MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney

Interview

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HAYES: Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney is a Democrat from New York  and one of the newest members of the House Intelligence Committee, what do  you -- let`s start with the basic thrust of what Michael said last night,  which I happen to agree with, the need for public, transparent hearings.  What do you think of that?

REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, (D) NEW YORK: Well, I think it`s obviously  a terrific idea where it`s appropriate. I don`t think you`re going to see  any of those chairman shrink from their responsibilities. But I think the  number one goal I know particularly on the intelligence committee is also  to return a level of seriousness and professionalism to the conduct of  these proceedings, which has been in short supply under Republican control  where it descended into this partisan circus.

But there are public hearings scheduled with Michael Cohen in front of  the oversight committee, that`s already on the calendar. The committees  are just getting constituted this week. I think you`ll see very aggressive  oversight by this new Democratic majority, and it`s long overdue.

HAYES: You said you agreed, quote, where appropriate. What is the  where appropriate caveat to your mind?

MALONEY: Well, because -- particularly with respect to the  intelligence committee, there`s  naturally going to be an opportunity in closed session to discuss highly  classified or sensitive materials, which we know are central to a lot of  these investigations, and I think what you`ll see is the new chairman  absolutely committed to transparency, but also you`ll see him take  seriously his responsibilities to protect the United States and to conduct  the committee with the seriousness and professionalism that it used to  have.

But nobody`s pulling any punches on congressional oversight. I  guarantee you, there are a lot of Democratic chairman and chairwoman up  here who are ready to go and provide the kind of oversight this  administration desperately needs.

HAYES: It`s not a question of pulling punches to me, it`s more about  publicness versus behind closed doors. So in the intelligence committee,  obviously, all of that has been behind closed doors. We now know that  there are transcripts, obviously, but the committee chair, Adam Schiff, has  said he`s going to move to share them with Robert Mueller, but shouldn`t  those be made public as well?

MALONEY: If you`re talking about the transcripts, I think what you`re  going to see is an orderly process there to make sure there`s no disclosure  of secrets or confidential information.

Look, nobody in the new Democratic majority is going to do anything to  hide the ball. The only thing we`re going to take seriously is the  professionalism that should characterize the proceedings up  here. It should not be some partisan circus. We should not be pursuing  some political objective. We should be searching for the truth. And when  you`re dealing with highly classified material, it`s important sometimes to  do that behind closed doors.

And one thing that Michael Isikoff left out was that we have also seen  examples of where congressional committees have gotten away federal prosecutions, particularly in the Iran Contra investigation, where in fact 
subjects were not ultimately subject to criminal accountability because a bunch of members of congress went too far.

So, I want the truth out. I think the chairman absolutely shares that  objective. And I think you will see very public oversight done in the  Judiciary Committee and in the Government Reform and Oversight Committee,  and in the Intelligence Committee where it doesn`t threaten our nation`s  secrets.

But getting the job done right is also a priority and being  professionals and nonpartisan I think is also important.

HAYES: I want to ask you about something the president`s lawyer said  last night, which confuses all of us, and maybe you have a clue into it.  He said, "I`ve been through the tapes, I`ve been through all the texts,  I`ve been through all the emails, I knew none existed." Isaac Chotner (ph)  of The New Yorker saying, wait, what tapes have you gone through?

Good followup question.

Giuliani: "I never shouldn`t have said tapes. There were no texts,  there were no emails, and the president never told him to lie."

"So there were no tapes you listened to, though?" "No tapes. Well, I have listened to tapes, but none of them concern this." Do you have any idea what he`s talking about?

MALONEY: No, And I think it`s a sad state of affairs when Giuliani  has become a noun, meaning incomprehensible stuff, or a verb, when you make  a fool out of yourself and have to say  something different the next day on TV.

You know, those of us from New York remember a different Rudy  Giuliani. And it`s quite sad to see the depths that`s he`s sunk to.

Some of us remember a steady hand after 9/11, and even when you  disagreed with his politics, you thought he was a serious person.  Unfortunately, he`s lost that in service to the president.

HAYES: Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, thank you very much.

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