1 00:00:01,933 --> 00:00:04,233 JUDY WOODRUFF: And for more on the attorney general's testimony, I'm now joined by the 2 00:00:04,233 --> 00:00:07,333 top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. 3 00:00:07,333 --> 00:00:10,100 He is Representative Adam Schiff of California. 4 00:00:10,100 --> 00:00:12,266 Congressman Schiff, thank you for joining us. 5 00:00:12,266 --> 00:00:17,066 I know you paid close attention to what was said today by the attorney general. 6 00:00:17,066 --> 00:00:22,066 Did you come away with a better understanding of what has happened over the last year? 7 00:00:22,566 --> 00:00:23,800 REP. 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:25,833 ADAM SCHIFF (D), California: I did. 9 00:00:25,833 --> 00:00:29,566 And what was notable to me was the degree to which the attorney general really corroborated 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:33,700 what is, I think, the most significant of the meetings that James Comey testified. 11 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:38,666 And that is, he did corroborate that there was a meeting of many people in the Oval Office. 12 00:00:41,266 --> 00:00:44,333 And although he didn't say it was at the president's instruction, it was pretty clear that it was. 13 00:00:44,333 --> 00:00:48,233 Everyone left the room, except for James Comey and the president. 14 00:00:48,233 --> 00:00:52,366 And the attorney general acknowledged that he did linger, that he was one of the last, 15 00:00:52,366 --> 00:00:56,533 if not the last, to leave the room, and also corroborated the fact that, the following 16 00:00:56,533 --> 00:01:01,533 day, Director Comey told him he was essentially uncomfortable with something that took place 17 00:01:02,133 --> 00:01:04,100 in that meeting. 18 00:01:04,100 --> 00:01:08,233 That tells me that James Comey's testimony about that meeting is far more accurate than 19 00:01:10,266 --> 00:01:13,833 the president's statements about that meeting, because, if there wasn't something uncomfortable 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,300 about it, then why did the director go the next day to the attorney general and say, 21 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:21,066 don't leave me alone again with the president? 22 00:01:21,066 --> 00:01:23,733 The other point I would make, Judy, is the one that you have been discussing. 23 00:01:23,733 --> 00:01:28,733 And that is, we cannot accept this non-invocation of privilege as a reason to prohibit the Congress 24 00:01:32,033 --> 00:01:37,033 from finding out whether the attorney general wrote a memo or wrote a letter along with 25 00:01:39,066 --> 00:01:42,433 the deputy attorney general to provide cover or pretext for a decision they knew was made 26 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,333 on other grounds. 27 00:01:45,333 --> 00:01:48,266 Now, I don't know if that's the case, because he wouldn't answer, but as it goes to the 28 00:01:48,266 --> 00:01:53,033 very heart of whether the president sought to interfere or obstruct the Russia investigation, 29 00:01:53,033 --> 00:01:57,433 we need to use whatever compulsory process is necessary to get those answers. 30 00:01:57,433 --> 00:02:01,233 JUDY WOODRUFF: And we heard at the end of the meeting -- of the hearing, rather, the 31 00:02:01,233 --> 00:02:06,233 chairman, Richard Burr, Senator Burr, asked the attorney general to go back to the White 32 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,900 House to see if there's more of his communications with the president and with anyone in the 33 00:02:12,866 --> 00:02:16,733 White House that they can share. 34 00:02:16,733 --> 00:02:19,533 Is that something that you think is likely to produce some answers? 35 00:02:19,533 --> 00:02:20,533 REP. 36 00:02:20,533 --> 00:02:21,533 ADAM SCHIFF: Well, I don't know. 37 00:02:21,533 --> 00:02:23,633 I would certainly hope so. 38 00:02:23,633 --> 00:02:26,666 I will say this, in light of the conversation that you just had with Walter Dellinger and 39 00:02:26,666 --> 00:02:28,800 Mr. Terwilliger, a couple things. 40 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,733 First is, the questions that were asked of the attorney general were all easily anticipated, 41 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,966 so there were no surprise questions here. 42 00:02:36,966 --> 00:02:40,033 There was no reason why the White House could not have instructed the attorney general whether 43 00:02:40,033 --> 00:02:42,066 they were going to invoke privilege or not. 44 00:02:42,066 --> 00:02:45,600 So I don't buy the idea that the attorney general couldn't know in advance whether he 45 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,233 needed to invoke the privilege. 46 00:02:47,233 --> 00:02:48,400 They didn't want him to. 47 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,166 They didn't want the optic of it. 48 00:02:50,166 --> 00:02:53,533 And that's not a good reason for refusing to answer the questions. 49 00:02:53,533 --> 00:02:58,533 But, more than that, if the attorney general allowed himself to be used as a pretext to 50 00:03:01,066 --> 00:03:06,033 give justification for a firing that was made on other grounds, that not only violates his 51 00:03:06,033 --> 00:03:07,966 recusal. 52 00:03:07,966 --> 00:03:12,833 It also potentially violates the law or is a highly unethical practice, and we need to 53 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:16,466 find out whether that's the case. 54 00:03:16,466 --> 00:03:21,233 We don't know, but we have an obligation in our investigation, Bob Mueller will in his, 55 00:03:21,966 --> 00:03:24,000 to get the answer. 56 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,966 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, how do you get beyond his refusal to answer, though? 57 00:03:26,966 --> 00:03:31,966 If he's saying these were privileged communications that I had that stand on precedent at the 58 00:03:33,966 --> 00:03:37,966 Department of Justice, whether they're written down or not, how do you get through that? 59 00:03:37,966 --> 00:03:40,033 REP. 60 00:03:40,033 --> 00:03:42,166 ADAM SCHIFF: Well, I think the process, if we're going to live up with our institutional 61 00:03:42,166 --> 00:03:46,733 responsibility in Congress, is to go back to the White House and say, we want answers 62 00:03:46,733 --> 00:03:48,466 to these questions. 63 00:03:48,466 --> 00:03:50,500 Are you invoking the privilege? 64 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:54,133 And, if they're not, we need to bring the attorney general back before either our committee 65 00:03:54,133 --> 00:03:59,133 in the House or before the Senate committee and demand answers to those questions. 66 00:04:01,133 --> 00:04:03,866 If they do invoke privilege, then we may need to litigate the contours of that privilege. 67 00:04:03,866 --> 00:04:08,866 The privilege cannot be used as a shield to protect or hide potential impropriety or illegality. 68 00:04:11,100 --> 00:04:16,100 So, we may have to go to court to pierce that privilege, but we do need to get to the bottom 69 00:04:17,066 --> 00:04:19,233 of this. 70 00:04:19,233 --> 00:04:22,300 We have the powers and institution to do it, and I think we have an ethical obligation 71 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:24,700 and a responsibility to the country to do it. 72 00:04:24,700 --> 00:04:28,266 JUDY WOODRUFF: Congressman, were you struck by, were you surprised when the attorney general 73 00:04:28,266 --> 00:04:33,266 said that he had not had, had not sought any sort of briefing on attempts by the Russians 74 00:04:34,866 --> 00:04:36,566 to interfere in the election last year? 75 00:04:36,566 --> 00:04:37,566 REP. 76 00:04:37,566 --> 00:04:39,700 ADAM SCHIFF: I was struck by it. 77 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:43,333 Certainly, during his time in the Senate and as a member of the Armed Services Committee, 78 00:04:43,333 --> 00:04:47,766 when we have a hostile power, Russia, interfering in our internal affairs, you would think he 79 00:04:47,766 --> 00:04:49,833 would have an interest in that. 80 00:04:49,833 --> 00:04:54,600 But, more than that, it was an echo of Director Comey's testimony also that the president 81 00:04:56,166 --> 00:05:00,600 showed no curiosity, no interest, no concern over the Russia hack. 82 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,600 The only element of it that concerned him was how it might impact him personally. 83 00:05:07,566 --> 00:05:10,400 That says, I think, a lot about where the president is coming from, but it was quite 84 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,800 jarring given this was an attack on our democracy by a foreign power. 85 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,066 JUDY WOODRUFF: Congressman, another thing I saw late this afternoon after the hearing 86 00:05:19,066 --> 00:05:23,533 concluded that the -- that Senator Dick Durbin, who, of course, is in the leadership among 87 00:05:23,533 --> 00:05:28,533 Democrats in the Senate, was saying that the attorney general should step down based on 88 00:05:29,966 --> 00:05:33,666 his testimony today, his -- and his performance in office. 89 00:05:33,666 --> 00:05:35,033 Are you -- would you go that far? 90 00:05:35,033 --> 00:05:37,000 REP. 91 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,366 ADAM SCHIFF: Well, I would want to pursue two things before I would be prepared to go 92 00:05:39,366 --> 00:05:41,433 that far. 93 00:05:41,433 --> 00:05:44,866 And the first is to do whatever investigation we need to do to find out whether his testimony 94 00:05:44,866 --> 00:05:49,866 today about what happened or didn't happen at the Mayflower is accurate and can be corroborated, 95 00:05:51,866 --> 00:05:56,066 or wasn't accurate, in which case, we do need to consider the remedies that Dick Durbin 96 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,333 talked about. 97 00:05:59,333 --> 00:06:02,866 But, also, we need to get answers to the questions about what went into the firing of Director 98 00:06:04,333 --> 00:06:06,400 Comey. 99 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,233 And if he refuses and doesn't have a legal basis to do so, then, again, I think we may 100 00:06:10,233 --> 00:06:12,366 end up where Senator Durbin is. 101 00:06:12,366 --> 00:06:17,300 JUDY WOODRUFF: At this point, just quickly, Congressman, are you optimistic that Congress, 102 00:06:19,166 --> 00:06:21,566 that your committee, the Senate committee, are eventually going to get to the bottom 103 00:06:21,566 --> 00:06:22,566 of this? 104 00:06:22,566 --> 00:06:24,033 REP. 105 00:06:24,033 --> 00:06:26,100 ADAM SCHIFF: Well, you know, I certainly hope so. 106 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:29,700 I think we have the look at this in a very nonpartisan way and try to, as best we can, 107 00:06:30,866 --> 00:06:32,933 divorce ourselves of the consequences. 108 00:06:32,933 --> 00:06:36,766 But what is at stake here is really our system of checks and balances and whether we're going 109 00:06:36,766 --> 00:06:41,633 to allow an administration not to invoke privilege, but just to say it's inconvenient for us to 110 00:06:41,633 --> 00:06:43,733 tell you the answers. 111 00:06:43,733 --> 00:06:48,533 It wouldn't reflect well on us, so we're going to invoke some inchoate privilege that doesn't 112 00:06:49,433 --> 00:06:50,666 exist. 113 00:06:50,666 --> 00:06:52,000 We can't tolerate that. 114 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,100 We can't stand for that. 115 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:58,033 And at the end of the day, I don't think Bob Mueller will, and Congress shouldn't either. 116 00:07:00,100 --> 00:07:02,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House 117 00:07:02,533 --> 00:07:04,266 Intelligence Committee, thank you very much. 118 00:07:04,266 --> 00:07:05,266 REP. 119 00:07:05,266 --> 00:07:05,400 ADAM SCHIFF: Thank you, Judy.