In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) talks to Chuck Todd about the different path taken by the House and Special Counsel investigators.
Read the full transcript here. The following is Chairman Schiff's segment:
CHUCK TODD:
You seem to be the committee chairman that the president likes to talk about the most these days. And he had a two-part tweet that actually is a good way of unpacking everything you're working on right now. Here's what he tweeted. "So now Congressman Adam Schiff announces after having found zero Russian collusion that he is going to be looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal, even though there is no reason to be doing so. Never happened before. Unlimited presidential harassment. The Dems and their committees are going nuts." He puts that in quotes. "The Republicans never did this to President Obama. There would be no time left to run government. I hear other committee heads will do the same thing, even stealing people who work at White -- at White House. A continuation of witch hunt." All right. A lot to unpack. But explain the parameters of your investigation, where you've expanded. How far back into his finances do you plan to look?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Our priority is to make sure the President of the United States is working in the national interest, that he is not motivated by some pecuniary interest or fear of compromise or actual compromise. That's the length and breadth of it. So in terms of the president's business, we're not interested in our committee in whether he's a tax cheat, or he's not worth what he says he is, or those issues. What we're interested in is: Does the president have business dealings with Russia such that it compromises the United States? And, and the perfect example is something we know about already. And that is as a presidential candidate while he was telling the country he had no business dealings with Russia he was pursuing the most lucrative deal I think of his life and seeking the Kremlin's help to make it happen. That's a different form of collusion, but it is equally compromising to the country. Because it means the President of the United States is looking out for his bank account and not for the United States of America.
CHUCK TODD:
You have said you're not convinced Robert Mueller is looking at this angle. Why?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Well--
CHUCK TODD:
Why wouldn't he be?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
--there's been reporting. Well, I think he should be. But the president has tried to draw a red line and say, "You can't look at this." And I think the reason that we're looking at this--
CHUCK TODD:
Can I pause you there? How would you not know if he's-- would Mueller, wouldn't Mueller warn you, "Okay, I'm in the middle of investigating this. So be patient here and wait till my report," if he were--
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Not necessarily.
CHUCK TODD:
I mean, what-- okay.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
I mean, we're doing our best to de-conflict with him. But up until now, that's been a non-issue because in the minority in the last two years, the Republicans would not do any investigation, wouldn't do a credible investigation of the Russia links, certainly wouldn't look into the president's finances. So there was nothing to de-conflict as long as they were in charge. But the reason I am concerned about it, Chuck, is there has been reporting that when it was alleged that the special counsel had subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, that the president moved to fire Mueller. And the way they talked him off the ledge was by promising that that reporting wasn't true, that the special counsel hadn't subpoenaed Deutsche Bank. Well, if the special counsel hasn't subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can't be doing much of a money laundering investigation. So that's what concerns me, that that red line has been enforced, whether by the deputy attorney general or by some other party at the Justice Department. But that leaves the country exposed. I find it, you know, just remarkable, Chuck, that the President of the United States as a candidate, as the presumptive nominee, could be pursuing business with the Kremlin and lying about it, and --
CHUCK TODD:
But isn't that what the Mueller probe ultimately is about? Why not wait for that before pursuing a money laundering investigation?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Well, if, if we had waited to do any of our investigative work for the Mueller investigation, we would have been waiting a year and a half. And we have a separate and independent and important responsibility. And that is to tell the country what happened. Mueller, ultimately, his job is to determine who broke the law and who should go to jail. But as we have seen from Bill Barr's testimony, there is no commitment by this Justice Department under Whitaker and there's no commitment apparently under Barr, should he be confirmed, to share that evidence with the Congress or the American people, so we need to find it ourselves.
CHUCK TODD:
The president keeps implying that the Senate Intelligence Committee has already found no collusion. He did it again this morning in a tweet. He did it yesterday, I think, in a tweet. And he's naming Richard Burr by name. What is your understanding of where and how closely are you working together with the Senate Intel Committee?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
You know, we are trying to work collaboratively with the Senate. But, look, I think when the president says there's no collusion, what he means is, "Bob Mueller has not yet proven beyond a reasonable doubt that I am guilty of the crime of conspiracy." Well, that's a pretty high bar. But when people say there's no collusion, they must have a different word for the kind of corrupt coordination of effort between the Trump campaign and the Russians because when Mike Flynn was secretly talking to the Russian ambassador, and trying to undermine bipartisan sanctions on Russia and lying about it, that was a form of collusion. When the Trump family and campaign manager were meeting in Trump Tower to get dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of what was offered as the Russian government effort to help the campaign, that was a form of collusion. When the president himself and his business are trying to make money from the Russians and get Russian help during the campaign, and promising -- or -- a new relationship with Russia, and talking about doing away with sanctions, that's a form of collusion. It's certainly a form of corrupt combination. But ultimately, it'll be up to Mueller to determine if that's a crime.
CHUCK TODD:
You were among the, the most public in questioning Donald Trump Jr.'s honesty when it came to the response to that -- to the meeting at Trump Tower and even the response. And you talked about some blocked phone calls, blocked calls that implied that it might, that he might have actually been talking to his father. There's since been some reporting that the Senate Intel Committee has uncovered who those blocked calls were to and they were not to the president. Are you satisfied with that explanation?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Well, we haven't been able to get the records yet because Republicans on our committee wouldn't allow us to. But our job-- and this is very important, Chuck. It is not prove the president did money laundering or prove phone records will show this or that. It is to find the facts and make them public, whichever way they cut. Now, the people who were closest to watching father and son during the campaign, people like Steve Bannon, have said that there is zero chance that Don Jr. did not discuss that meeting with his father before it happened or after it happened--
CHUCK TODD:
But should you have waited until there was evidence before speculating about that?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
The point I made was not speculation. The point I made was, "We should find out. We should get those records." And you can't run a credible investigation if you don't look for documentary proof, if you assume everybody who comes into your committee is telling the truth. We have seen graphically the problems with that approach.
CHUCK TODD:
Adam Schiff, unfortunately I have to leave it there. Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. I know I'll be talking to you quite a bit throughout this year. Thanks very much.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF:
Thank you.