Republicans are saying monday or no way. Is it going to be about getting it through, or getting it right . And President Trump orders the declassification of documents in the russia probe. Why . Transparency, he says. Give all the information, do it right. Oneonone with republican congressman matt gaetz. And, cnn has Stormy Daniels book where she shares explicit details of her affair with donald trump. Chris cillizza on what we learned after months of allegations and denials. Busy tuesday. What do you say . Lets get after it some more. A lot of people thought that Brett Kavanaughs accuser would testify on monday before the senate committee. But cnn has obtained a letter
that says professor ford wants to testify, but she wants the fbi to investigate first. Now, theres a plus minus here. Its a boost to her credibility, but on the negative side, it smacks of politics. Because this is what the democrats have been pushing for. So, lets test this. We have Florida Republican matt gaetz with us. Good to have you with us. Good to be with you, chris. Lets start with the obvious proposition. Have fbi look into nominees, better equip senators to advise and consent on this matter. You repeatedly asked guests in prior segments, what would the harm be in having the fbi look into this. Here is one thing i would propose to you. If youre always able to launch another investigation at the conclusion of the normal review window, these will be in
missed something if you dont know if something is true or false. Missed the allegation. She hadnt come forward. Im not saying we agree, the fbi didnt make a mistake. They didnt know. Im saying your point is what will they find that they didnt before. This, because they never knew about this. They should look at it. The premise is true. You cant say its true, a tautology. Its, is she telling the truth . What can you ascertain, what can you find out . We have to unpack what those investigations normally entail. Sometimes eight months, ten months, a year and a half in some circumstances. They talk to all the people youve been involved in in your life. Here with professor ford if there was some proffer of evidence, some nexus of facts to
investigate. We dont know there isnt. We would feel healthier. We dont know there is. How do you know . You investigate. Thats probable cause. Look, what do you investigate . She doesnt know when it happened, where it happened. She doesnt know exactly. Where do you start . Congressman, i did a story id how they process and how they are dealt with. By the way, your state is doing a heck of a job. You have lots of outreach, they are treated the right way. Bravo, your Government Funds a lot of it. It is not unusual to forget moments of trauma, to convince yourself to forget so you can survive. Weve heard from multiple friends that thats the case. And, ill tell you what. It squares with how she came forward. Why would she come out anonymously if she wanted to be the tip of the spear for democrats. Why if she wanted to come out and Say Something untrue, why would she ask for the feds to dig into a story if she thinks theres a chance it will be false or uncorroborated. In any possible way. Why would she set herself up for that. Why not take a look . Do you want to eight or ten months, you say no. Fine. The white house controls the process. But why say no altogether. The senate does. No, the senate does not. The white house decides whether or not the fbi looks into this not the senate. The senate decides whether they proceed taking floor action. The white house has to ask the fbi. If the senate said they wouldnt or the senate said they arent going to proceed until the fbi issues a report, that can happen frequently. Im not making the suggestion that professor ford isnt telling the truth or shouldnt be believed. That would be terribly irresponsible for you and i to do when we dont know the facts. But let me pose a hypothesis for
you to criticize. The facts are never going to be knowable. We arent going to know the truth just like we dont know the truth about Clarence Thomas and anita hill. Thats one of the reasons we have statutes of limitations. Over time we dont become less interested in justice, its that justice becomes more difficult to obtain as memory fades. I appreciate the compliments to the state of florida. I served as Criminal Justice chairman and put a lot of our policies in place with our legislature. You are absolutely right. People react to trauma in very different ways. When youre looking at something that happened 38 years ago, i think you have to acknowledge the possibility facts could be confused, events reimagined. True. Here is something not being considered. They are not pros doing it 36 years old. They never do it with a 36 they do it with homicide. Not this type of event. Homicide creates a different
catalog of physical evidence. Maybe, maybe not. Most of the cases are circumstantial. You dont have direct evidence. Sometimes youre searching for a body and whatever it was, the means to commit the homicide. Here is what im saying. Lets not get too much into the hypothetical. If youre judge kavanaugh, i know he has confidence he can fight this and win. I know that from sources around him. But it doesnt seem like his sponsors have the same confidence. Hes the one thats going to have the cloud hanging over his head. There will always be doubt. If you do monday or no way to professor ford i know youre not in the senate, the house, but if thats what happens in the senate, that cloud is over his head. Is that something he wants, something you want to do with him . Thats sadly an inevitable part of the culture of accusation that were in today that is a response to a culture of silencing victims that was of yesteryear. We as a society are struggling with balance. I would argue theres probably a cloud over Clarence Thomas, fair or unfair, because were not going to know what happened between him and anita hill. If the fbi comes back and says we cannot corroborate what professor ford says, Democrats Ask for it, they say they trust the fbi, thats that. For better or worse. At least you have independent arbiter. Tell me how to solve the problem. We do through a monthlong proce process, the fbi says, we can find no evidence. A day after a new victim comes forward. Do we take another month, ootd another month after that . At some point dont we have to have a collusion. Maybe, maybe not. Im really slow to Cap Possibilities when it comes to a class of people who have been silenced so long culturally. I agree you know what our problem is, and this is why i like this conversation. This is a struggle. We have certain Operating Rules but not many. We dont like rules unless they play to advantage. Thats what were realizing with this Senate Confirmation process. Everybody plays to advantage. Everybody is afraid of what they cant control. If its in a court of law thats one standard of review. Outside of that were lost. A court of law would never review this. This wouldnt meet the standard. You made the point with michael moore, it was effective. We have a judicial system. Once we get out of that it becomes Talking Heads and political pundits and not factual developments. But the culture influences the rules of the process. It works hand in glove. How so . The reason we dont review these in part, youre right, judicial economy. Youre right, preservation of evidence and administration of evidence, judicial economy, youre right. However, its also cultural that we dont we forgive accusations over time. We dont let people come out later out of convenience, imagine, god forbid, it was one of my kids and he or she came out many years later and the said it happened, and the system said, too bad, too late. A lot of those laws are changing as culture of appreciation of consequence and crisis evolves but were not there yet. I think were living in realtime. It is a struggle. Its imperfect, inconvenient, uncomfortable. I grant you all of that. But the best Case Scenario right now given that she didnt pop up out of nowhere, seems like shes taking a flyer to help the democrats, you have to do Something Better than what youre prepared to do. No one is suggesting that. No one is suggesting that. They are by saying they arent going to give an independent review. If you had a contemporaneous writing, a contemporaneous oral account, if she knew the date,
time, place of the party where we could go and try to cobble together witnesses from 36 years later about an event in high school but theres not even a hook upon which to sink in. I dont know we dont know it exists. The only way to know is to dig. I get your concern about the unending string of allegations. Youre concerned about that. But there you have your eye on the right priority. Well see what happens. Youre not to account for that. Youre not in the senate, at least not yet. Let me ask you about Something Else that dovetails into this. In the name of transparency, forget about sources and methods, protracted concern of national security, trump wants the fisa application of carter page out. You can argue its out of political expedience or transparency but its a hell of a thing to argue if he doesnt do the same for ford. If you want transparency, want it everywhere. Im not going to bang you over his head with his taxes because ive said that to you 100 times. If you want transparency, want it everywhere, how do you justify wanting it with carter
pang page, and not with ford . I have to say you wont be able to beat me over the head on the taxes issue because on your network carried live i said the president should release his taxes because i am a transparency hawk. The question is whether or not that transparency is reasonably calculated. You dont call for it all the time, matt, you could be calling for those taxes. Ive called for them before. I still think the president should be able to do it. The congress has no power to force him to do it. Shouldnt have to. Make your case about carter page. My case about carter page is this. We have secret fisa courts where things are happening that are aberrational. You had the Inspector General testify the personnel move of having the very people on Hillary Clinton investigation move to the russia investigation, subsequently moved to muellers
investigation. That should never happen. Then you continue to see text messages, the way the dossier went through bruce ohr rather than coming through the fbi directly. It all stinks, man. I want to know what happened. The American People deserve to know the truth. Frankly when this is done republicans and democrats need to get together to clean this up. So that no matter who is in power you Dont Weaponize the fisa court to go after political enemies. Im a journalist. Im going to argue in front of transparency. I listen to the government telling me about sources and me methods, its part of the balance. One, fisa is not a criminal court, less secret, layers of review, is it being used the same way, same question. Is it aberrational, as you say, we dont know yet. When it becomes known well assess. You havent seen the fisa application either. Youre going on what others told you about it. What the Inspector General testified. Based on the staffing expressly
said by Inspector General. I read the report. Not enough to know dispositively. Thats why you want more. Im not going to fight you on that point. If the president thinks its thats important he should see it that way every time out. Whats happening with ford, its a tit for tat. Is its a this and that. Not the same thing. Transparency. Either you want people to know or you dont. Thats all im saying. You could reasonably. I want to vet things where you can reasonably find out what happened. I start with the premise well never know what happened with ford and kavanaugh because it happened so long ago and theres no way to investigate. Totally different with the fisa process. Many cases but they start with better evidence. Im eager to hear your examples of that. But as it relates to the fisa
process, i think there well be able to clearly see what was told to the court, what was not told to the court. I think it is one of the most underrated out rages of the entire circumstance, you had the wife of bruce ohr, senior justice official, paid, and that never got to the court to authorize. I know what youre talking about. You said its not a secret court. Its not a secret court. If you and i cant go and watch, thats thats not the definition. Remember how it was before. Dont let perfection be the enemy of progress. It used to be we didnt know what the hell it was based on. They put in this law, congress did, as a function of oversight to make sure there were levels and standards to be followed. Here you had multiple judges all part of this conspiracy of crazy if you believe your opinion on it. No, thats totally different. Im not saying the judges are part of some crazy conspiracy, im saying they were not told the truth. Whats in there . Lets see, chris, you and i
will not know whats in there and not in there. Going off the same report you are. But youre right. President on the side of transparency. When it comes out it has to be consistent. Come back on, please, congressman and lets get after whats in there. Id be honored. Be well. My pleasure. Matt gaetz. Republican, florida. So, kavanaughs accuser maybe talks, maybe doesnt. She has been leaning on some of her closest friends about going public. Were going to talk to a reporter who has been talking to her friends. Some insight you havent heard before, next. I dont care where we go and i dont care what we do just take me with you there are roadside attractions. And then theres our worldfamous onroad attraction. The 2019 glc. Lease the glc300 for just 469 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Im hoping these Nature Sounds will help me relax a bit. At least we dont have to worry about Homeowners Insurance. Just call geico. Geico helps with Homeowners Insurance . Good to know. Feeling better . I love you, pookie bear. [parrot 1] i love you, pookie bear. [parrot 2] i love you, pookie bear [parrots] i love you, pookie bear get to know geico and see how easy homeowners and renters insurance can be. What does help for heart the beat goes on. It looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. The beat goes on. It looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. Ladiladi. Entresto is a Heart Failure medicine that helps your heart. So you can keep on doing what you love. In the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. It helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. Dont take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an Ace Inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto for Heart Failure. Yeah entrust your heart to entresto. The beat goes on. With tripadvisor, finding your Perfect Hotel at the lowest price. Is as easy as dates, deals, done
simply enter your destination and dates. And see all the hotels for your stay tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites. To show you the lowest prices. So you can get the best deal on the right hotel for you. Dates, deals, done tripadvisor. Visit tripadvisor. Com before going public with her claims, Brett Kavanaughs accuser into with her friends about the decision to go public. A reporter for mercury news in San Francisco bay area interviewed a number of christine fords friends. Good to have you here. Thank you for joining us. The question is, this is an interesting timing aspect. The friends as reported in your story and we into to samantha gary, this is something professor ford said she wanted to forget, never wanted to advance. Thats why she came out anonymously, and pushed democratic law makers to keep it that way. What did they tell you and what do you think about that . Well, i into with a number of her friends. She has a really closeknit group thats all rallying behind her now. She spent a lot of time at the beach in the summer. Her kids are part of a junior pt hours and hours on the beach and she would confide in her friends this had happened to her before. And then she started once kavanaughs name came forward she thought, what are the odds
of this guy that did this to me is going to be the nominee and going to be confirmed. So she told her friends, gee, what should i do . Should i come forward . Im not sure. If i do, will it make a difference. She was just imagining what could happen, the allegations against her, people, whatever. She was also concerned, as she said, he didnt rape me. Is it going to make a difference. Her friends said she felt like she was struggling for her life. Its called an assault, by the way. Pardon me . Its called an assault, if those facts match up with any corroboration. Its an assault. I get where her head was on the political reality of it but certainly theres importance to the notion. Oh, absolutely. Shes been traumatized by this. Its one thing to say you want
to put it behind you but its another to actually try to do that. Totally. Let me ask you something the interesting thing about go ahead. Make your point. One interesting thing about the impact its had on her is she cant be in cant sleep in a bedroom that doesnt have an exit door to the outside. She feels trapped. Shes paranoid about feeling trapped and needs an escape. She told friends when her husband she was remodeling her house, she needed to make sure she had exit doors in the bedrooms. This has affected her as much as shes tried to forget it. Lets flip it. Anything you learned, anything that triggered your instincts as a reporter that there could be political motivations. Its not just personal and reticence and concern that she doesnt like the president. This is an opportunit