CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Denny Heck (D), Washington

Interview

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BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Denny Heck who sits on the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, tortured, treated as a terrorist, medieval treatment. That is some accusations, series of accusations from the Russian foreign minister.

[19:50:04] It's not just anybody. It's the foreign minister of Russia.

What's your reaction?

REP. DENNY HECK (D), WASHINGTON: They lie. They lie through their teeth. This is the same country that said they didn't have anything to do with the attempted assassination with a Russian expatriate in England. This is the same country that said they didn't have anything to do with shooting down a Flight 17. This is the same country that denies involvement whatsoever in some of the bombing by Syria against civilians. They lie.

BURNETT: So, let me play another sound bite of what the Russian foreign minister is saying today. Here she is.

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BURNETT: Supported by the Russian side, Russian officials and the Russian people. That is as full-throated of a defense as you can get. Again, I want to make it clear to our viewers, this woman is going to be plead guilty tomorrow to being an agent of the Kremlin, right, in common parlance, we would use the word, spy.

What do you make of this full-throated Russian defense, Congressman?

HECK: Well, again, this is the same country that has murdered up to something like 13 journalists since Putin returned to power in the Kremlin. So there really is nothing that comes out of their mouth that you can trust. The fact of the matter is they throughout all these lies, they hope to deflect, deceive, and cause so much confusion that people to get to the point where they say, I just don't know what to believe.

But the fact of the matter is this is very significant because you know what she's getting, she's getting due process. If she were accused of this crime in Russia, she wouldn't be getting any due process. The fact of matter is, she had an attorney, she went through the process. She's now admitting her guilt.

And what is truly significant about this, emblematic about this, Erin, an example of the depth and breadth that Russia went to to interfere in American democracy and to try to steal our 2016 election.

BURNETT: So, Congressman, let me be clear, right? I mean, she tried to infiltrate GOP circles. That's the allegation, right?

HECK: Tried to?

BURNETT: She was in a relationship -- she's going to plead guilty to it as of now, right, that's the allegation from prosecutors. You mentioned the election. I want to make sure people know, she had multiple contacts with J.B. Gordon. He was on Trump's national security team during the campaign, senior member, anticipated joining the transition. They went out several times together.

Is there any doubt in your mind that she was targeting team Trump?

HECK: So, she is just one of many. We have now documented that there were at least 16 Trump operatives who had communication or interaction with Russians or Russian operatives during the course of the campaign. So, she doesn't stand out all by herself. This was a part of a pattern that speaks to the Russian effort to, again, steal our election in 2016.

Erin, I'm going to say something tonight I haven't said before. I've been talking about the Russia investigation for nearly two years now since I went on the Intel Committee, but in light of what happened today, in light of all the events of the last couple weeks and all the sentencing memos that had been filed, 36 indictments, three prison terms and the like, I'm prepared to say something I've never said.

The writing's on the wall. The walls are closing in. This is the beginning of the end for the Trump administration.

BURNETT: And when you say beginning of the end, that means impeachment? It means he's gone before the end of the term?

HECK: I don't know precisely what it means except what I intend for it to mean is this, that the Mueller investigation is getting closer and closer. Now, they now have the president as an unindicted co- conspirator for campaign finance laws, breaking campaign finance laws, but we also know that they're going down two other tracks.

They're going down, of course, the Russian interference track, which was their core mission. We already know that there was collusion. Collusion is different than conspiracy and coordination. And that remains it be seen based on Robert Mueller's final work product.

They're also exploring as we full well know obstruction of justice activity on the part of either the president or people on his behalf. I don't think that Bob Mueller's going to be deterred here, Erin. It's interesting to note that yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Mutters Ridge in Vietnam where a very young second lieutenant, Mueller, won the Bronze Star for valor.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Congressman. I appreciate it.

HECK: You're welcome.

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