MSNBC "Hardball" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Jackie Speier

Interview

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MATTHEWS: Yes.

Well, thank you so much, Natasha Bertrand and Danny Cevallos.

I`m joined now by California Democratic congresswoman, Jackie Speier. She  is a member of the House Intelligence committee.

Congresswoman, how do you read this little, well, this huge tease from Matt  Whitaker today that this thing is coming to an end?

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D), CALIFORNIA: I don`t know if it`s coming to an end  at all. I don`t know Matt Whitaker is the source of all knowledge on the  Mueller investigation. He certainly being briefed, but I think that Robert  Mueller has more indictments up his sleeve, not that I have any  information, certainly, but that would be my suspicion.

MATTHEWS: Well, go further with your suspicions because I`m curious about  what you are on this committee have to think. Why does everybody lie? Why  did Roger Stone get accused of lying, why is Michael Flynn lie? All they  did was lie about anything to do with Russia.

Now, I don`t know whether there was a conspiracy involving in the Trump  people as a lot of people think so. But the fact that they are lying about  it is obvious. They are always lying, always denying. Why? What possible  motive is there except there`s something really dirty there they don`t want  anyone to know about?

SPEIER: That`s precisely it. I mean, there is no question that Trump was  trying to do a deal with the Moscow hotel. He wanted that to be kept under  wraps. He didn`t want to be in a position saying he was negotiating with  Russia and Putin during the campaign, because it would have affected his  chances of winning.

I am absolutely astonished at how readily all of these individuals are  willing to lie to Congress. And to think that they are going to get away  with it. The emails that are in that indictment, I encourage all of your  viewers to read, because there is no question that Roger Stone was there  attempting to silence another witness, trying to prevent him from coming  forward. And who was up to his eyeballs in lies and, I think, corrupting  behavior as it related to the Russia involvement in the Trump campaign.

MATTHEWS: What would you like to hear from Michael Cohen? He has got a  couple of new lawyers. He is lawyering up. He is going to show up before  your committee, wouldn`t do it oversight, now he is going to talk to your  committee. What are you hearing about his news openness to speak?

SPEIER: Well, his new openness to speak is, you know, his effort to try  and turn over a new leaf. And I`m sure it has something to do with his  desire to want to reduce his sentence because he really values his family.  I think what I would like to hear from him is more about the ten years in  which he served Donald Trump. And what conduct would he assess was illegal  that he was asked to do under the Trump organization.

There are three properties that were part of this whole effort that have a  lot of Russian money in them, both the Toronto hotel, the Soho hotel, and  the Panama hotel. There`s corruption there in my view. There is Russian  money. There is an effort to, I think, launder money. And I would like to  hear more about that from him.

MATTHEWS: Well, in his new memoir, former governor Chris Christie of New  Jersey shares an interesting anecdote in which both Trump and Kushner genuinely believe the Russian thing, as they called it, would be over once they fired Michael Flynn. Here`s Christie recounting that exchange on NBC.

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MATTHEWS: Congresswoman, how could the President be stuck on fly paper,  because he is. He can`t get off of it, and he`s the fly, without really  knowing from anyone that day one he was involved. I mean, how can a guy  believe he is so innocent or what was he believing to think that all he had  to do was fire Flynn and he would be free?

SPEIER: Because that`s how he`s dealt with business problems in his  career. You either sue someone, you get rid of someone, and that sort of  takes care of it. I mean, he runs the presidency like he is part of an  organized syndicate. And I think that he thought that would do it.

You know, it`s really palpable when the FBI director Comey before our Intel  committee, one of the few open hearings we had, when he said the  investigation was being opened on the Trump campaign and its involvement  with Russia. It wasn`t just the Russian intervention in our election. And  I think everyone up to that point had thought that it was over, but  certainly, it was not.

MATTHEWS: We thought Watergate was going to be over some time in the  summer of 1972. It certainly was not. And Nixon thought it was over.

Thank you so much, U.S. congresswoman Jackie Speier. It is always great  having you on.

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