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California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell sits on both the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. He joins us now.
Congressman Swalwell, the president is saying that Chairman Schiff is a political hack, the investigation is presidential harassment. What do you say to that?
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D), CALIFORNIA: Good evening, Anderson.
I've had the opportunity for the last five years now to serve on the Intelligence Committee with Chairman Schiff. And what I saw in the two years of the Russia investigation under Republican leadership was someone who so many times looked Devin Nunes and the Republicans in the eyes as we had the discord and the disagreement and he a number of times said, can we take this off-campus? Can we just have a retreat soft sorts and talk about what your concerns are and we can express ours, because we know this committee is always supposed to work in a bipartisan way?
When we started our committee today under Chairman Schiff's leadership, as Republicans kind of made accusations as to where they thought the investigation would now go, he looked at them and said, if you have evidence of something we should pursue, let's pursue it. So, it's not -- that's not the Adam Schiff as the president describes. I see a former prosecutor who wants to follow the evidence. And I think that's what most of the members in our committee want to do.
COOPER: The expanded investigation, though, it does go beyond any questions concerning the Trump campaign and possible coordination with Russia. Where is the line between appropriate oversight and presidential harassment?
SWALWELL: Yes. Well, you know, what the president sees is presidential harassment is really the end of presidential immunity, because for two years, he had Republicans who wouldn't hold him accountable. But our interest is that we want to make sure the president of the United States is not financially compromised and there's deep, deep evidence to suggest that he governs by transactional value, meaning that he's drawn us so close to the Saudis and the Russians, because he has benefited financially from them in the past.
[20:05:08] And there's good reason to look at investments that they've made in him, investments he's made in them, and to see if we need to interdict to protect America's national security.
COOPER: Chairman Schiff said that the investigation is going to focus on credible reports of money laundering and financial compromise. What credible reports is he referring to exactly, do you know?
SWALWELL: Sure. So, you have the Trump children who have in the last six years said that a lot of Russian money has come into the Trump Organization. Not illegal, Anderson. However, we know that not many other lenders would give money to the Trump Organization.
And one of the banks that the Trump Organization used is Deutsche Bank. And Deutsche Bank was fined in 2017 for $300 million for a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme with Russian money.
So if you put those two together, you have reason to look, especially when you look at the Russians seeking to help the president during the campaign. Again, I don't want to draw conclusions here --
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COOPER: Donald Trump could say, well, what they were talking about was just Russians buying properties in Trump Tower, a wealthy Russian buying a house, I think, in Palm Beach or West Palm Beach, from Donald Trump. SWALWELL: Well, they've never been straight about their interactions
with the Russians. They always are in a position to try to clean it up. And most people, this is the issue here, they cannot be straight about their interactions with the Russians.
So we look at that as also a consciousness of guilt. If there's something innocent going on here, why does the story keep changing when it comes to Russia?
And I just want to say, Anderson, with what the president said last night, that, you know, the best way for our economy to move forward is through, you know, no war and no investigations. The best way for our economy to move forward is if we do not become Russia. Russia would love for us to become Russia, because we wouldn't have free markets, we wouldn't have freedom of speech. We wouldn't have the rule of law.
So, if we allow those values to essentially be torn down in our country, then we lose everything the president was touting last night.
COOPER: Two Trump associates have already been charged with lying to the House Intelligence Committee. Today, as we talked about the transcripts of 50 intelligence community interviews were turned over to Mueller for review. I know you can't name names.
Do you believe, though, other witnesses have also lied to your committee? And if so, how many others, do you think?
SWALWELL: Yes. And I'm not going to name names or go through numbers, but, yes, we do believe there are pages of lies in those transcripts where people were not straight with us, where they sought to protect the president or a family member of theirs, and we want the Mueller team to have that, as they pursue their evidence.
And, look, you have to be clean -- you have to come clean with Congress when you're asked. And we expect that there will be more people held accountable.
COOPER: Just lastly, Chairman Schiff said today that Michael Cohen's closed-door interview was postponed until February 28th, in, quote, the interest of the investigation. He didn't say which investigation, though, the intelligence committee's or Mueller's.
Do you know which one it is? Can you say?
SWALWELL: I can't say which one it is. We are going to hear from him on the 28th. This is going to be a big day for Congress in that he lived in Donald Trump's personal, professional, and political lives. And he knows, I believe, you know, the shadowy ways that Donald Trump operated.
He's also someone that now wants to tell the truth and I think this will shed light on us as investigators as to why others will continue to lie and protect the president and hopefully that will allow us to pursue more leads.
COOPER: All right. Congressman Swalwell, appreciate your time. Thanks.
SWALWELL: My pleasure. Thanks.
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