CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Oregon Senator Ron Wyden

Interview

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BLITZER: Looks like it is.

Jim Acosta at the White House, thanks very much.

Let's get some more on the breaking news.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is joining us. He's a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: Good to be back.

BLITZER: And I got to start with your reaction to these quotes from the new Comey book.

You have been hearing all of the reporting that's been going on.

WYDEN: Yes, I have heard the last few minutes.

Look, I disagreed with Jim Comey on plenty of matters. I disagreed with him on the handling of the Clinton e-mail. I strongly disagreed with his views with respect to technology, particularly weakening strong encryption.

I have never known him to be a liar.

BLITZER: So, you basically believe what you're seeing, these quotes emerge in "The Washington Post," "The New York Post," the Associated Press? You think that he's telling the truth?

WYDEN: My experience with Jim Comey is, I have disagreed with him plenty on policy issues, but I have never seen any evidence he lies.

BLITZER: In one portion of the book, according to the Associated Press, he writes that the Trump team was briefed on the Russian election interference.

And Comey writes this. I will put it up on the screen.

"They were about to lead a country that had been attacked by a foreign adversary, yet they had no questions about what the future Russian threat might be."

Instead, he writes, "They launched into a strategy session about how to spin what we just told them for the public."

What does that tell you?

WYDEN: What it tells me is that Mr. Comey is making a point consistent with what we have seen for months and months now. The president, for whatever reason, has always sought to play down any

Russian interference in the election. And the fact is, his own son in his own son's e-mail made it clear that when a Russian very close to Vladimir Putin was interested in giving him dirt on Hillary Clinton, they were interested in it.

So whether it was interfering with the election, which they played down, whether it was getting dirt on Hillary Clinton, what James Comey seems to be saying is consistent with what we know.

BLITZER: How do think the president is going to react to this Comey book and all these bombshell revelations from Comey?

WYDEN: Well, I'm sure he's going to be very angry.

But, look -- and this is very important with respect to the Mueller inquiry. The president's feelings are not what is relevant in a democracy. The question is, the president is not above the law, and that is true for any American, and especially the president.

BLITZER: Do you think it's more likely now that the president will actually go ahead and fire the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, or Mueller himself?

WYDEN: I certainly would hope not.

And, of course, we have had a lot of discussion among senators on this particular point. You fire Rod Rosenstein, you're basically saying you will go to any lengths, any lengths to shield yourself from a criminal investigation.

And I think it would be viewed as a prelude to ending the Russian inquiry altogether. I think there would be an enormous backlash. I do think that it would generate a lot of additional support for our legislation, Senator Tillis, Senator Coons' bipartisan bill to support the special counsel.

BLITZER: CNN is now reporting that the White House is in the midst of working on talking points to undermine Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, which suggests that potentially they're laying the groundwork for his firing.

WYDEN: Well, should they do that, I think ,again, they will be met with a very hostile reaction.

Now, there is a different process for dealing with this than if he tries to fire Bob Mueller. But the bottom line will be the same. This will be seen as a very large signal that the president is trying to end the Russian investigation and, as I indicated, the president sees himself as being above the law.

And the reality is, every member of Congress right now, every senator, every House member, should be shouting from the rooftops that it's important to protect this investigation, because to do otherwise would destabilize our democracy.

BLITZER: Senator Wyden, thanks for coming in.

WYDEN: Thanks for having me.

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