CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Madeleine Dean

Interview

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Joining us now, one of the 23 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who voted today to approve these two articles of impeachment against the president, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Good evening. How are you, Wolf?

BLITZER: Good.

So, your votes this morning certainly will be among the most important votes of your career, votes to impeach a sitting president of the United States.

Tell us what was going through your mind as you cast those votes.

DEAN: I was very mindful of the gravity of the moment. It felt very weighty, to be very honest. I felt the weight of history, the weight of our founders.

It was just yesterday marked the 232nd anniversary of Pennsylvania coming into the union in 1787. And I pictured the founders right here in my city of Philadelphia so carefully crafting a Constitution that I have an obligation to protect, not just for us, but for my grandchildren and for generations to come.

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So I have to tell you that today felt very weighty. I feel a little beat up. But I feel confident in the extraordinary work of the Judiciary Committee, the other committees of oversight in particular, the Intelligence Committee.

And, actually, let me raise up the patriots who came forward in the face of such obstruction to tell the truth about the wrongdoing of a president.

So, today's two votes, I'm pretty sure, in my career, whether it's short or long, will be among the most important.

BLITZER: All 17 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted against these two articles of impeachment.

And the top Republican, Doug Collins, had this to say. I will read it.

"Today's vote highlights the pettiness of last night's delay and the folly of articles of impeachment that allege no crime and establish no case."

What's your response to him?

DEAN: Well, my response is what I reflected on while I was sitting through these hearings and offering my own perspective throughout the course of this investigation and then the impeachment hearings.

This is not about anything petty. This is about something so extraordinarily important, the wrongdoing of a president, taking his office and abusing it for his own personal political errand, a domestic political errand, as Dr. Hill told us.

He went to a foreign power yet again, and said, I will need you to do us a favor, though. Dig up dirt on my next political opponent for my advantage. I want you to change the -- basically, that means, I want you to change the course of the election.

He was reaching his own hand into the ballot box. He was asking a foreign leader to interrupt and change your vote and my vote. It's just extraordinary wrongdoing.

But the other thing is the pattern. And your reporting -- I have to tell you, Wolf, I thought I'd heard it all. But your reporting tonight is chilling, the pattern of cover-up. Don't release the financial records. Obstruct Congress at every turn. We have the sole duty of impeachment. The president has no right to

decide what we get to investigate. And yet he has obstructed in an unlawful, unconstitutional way.

And he has a Senate who is complicit? It is absolutely chilling, the combination of factors that is going on. This is a president who's trying to cover up a pattern of abuse.

The other thing that was interesting was the Supreme Court taking up cert on these three cases. Again, a president who doesn't want anybody to know what his tax returns look like, what his financial dealings look like.

In addition to serving on Judiciary, I serve on Financial Services. So we're very interested in seeing the Deutsche Bank information, the Mazars information, but, again, a president determined to cover it up.

BLITZER: We will see when the Supreme Court exactly hears arguments, when they reach a decision.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, thank you so much for joining us.

DEAN: Thank you for having me.

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