CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Representative Paul Tonko

Interview

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Rene Marsh for us on Capitol Hill. Rene, thank you very much.

And the first appearance by Scott Pruitt will be before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Joining me now Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko who's a member of that committee.

Congressman, thanks for being with us. You have already called on Scott Pruitt to resign even before this hearing. So is there anything he could say in his testimony that would make you change your mind?

REP. PAUL TONKO (D), ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE: Well, John, there was concern expressed by many of us via a letter that was sent and called for his resignation. You know, I wish we could spend most of our time this morning talking about the huge, profound cuts to EPA, the lack -- reducing the opportunity and the ability of the agency to respond to the needs of communities, to children and families across our country, to protect this country's environment, to provide for clean air and safe water, and a sound environment.

But the top of the equation, the very top, the leadership of this agency, brings many causes and concerns about his performance. There is this growing number of reports, an avalanche of reports about an abuse of power, unethical behavior, misconduct, disregard for the taxpayers' money, and certainly not embracing the mission statement of the agency, and, really resorting to a terrible outcome.

And so that's what we're going to have to focus on here, and whether he can respond in a way that will turn our thinking around, these charges are very strong, they're very severe and would declare him unfit for this role.

BERMAN: An internal EPA document, according to the "New York Times," indicates that the administrator might try to blame his staff for some of the things that have gone on.

TONKO: Well --

BERMAN: Will that answer the questions to you?

TONKO: Well, basically, you know, he's in charge. He is the head of the agency. Whoever reports to him, that chain of command it ends and it begins with him, and if there was this mismanagement, if there was this failure, it really falls on to his plate.

BERMAN: There is apparently now some space between the administrator and the White House. The administrator's office apparently is worried that the White House is trying to undercut him or create some distance there. The White House, you know, not giving full throated support to the administrator here.

Do you see that space from where you sit, albeit a Democratic vantage point in the House but is it something you witnessed?

TONKO: No. You know, I haven't seen that because quite honestly the air has been clouded and congested with all sorts of discord and reviews and lack of vetting, the appropriate vetting, and basically what we're calling for here is accountability, transparency, transparency soundness of leadership for an agency that is bearing great responsibility, not just for our generation but generations to come, and so it's important that we have the right leadership.

BERMAN: It's clear you have two issues with the administrator. Number one, his policy. Number two, the ethics issues, though. Are you just using the ethics issues to try to undercut him because you disagree with his policy?

TONKO: No.

BERMAN: Policy that the president supports and was elected on, and, you know, he gets to pick the people he puts in positions.

TONKO: Well, basically, I think that both are very valid concerns but we're not masking our concern for his lack of leadership and lack of embracing the EPA mission statement. We have very serious concerns about his mismanagement. His ability to help some in this case polluters rather than addressing the public good and public health documents, so we think he's bringing an imbalance to the job so that's very critical, but also I think the efforts, the problematic efforts to build a stronger environment is yes, an important part of the equation and we want facts and science to be regarded, not disregarded. BERMAN: Do you anticipate that you will have Republicans pressing him

on the ethics issues, the ethics questions as well?

[09:35:02] TONKO: At some point I got to believe that no matter what your political persuasion, you see the failure here. The mismanagement of funds, the -- you know, the use of the tax dollar, public tax dollar to benefit your own growth, your own -- your own comfort zone, rather than working in a way that responds to the public advocacy that is so required at EPA, to have the sound management.

We've made great progress. We have to go forward and make certain that these sweetheart deals where you get condos, luxury condos at a bargain price from a lobbyist that appears before the agency are not the outcome. So there's a lot of cloud here that needs to be undone and we're going to start with that whole ethics review. We want ethical behavior at the top, the very top, and we want the soundness of embracing the policies and mission statement of the EPA.

BERMAN: Congressman, I'm not sure if you had a chance to listen to the president of the United States. He did a rather long interview this morning where he talked about a number of subjects, among them his fixer and friend, Michael Cohen, who he now says did represent him on the Stormy Daniels' matter but mostly is just a businessman and the president has nothing to do with his businesses. Does that answer the questions that you might have about his relationship with Michael Cohen?

TONKO: Not fully. You know, I think there's a lot of drilling going on by Mr. Mueller. I think we should let that go. We need to make certain that that drilling should continue for the sake of not only us in the present moment but generations to come. We need to learn from this and we need to have all the facts at our fingertips.

BERMAN: Congressman Tonko of New York, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. We'll be watching that hearing very closely.

TONKO: Thank you so much, John.

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