Last night House Democrats released text messages between President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and other State Department officials in the midst of impeachment inquiries surrounding the Trump-whistleblower scandal. Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) joined the Brian Kilmeade Show today and asked, just what else will the Democratic majority stoop to? Brian & Rep. Collins also discussed former US emissary to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, speaking with members of the House about his role and posed the question, where is the full transcribed Volker interview?
Watch here:
Full Transcript Below:
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): Hey (ph), Brian, we’re (ph) glad to be with you.
KILMEADE: Man, you’re at the — in the eye of the storm. Even though yesterday wasn’t damming as Mr. Vogel (sic) — Kurt Vogel (sic) ended up being quite insightful.
The (ph) CNN has got a hold of some text messages, and here’s one of them, “Heard from the White House, assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate, ‘get to the bottom of what happened’ in 2016, we will nail down date for a visit to Washington.”
So, is it a quid pro quo?
COLLINS: No, it’s not a quid pro quo. It’s discussions going on around a trip or a non-trip. It’s things that are being discussed all the time.
I think the problem I’m having here, Brian, and I want everybody to understand, is last night again we saw what this Democratic majority will stoop to.
The Democrats — the three chairmen — Schiff, Cummings and Engel, released only the texts they wanted to release last night. They didn’t — they didn’t — you know, do everything, like, I’ve released all the transcripts before — I’ve done those.
They released just what they wanted to. And now, my question is — it’s 11 o’clock next day — where’s the transcript of Volker’s hearing yesterday? Where’s the transcribed interview that was supposed to be released?
Why aren’t they releasing that? Because from what I’ve heard from our folks around the room, and a lot of others, is that when you release the transcript, those texts all of a sudden lose their, quote, importance because they’re put into context.
This is just another — I mean, Schiff, what are you hiding? But look, he’s hiding everything because he’s doing Nancy Pelosi’s bidding.
KILMEADE: So Congressman, this should be in your — in your committee. This should not be —
COLLINS: Yes.
KILMEADE: — in Adam Schiff’s committee. And I’m stunned that Republicans can’t ask questions.
COLLINS: Well, no, this is not — this is becoming a pattern, Brian. I mean, I lived — I’ve lived with this under Chairman Nadler now for nine months. When they want to change the rules, they want to tell people it is something it’s not.
That’s why — look, I — I’m so glad that our Republican Leader McCarthy sent that letter to Ms. Pelosi. I’m so glad the White House is going to be sending this because it’s something I’ve been saying for nine months. You’re not in the impeachment inquiry and get the full benefits of impeachment inquiry, both sides, unless you go forward and do this.
And she don’t (ph) want that. She wants to have a partisan impeachment in which only her folks get to set the rules, only her folks get to set what is out there.
And an impeachment inquiry, if they put it on the floor — and really (ph) want to see this number they have to vote for this impeachment inquiry because at that point it becomes real. And at that point, minority gets rights — the minority party gets rights and the president gets rights.
If Ms. Pelosi wants to continue a partisan impeachment of this president for what she claims that he has done, then she’ll be willing to have a full investigation. If she’s not, then she’s doing nothing but lying to the American people.
KILMEADE: You know, if you think — if you just take a step back and don’t get into the nitty-gritty of it, the president of the United States is waiting for two years to find out exactly what happened, but instead he’s put on the defensive with — with his election — since his election in — and (ph) his last months of his nomination.
So he waits, but the Mueller probe puts him on his heels because he has to wait for that to get done.
When it’s finally time to get this investigation done, as the I.G. report is any day and now the Durham report is out soon, he sent Rudy Giuliani over there to find out information — number one, about what happened in 2016 assuming that Biden would get in (ph) but not knowing.
But if it was — but the fact is it was Biden as vice president who headed up for the president the Ukrainian operations after the Russian invasion and capture of Crimea — Crimea. So it was an emergency. So that makes sense.
People are jumping and saying he’s going after his opponent. I think he’s going after the previous administration and the intelligence networks that try to take him down. That was his mindset.
COLLINS: Well, I think if you read — if you have an honest reading of the transcript of the call with the — with the Ukrainian leader, I mean that’s exactly what he’s talking about. I mean, he’s talking about the corruption that has been going on, which is perfectly valid, you know, to be looking into.
The question I — the problem have here is, Brian, and this is something that I’ve — and you’ve reported on — I’ve had to live — you know, especially (ph) for the last few years — but in the last nine months.
But there is such a hysteria, paranoia — whatever you want to put with this — from the Democratic perspective of we hate this president so bad, and we can’t believe we lost to him. And we can’t believe, by the way, for two years things are getting better and the economy is getting better, that we’re hiding this corrupt cabal that was actually trying to undermine him from day one.
He has had this cloud over him for three years, and yet he is still leading the country. He’s still trying to do what is best for us and what we’re trying to get done, while the Democrats are simply wanting to undermine the country.
This has become a simple choice, do you want fairness and — and moving forward in our country or do you want to continue an attack on a man that you hate?
Mrs. Pelosi has got to answer that to the American people. Adam Schiff who is — like I said before, he has an issue with the truth, and I’m not sure, you know, why but he’s willing to — to bend the rules, not talk about it.
And my question today is, it’s (ph) like him and the Democrats to release limited text on the ones that they thing can at least put innuendo out there, but yet, where’s the transcribed interview, which everybody — from everybody’s perspective that was in the room yesterday say, look, put these in context. This is nothing.
And that’s what Jim Jordan and many others said yesterday. We’ve got to put this out there.
KILMEADE: Absolutely, but there’s one Republican, former CIA guy, Will Hurd, who’s going to be retiring. He’s not happy with what he’s heard so far. Cut 10.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. WILL HURD (R-TX): This is part of the reason why I think we should be having these hearings in the Intelligence Committee. I believe the whistleblower.
These were allegations, I think we got to be clear of that, but these were serious enough that warrants some of this — the hearings that we’ve been having.
I’m interested in hearing from more of the State Department officials. I’m looking forward to reviewing the transcript of Mr. Volker that happened yesterday. And today we have the ICIG, the Intelligence Community inspector general, to talk further about what he knew about the whistleblower and some of the investigations that he made — I’ve (ph) already conducted.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KILMEADE: So he’s not happy. He went on. Cut 11.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
HURD: Of course not. I’m not comfortable and I think some of these things are, indeed, damning. However, I want to make sure we get through this entire investigation before coming to some kind of conclusion.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KILMEADE: So what’s your reaction to that? You know Will Hurd?
COLLINS: I know Will Hurd. I know Will, and this sounds (ph) — and Will — look, Will’s asking for an honest investigation.
My only difference that I would have with Will Hurd is this. If he was — if they were — if the Democrats were truly serious and Will was serious — which I believe him to be — then why are we doing this is the Foreign Affairs Committee?
If you were thinking it’s an impeachable offense and you’re calling an impeachment inquiry, bring it to the Judiciary Committee where it’s supposed to be done. Do not take it to behind closed doors in the Intelligence Committee where you can do whatever you want to do and talk about whatever you want to.
Explain to me the last time, Brian, you have — and again, here’s the big difference. What is this about the Intelligence Community here, except that it was a whistleblower that came out of an Intelligence Committee background, but what was discussed here was State Department issues?
And as (ph) somebody said early on here, this was an issue of policy difference, not an Intelligence Community issue. Intelligence Community whistleblowers deal with intelligence of our country.
Those kind of — this is a whistleblower who didn’t like what the president said. This is a policy difference.
So my question is if you want to investigate this, fine. Do it in the proper venues with a liquid of sunshine out there so that the disinfectant of all the stories (ph) can be wiped away and everybody can see what’s going on.
Don’t hide it with Adam Schiff in the Intelligence Committee and (ph) — which it shouldn’t be there to start with. But because they have handled it so badly everywhere else, Ms. Pelosi doesn’t trust anyone but her handpicked lackey chairman, Mr. Schiff, who’s been lying about this stuff from day one.
Will can have all the opinion he wants, and I respect that, but let’s at least do it properly. That’s what the American people don’t understand is why we’re hiding everything.
And she couldn’t make her case anywhere else, but she put it in the Intelligence Committee. Let’s put it back to the jurisdiction of where it should be. State Department runs through Foreign Affairs. It doesn’t run through the Intelligence Committee.
KILMEADE: You know, how do you feel about what the president said yesterday about China? Let’s listen. Cut 18.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They should investigate the Bidens. Because how does a company that’s newly formed and all these companies and you look at (ph) — and by the way, likewise China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KILMEADE: What your sense, Congressman?
COLLINS: Well, I think it’s a sense of a very frustrated president, a president who’s trying everything he could for the — since he got beat — since he beat Hillary Clinton — to put his vision out there. And every which way he turns he keeps getting these kinds of investigations.
And I think — look, is it frustrating that he’s bringing up — you know, having to bring up China and corruption? Yes. In the context of what we’re doing right, you know, look, y hope is that he could be doing things like the USMCA. Look at trade agreements. Let’s do those kind of things.
But the media’s not going to let this go. He’s frustrated. He’s bringing out the fact that corruption needs to be rooted out no matter where it was.
And I do have a curious question here. If the corruption had the name of Smith, would anybody care?
If corruption had the name of Collins or Kilmeade instead of the vice president, would anybody be caring about this? And I think the issue here is he’s just simply expressing a frustration that is being expressed by a lot of people, to be honest.
KILMEADE: Do you sense that the Republican Party’s still united around him?
COLLINS: I do. I sense that.
Look, there’s — and nobody — and you’re talking to someone who has done a lot of oversight. I don’t mind oversight of the executive branch.
There is a reason that Congress exists. We should do proper oversight of any administration, Republican or Democrat. But it’s got to be proper. It’s got to be done without bias and it’s got to be done without inflection of an end result before you ever get there.
How many times have we talked and we went into the Judiciary Committee and we have a chairman of the committee say the Mueller report already showed impeachable offenses until Robert Mueller shows up.
They don’t even talk about it anymore. In fact, Jamie Raskin, one of the most violent vehement accusers of this president actually said in a rare rambling interview the other day, well, the report cleared the president of any collusion with the Russians.
This is the same man that a few — basically right after the president was elected was saying he should be impeached. This is how bad it has gotten and how people just don’t understand it anymore. So I think people are tired. I think Republicans are definitely not just joining it (ph) if they see a president being attacked.
But at some point we got to draw this into a close. And then if they want to have an election — call us (ph) out on the election and have an honest election next November. Put your best up there. The president will put his best out there. And let the American people go at it.
KILMEADE: Yes, I hope so and what about the chance of USMCA getting passed?
COLLINS: Well, if Ms. Pelosi cares about the United States and jobs and action moving this forward, she’ll put it on the floor the minute we get back. If it was out on the floor the day we get back, it would pass. It would go through the Senate. The president could sign it.
Right now, she is still playing politics. And it’s sort of hard when all you see is impeachment. She doesn’t see people. We’re seeing people, she’s seeing impeachment.
KILMEADE: Well, I hope she puts it up because I hear it’s going to get the votes. The president is speaking.
COLLINS: OK.
KILMEADE: When we come back, we’ll find out what he has said. He is talking about everything. You know him. He is his own press secretary.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: That is true.
KILMEADE: Yes. Congressman Collins, always great to hear from you.
COLLINS: Brian, take care. I’ll talk to you soon.
KILMEADE: You got it.
