MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

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SMERCONISH: Congressman Patrick Meehan is a Pennsylvania Republican.
Congressman, good to see you. Has Eric Holder been disrespected by your
committee previously?

REP. PATRICK MEEHAN (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, Mike, I don`t believe
he`s been disrespected by the committee. And we really can`t look at this
as something about Eric Holder. What we really need to be looking at this
as an investigation into tactics by the ATF, which clearly violated
department policy, which led to the death of a border agent, you know, who
was left to bleed out in the desert.

And we`re trying to get to the bottom of a situation that that same
attorney general has identified as fatally flawed.

SMERCONISH: But I guess I ask the question because you heard
Congressman Cummings say that he thinks this is partisan-driven. There
have been references made, as well, to him having -- the attorney general
of the United States having been referred to as a liar by Chairman Issa.
And so, it takes on a life of its own, that it`s antipathy-driven. You say
no to that.

MEEHAN: Well, I certainly try to separate myself from that, and I
think in the passion and the news clips that will be generated, people will
look for those moments in which there are sort of, you know, high-tension
things that are said.

But the fact of the matter is, a great deal of the discussion related
to the facts, or basically, the absence of facts that are relevant to a
very, very important issue. And it was effectively, What did the people in
the highest levels of the Justice Department know with respect to this
investigation?

And what kind of active role did they play in the direction of the --
you know, of the activities which have violated department policy, and
again, led to not just the deaths of Border Agent Terry, but literally
hundreds of deaths on the other side of the border?

SMERCONISH: Congressman, in a letter to the president, Attorney
General Eric Holder said complying with Congressman Issa`s subpoena would
have a chilling effect. Here`s what he wrote. "It would inhibit the
candor of such executive branch deliberations in the future and
significantly impair the executive branch`s ability to respond
independently and effectively to Congressional oversight."
Respond to that criticism and concern.

MEEHAN: Well, it`s an issue that -- you know, the court has basically
dealt with rather, you know, recently. And I happened to be in the Justice
Department or soon had left it when a lot of these same questions were
being asked, and the court determined that some of those deliberations were
not protected information from the executive privilege.

So it`s, you know, advice to the president himself. There`s real
questions about the extent to which these will be covered by that kind of
an invocation. But in the end, it`s really a shame that we have to get
here in the first place. The ask -- request for simple documentation that
may help us to understand more about the facts is what`s lacking.

SMERCONISH: Congressman Patrick Meehan, thank you for your time.

MEEHAN: Great to be with you, Mike. Thank you.

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