Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Interview With Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, it had happened, when you read the allegations in the indictment, they're so serious. The allegations are so premeditated in terms of Donald Trump's deliberate effort to hide these materials, his willingness to use his own lawyers to mislead the Justice Department.

You couldn't fail to bring this indictment if the rule of law applying equally to everyone was to mean something to the Justice Department. So it had to be done.

Nonetheless, it's a sad day when a president is again indicted, and what so many Republicans are doing to defend him by attacking the Justice Department, by sowing -- you know, an effort to sow disbelief and discredit the FBI, this is another way they're damaging the country, damaging our national security besides the risk it was already taken by having these documents in an unsecure place.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, there's always this false equivalence argument made by Republicans. What those cases never presented was evidence of a deliberate intent to misuse classified information, or to put it somewhere that it wasn't supposed to belong or to obstruct an investigation, all things that are very much present in the Trump situation.

Had Trump returned the documents, had he made no effort to hide them, had he not lied through his lawyers to investigators, he wouldn't be in this situation and it is that malicious conduct that distinguishes it from any kind of incidental use of classified information or the incidental bringing materials back after the presidency. This was anything but incidental in Trump's case.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, absolutely. Well, first you have the president in the case of Trump, the decision to affirmatively bring these documents home, when he knew that he was not supposed to do so, you then have the effort to hide them, you have the effort to deceive investigators about them, all of the efforts to mislead and obstruct the investigation.

None of those circumstances are present in the case of Pence or of Biden or of Clinton. There was never any evidence of ill intent on any of their part. This is really what distinguishes Donald Trump. And, you know, this is someone in Donald Trump, who always believed, it was certainly most evident while he was president that he was above the law.

The law didn't apply to him, he could do what he wanted. And, you know, I think what this indictment and the arraignment show is no, actually you can be held accountable, and you are going to be held accountable.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, you know, I think, look, if they're defending the indefensible, then moderate Republicans and Independents, they are going to be disillusioned with the GOP. This was supposed to be a party of law and order and a party of national security, and they are anything but now.

They are a party that cozies up to dictators in the Kremlin, they're a party that thinks it's perfectly fine if your party leader has classified information in their bathroom. You know, they will excuse anything, including a president who incites a violent attack on the Capitol. And yes, that's going to drag their party down. What is amazing is that that Donald Trump still has any support whatsoever.

You would think with the lengthy and growing list of scandals, abuses of power, violations of law, that he would be certainly discredited for running for anything. But nonetheless, he retains a strong base of support within one of America's great political parties.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

You know, that's really hard to tell and it is even more difficult now that we see the judge who has been assigned this case who made some very questionable rulings in Donald Trump's favor earlier on regarding this investigation.

I have to think that any judge would probably bend over backwards to make sure they were being fair to the president in every way. This judge may take it even beyond that.

So it's hard to see. Trump says he wants to go to trial quickly, but he often says things that are at odds with the truth and are contradicted by his own lawyers. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to draw this out as a way of trying to heighten the argument that is political, when it would be the Trump defense team trying to make this political.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, it's clear to me that this is, you know, extreme MAGA House members who want to distract attention from the president. They want to go after one of his perceived enemies, the one who investigated and impeached him.

This is political payback, but it's also I think, you know, frankly, quite flattering. They must view me as very effective and they want to go after me to gratify the former president, but it will do harm to the House to bring this kind of frivolous censure resolution that would fine me $16 million. It's an absurdity.

But part of the goal is to try to intimidate or so silence me or silence others who would stand up to a corrupt president, but it is certainly not going to silence me or stop me. It is just further impetus for me to do my job and hold them accountable.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source