Original source
Transcript courtesy of Fox Nation:
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, watch out! It’s getting worse! Capitol Hill is getting downright dangerous. Party leaders come out swinging at everyone in their path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The decision to invoke executive privilege is an admission that White House officials were involved in decisions that misled the Congress and have covered up the truth.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: The attorney general of the United States is the person responsible for making sure that voter suppression does not happen in our country, that issues that relate to the civil liberties of the American people are upheld. These very same people holding him in contempt are part of a nationwide scheme to suppress the vote.
BOEHNER: The House will vote next week on a contempt resolution unless these documents that we’re looking for are, in fact, turned over.
But this is about getting to the truth for the American people and the Terry family. It’s not — it’s not about personalities here.
PELOSI: Don’t forget they’re going after Eric Holder because he is supporting measures to overturn voter suppression initiatives in the states. This is no accident. It is no coincidence (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Joining us is a member of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Trey Gowdy. Nice to see you, sir.
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Good to see you also, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: In light of the latest developments, the last couple days, I’m curious. Do you believe the president or the attorney general is hiding something?
GOWDY: Well, they have to be. There’s no other explanation. I was talking to my daughter tonight and I said, Honey, when you make a good score on a test, you can’t wait to tell me, but I have to pull it out of you when you don’t get a good score.
I mean, we — we by human nature volunteer good information. If these documents exonerated the attorney general or the Department of Justice, he would have given them to us eight months ago. So it doesn’t take a very smart lawyer — and the good news is I’m not, so it doesn’t take a smart lawyer to deduce something in these documents will be damaging for either the White House, the Department of Justice or maybe both.
VAN SUSTEREN: There is one argument, though, on the other side, is that you don’t want to go down a slippery slope that if this is — if these documents are, indeed, protected legitimately by executive privilege, that you don’t want to have that privilege pierced just because they’re asked for, that there is some — some, you know, need to have this executive privilege to protect communications.
Are you unconvinced that this is a legitimate use of that privilege?
GOWDY: Well, there’s several different forms of executive privilege. The one that is most absolute would be close advisers talking to the president himself. Well, Greta, we know that that didn’t happen because the attorney general says he never discussed it with the president. The president said he’s never discussed Fast and Furious. I take them both at their word. So the highest level of executive privilege is not at play here.
Then you move to what’s called the deliberative process, or a lower of executive privilege, which, frankly, Greta, is weak as water. The only thing we have to prove is that the documents are relevant to an investigation that may involve wrongdoing.
We could convince the DNC of that. There’s not a jury in America we couldn’t convince of that. So executive privilege, talking about national security secrets, the president being able to rely on the advice and counsel of his closest advisers — that’s not at play here by their own admission!
The third point I would raise is this. If executive privilege were so sacrosanct, if we were so worried about this slippery slope, why did they wait eight months to invoke the privilege? The return date on the subpoena was October 25th of last year! Why wait until 10 minutes before we start the markup on contempt of Congress if it’s such a wonderful, valid defense?
VAN SUSTEREN: I’m going to ask our next guest, who is a Democratic member of Congress, so let me ask you, as well — Leader Pelosi says that this vote for contempt is a Republican plan to suppress the vote. Her theory, I guess, is that you’re trying to get the attorney general of the United States and that he is aggressively going out there, fighting a suppression of the vote.
Your response to that?
GOWDY: Well, you know, my friend Allen West said the race card was the last card in the deck. I think former speaker Pelosi has opened up a new deck and has found the 2 of clubs.
I could not believe it when I heard her saying that. Is that all you have to come back with? Is that the best you can come up with, is that we got together in this grand scheme to suppress votes? And I’m sure she didn’t say Southern states, but that’s what she meant.
I — I — it’s really beneath the office of a member of Congress to say something that outrageous, and the fact that she was once the speaker is mind-numbing! I honestly — and I’ve her a lot in my 16 years as a prosecutor. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.
But keep in mind, Greta, this is the same woman who said that she would have arrested Karl Rove any day she wanted. So I don’t know what was wrong with her yesterday or today or whenever she said that, but I would schedule an appointment with my doctor if she thinks that we are doing this to suppress votes this fall. That is mind-numbingly stupid.
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