EXCLUSIVE – SEN. MARCO RUBIO ON MAKING THE MUELLER REPORT PUBLIC: “ABSOLUTELY. I WANT TO SEE ALL OF IT”
MARCH 24, 2019 – Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said today on Meet the Press that executive privilege “cannot be used to hide wrongdoing” in the Mueller report.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee told moderator Chuck Todd, “The president must personally assert executive privilege. And I do not believe it exists here at all … The president may try to assert it, may try to hide things behind it. But I don’t think that’s right or be successful.”
He continued, “It’s critical that everything in that report and the underlying evidence be public, be open to the American people, that transparency is key. America needs answers as to what’s been going on. And I hope that the Department of Justice will not leave things hanging by seeking to keep things secret.”
When asked how he interprets no new indictments from Robert Mueller, Rep. Nadler said, “There are lots of investigations going on by other agencies … And there may be indictments from them. So, the story is not over. We don’t know. And beyond that, we don’t know the reasons. Again, that’s one of the reasons we need and the public needs to see the report.” Watch the full interview.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also joined the program for an exclusive interview and told Chuck Todd the Mueller report should be made public saying, “I want to see all of it” including “the FISA applications because this is an extraordinary use of government surveillance power.”
When asked about executive privilege, Sen. Rubio said, “I would certainly ask the president to lean towards transparency.” He continued, “I’ve been very clear from the very beginning. I wanted the Mueller probe. I wanted it to be conducted without any interference … when it was all said and done, the best thing for the country and for the president is for this probe to move forward and to be concluded.”
Sen. Rubio also said he doesn’t “understand” President Trump’s continued attacks on the late Sen. John McCain. “I was an admirer of John McCain as a man, and a lot of the things he did in the United States Senate. So, no, I don’t understand that feeling about him and I don’t think, frankly, he is the person that should be singled out for these attacks.”
When asked about the president’s 24-hour reversal on the Treasury Department’s announced sanctions on North Korea, Sen. Rubio said, “I’ve never seen that before from this or any administration … I don’t know why he would do that or why it happened the way it did. It’s unusual.” He continued, “I think people around the world would look at it and say from now on, when they hear about sanctions, they’re going to ask for double confirmation from the White House. So, look, I wish it hadn’t happened that way, and it shouldn’t have happened that way.”
Sen. Rubio also said, “I would love for Kim Jong-un to give up his weapons and everything else. I would. And I don’t criticize the president for trying. I just never believed he would. I don’t believe he ever will.” Watch the full interview.
Ari Melber, host of “The Beat with Ari Melber” and MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent, and former senior FBI official and former U.S. attorney and NBC News Contributor Chuck Rosenberg also joined the program to discuss what happens now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his report to Attorney General William Barr. Watch the full discussion.
Chief Correspondent at the Washington Post Dan Balz, NBC News Political Analyst and former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), NBC News Political Analyst and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics. Watch the full panel.
Read the full transcript of Meet the Press this morning and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.
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