, as you know, throughout the last few weeks, 00:24.466 --> 00:26.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% specifically that these depositions have been held behind closed doors, instead of having 00:26.933 --> 00:28.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% public hearings. 00:28.500 --> 00:31.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Republicans had a chance today to vote for public hearings. 00:31.533 --> 00:33.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Why did they vote against it? 00:33.566 --> 00:34.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL, Former John Boehner Spokesman: Well, I think they would argue that it's too 00:34.266 --> 00:36.866 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% little too late. 00:36.866 --> 00:38.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I think that if this vote had been held three or four weeks ago, it would have been a meaningful 00:38.800 --> 00:40.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% part of this inquiry. 00:40.833 --> 00:43.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think, at this point, they're closing the barn door after the cow has already run off, 00:43.900 --> 00:45.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% from the Republican perspective 00:45.433 --> 00:48.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I think that we will continue to see closed-door depositions. 00:48.266 --> 00:53.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We're not going to yet see the sort of robust, open, fair, transparent, televised hearings 00:55.666 --> 00:58.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that marked the Watergate impeachment inquiry and the impeachment inquiry against former 00:58.766 --> 01:00.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% President Bill Clinton. 01:00.800 --> 01:02.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: We heard language that goes even farther today from Steve Scalise, number 01:02.833 --> 01:07.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% three in the House, accused the Democrats of imposing Soviet-style rules. 01:07.533 --> 01:12.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% How are these rules Soviet, when Democrats say that they actually are based on the impeachment 01:12.133 --> 01:16.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% rules that Republicans set when they impeached or tried to impeach Bill Clinton? 01:16.666 --> 01:19.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: And some of the rules that were put in place by former Speaker Boehner 01:19.500 --> 01:22.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% as part of the Benghazi Select Committee. 01:22.133 --> 01:26.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The argument -- and I think there is a lot of fairness to it -- is that this is a secret 01:26.366 --> 01:28.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% proceeding behind closed doors. 01:28.333 --> 01:30.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The news is being released selectively by the majority. 01:30.800 --> 01:32.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: But that's what it's been so far. 01:32.533 --> 01:33.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% These -- we're talking about public hearings. 01:33.633 --> 01:34.633 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 01:34.633 --> 01:36.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: ... so far. 01:36.600 --> 01:39.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When we get -- those criticisms will not be valid when and if we get to open, televised 01:39.166 --> 01:43.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% hearings, where Republicans have the ability to confront some of these witnesses, cross-examine 01:43.966 --> 01:46.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% them, live on camera, and the American people can see and judge. 01:46.800 --> 01:50.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: What will the Republican strategy be when we begin those public hearings? 01:50.300 --> 01:52.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% MICHAEL STEEL: I think it depends on the substance that we find. 01:52.466 --> 01:56.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think that the president's defense that his phone call was perfect is probably not 01:56.933 --> 01:59.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% going to hold up. 01:59.000 --> 02:02.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It seems very likely that there will be evidence of a quid pro quo, either retrospectively, 02:04.966 --> 02:07.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% looking for information about what interference may have occurred in the 2016 election, what, 02:07.833 --> 02:12.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% if any, involvement Ukraine had in that, which I don't think that our intelligence services 02:12.333 --> 02:13.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% judge as any. 02:13.333 --> 02:15.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% But that's a question. 02:15.300 --> 02:19.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The other is whether the president was looking for dirt on his potential political rival 02:19.233 --> 02:22.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% - - or his political rivals, potential opponent, Joe Biden, and his son. 02:22.700 --> 02:24.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: Specifically, Joe Biden and his son Hunter, yes. 02:24.300 --> 02:27.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: And that's a very different standard there. 02:27.033 --> 02:32.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But you can argue -- and I think Republicans probably will if the facts are what we think 02:34.100 --> 02:37.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they will turn out to be -- that what the president did is wrong, it is an abuse of 02:39.033 --> 02:42.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% his office, but it doesn't rise to the level that he should be impeached, convicted, and 02:44.533 --> 02:47.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% removed from office less than a year before the American people will be allowed to make 02:47.300 --> 02:49.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that judgment for themselves. 02:49.033 --> 02:50.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% NICK SCHIFRIN: There's a lot of nuance in that argument you just made. 02:50.300 --> 02:52.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It is not a 10-second or 12-second sound bite. 02:52.800 --> 02:54.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Let's talk about the substance. 02:54.866 --> 02:58.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I mean, are there members of the House whom you're speaking to who are concerned about 03:00.833 --> 03:04.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the substance of this inquiry and what the president did vis-a-vis either 2016 or Vice 03:05.500 --> 03:08.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% President Biden and Ukraine over the last few months? 03:08.933 --> 03:10.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MICHAEL STEEL: Sure. 03:10.966 --> 03:12.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I don't think that -- the way our laws are constructed, if the facts are what we 03:12.966 --> 03:17.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% think they are, I don't think you can make a credible defense of the president on the 03:17.366 --> 03:22.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% substance, which is why so much of this debate thus far has focused on the process. 03:22.133 --> 03:23.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: That's not the language the president has been using, though. 03:23.933 --> 03:25.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MICHAEL STEEL: That's exactly right. 03:25.166 --> 03:26.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The president is the outlier here. 03:26.766 --> 03:29.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The president wants to insist that the phone call was perfect. 03:29.300 --> 03:34.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% He continues to refer to the memorandum describing the call as a transcript, which it is not. 03:36.633 --> 03:38.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% We have seen news reports suggesting that there were important things -- important details 03:38.600 --> 03:40.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% omitted from that memo. 03:40.833 --> 03:43.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So this is the real problem. 03:43.533 --> 03:46.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Republicans can defend the president successfully. 03:46.033 --> 03:50.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He has to be -- he has to be willing allow them to make the argument that, yes, he did 03:50.866 --> 03:54.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% do something wrong, but it doesn't rise to the level that he should be removed from office. 03:54.833 --> 03:58.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% NICK SCHIFRIN: So far, he has not been willing to allow Republicans to make that argument. 03:58.233 --> 03:59.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Why would he going forward? 03:59.333 --> 04:01.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: It's interesting. 04:01.966 --> 04:05.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% He has not attacked Republicans who have made that argument generally, the Mitt Romney attacks 04:07.466 --> 04:09.600 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% aside. 04:09.600 --> 04:12.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% There have been some cases where Republicans have made that argument, and he has not unleashed 04:12.366 --> 04:14.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% a tweetstorm on them. 04:14.500 --> 04:17.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% He obviously believes that there's nothing wrong substantively and wants Republicans 04:17.700 --> 04:19.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to make a substantive case for him. 04:19.366 --> 04:20.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% NICK SCHIFRIN: But? 04:20.366 --> 04:22.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 04:22.366 --> 04:23.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: But there's nothing you can - - there isn't a case to be made there. 04:23.833 --> 04:25.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So he has a choice. 04:25.866 --> 04:29.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He can either allow them to make the case that comports with the facts, that is defensible, 04:29.200 --> 04:34.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that is safe, or he will leave Republican elected officials on the mile-high swinging 04:35.566 --> 04:37.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% bridge, and he will be taking an axe to the ropes. 04:37.800 --> 04:42.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He will undercut them completely if he tries to insist they make a factual, substantive 04:44.666 --> 04:47.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% case for what was pretty clearly, it seems, if the facts were what we think they are, 04:47.966 --> 04:50.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a quid pro quo and inappropriate. 04:50.066 --> 04:52.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: And quickly, in the time we have left, you believe that, if the president 04:52.200 --> 04:55.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% allows Republicans to make that argument, that, hey, maybe this wasn't perfect, but 04:55.633 --> 04:57.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it's not impeachable, that they will come out ahead? 04:57.633 --> 05:00.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MICHAEL STEEL: I think that they will -- the American people will agree that it is a time 05:00.900 --> 05:03.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - - that the voters should choose. 05:03.000 --> 05:06.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I think the vote that was held today will prove to be a very bad vote for the 30-odd 05:06.966 --> 05:10.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% House Democrats sitting in seats that the president won in 2016, half of them in seats 05:10.833 --> 05:12.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that he won by big margins. 05:12.266 --> 05:13.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% NICK SCHIFRIN: Michael Steel, thank you very much.