ICYMI – Vice Chairman Warner on Face the Nation: “We are going to get to the bottom of this”

WASHINGTON – On Sunday, March 5, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation with John Dickerson to discuss the Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and President Trump’s unsubstantiated accusation that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower prior to the election.

On President Trump’s tweets:

“Now we have this unsubstantiated claim made by the President which shows in a certain way that the President doesn’t understand how you obtain a wiretap. You have to go before a judge and show either probable cause, or if it is in terms of foreign intelligence, a FISA  court, and show that there is evidence of some type of contact with a foreign adversary. So what I find so strange and I thought the President’s comments could no longer surprise me, but, boy, this one yesterday surprised me to make that type of claim without any evidence is, I think, very reckless.​”

On the Committee’s investigation: 

“It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to realize with this litany of events and this drip, drip, drip of activities, needs an investigation. I have to tell you, I have been in public life a long time. There is nothing I have done in my life in public that is as important as trying to get this investigation done right and bipartisan and get the facts out to the American people.​.. We have our staff out looking at information at Langley. I’m going to go out this week. We are going to have unprecedented access to all of the intelligence…. I have confidence we are going to get to the bottom of this.” ​

On respecting our nation’s intelligence professionals: 

“I have great trust and respect for the Intelligence community. I wish the President would show that same level of trust and respect for the intelligence community, because they do a good job for us, and we got to have their back.”

Video of Sen. Warner’s interview on Face the Nation can be found here. A transcript follows. 

John Dickerson: This morning, the President has asked congressional committees to investigate. We are going to try to sort through all of this today and we begin with the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Virginia’s Mark Warner. Senator, let’s start with the claims by the President. He tweeted that he on Saturday, that he had just found out Obama had quote unquote “my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory, nothing found.” He called it McCarthyism. What do you make of this?

Sen. Warner: Well, John, let’s step back for a moment and look at what we do know. We know that we have seen an unprecedented attack by a foreign adversary, Russia, in terms of meddling in our election. We saw before the election a thousand internet trolls trying to use and place classified information, we saw manipulation of certain algorithms so that if you googled certain items you got Russian news, RT news, and other false news. We saw the selective hacking into the DNC and individuals that then tried to leak that information to benefit Mr. Trump. We also saw before the election an unusual change in the Republican platform in favor of Russia. We saw Mr. Trump himself encourage the Russians to hack into Hillary Clinton and we saw this just unusual affection that the President seems to have, or once seemed to have with Vladimir Putin and since the inaugural, we have seen the resignation of the National Security Advisor and recusal of the Attorney General because of contacts with Russia. Now we have this unsubstantiated claim made by the President which shows in a certain way that the President doesn’t understand how you obtain a wiretap. You have to go before a judge and show either probable cause, or if it is in terms of foreign intelligence, a FISA  court, and show that there is evidence of some type of contact with a foreign adversary. So what I find so strange and I thought the President’s comments could no longer surprise me, but, boy, this one yesterday surprised me to make that type of claim without any evidence is, I think, very reckless.

Dickerson: Do you think there is, let’s stick to the President’s claim first and then go back to the other list. Do you think there is any FISA court order? This morning on “Meet the Press” former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there was no FISA court order.

Warner: I am not aware of any FISA court order regarding Trump Tower.

Dickerson: And other kinds of court orders?

Warner: Listen, I’m not going to get into what ongoing investigations the FBI might be taking. But I think, it doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to realize that with this litany of events and this drip, drip, drip of activities, our investigation — I have to tell you, I have been in public life a long time. There is nothing I have done in my life in public that is as important as trying to get this investigation done right and bipartisan and get the facts out to the American people.

Dickerson: The President’s claim, could he just be going off on something on a Breitbart report or do you think he has access — he has access to the best possible intelligence…

Warner: He has access to the best intelligence. I think time will tell but I am not aware, as General Clapper has said, of any kind of FISA order that was somehow, you know, in effect bugging Trump Tower, but I feel like this, again, feels like an attempt where the President is trying to distract us by filling out — he is distracting with unsubstantiated information. Which again, if the President is correct and he says there is nothing here, then he should welcome this investigation into —

Dickerson: Have you seen any investigations between the Trump campaign and Russia?

Warner: We are early into this investigation. We have our staff out looking at information at Langley. I’m going to go out this week. We are going to have unprecedented access to all of the intelligence.

Dickerson: Meaning FBI intelligence as well? Because your House counterpart says the FBI is holding back.

Warner: All the intelligence that is appropriate, we will get to all of that. I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will look at this. And one of the things that gives me pride that this is happening, I have seen colleagues on the committee, Republican colleagues like Susan Collins and Roy Blunt and Marco Rubio, all make public statements saying they are committed to not having this being interfered in by politics and us getting to the bottom of it and getting the facts.

Dickerson: Quickly on the FBI, though, House Intelligence Ranking Member Adam Schiff says the FBI is holding the significant issues from top members of Congress, is that true?

Warner: I believe I have a good working relationship with Director Comey. 

Dickerson: Are you getting what you need?

Warner: You know, we are at the beginnings of this and we will get the information we need to get to the bottom of this.

Dickerson: Who are you going to call? Is Michael Flynn going to testify?

Warner: Listen, I think we are looking at when to hold public hearings and also starting to prepare lists of individuals that I think need to come testify. I believe considering General Flynn’s series of contacts and the fact that he had to resign, I want to hear from General Flynn.

Dickerson: Are you working hand in hand with Senator Burr, who’s the Chairman of the committee?

Warner: Senator Burr and I are friends. We have the ability to have, kind of, frank conversations, we have conversations like that. I can tell you as recently as Thursday Chairman Burr and I — and he was very, very strong with the intel community, that we need to get all of the facts and get access, unprecedented access, and we got that access.

Dickerson: You say you have frank conversations. Senator Burr was one of those the White House called and asked, to act as a character witness against these reports that there was contact between the Trump campaign and Russia. Do you have any doubts that he can carry out his role as Chairman?

Warner: I have confidence that we are going to get to the bottom of this.

Dickerson: Do you have confidence he is going to do his job?

Warner: Chairman Burr, Richard Burr and I are going to get this done. And if at any point, and I made this very clear from the outset, if at any point I feel like we are not getting access to all of the information, or if there are barriers to getting this done, then I will say so and look for a different venue. But what gives me faith is that this is a committee — the Intelligence Committee for a lot of reasons works in a more bipartisan way than virtually any other committee and the fact we have so many Republican members on the committee who I think are as equally committed to getting to the bottom of this. This is as serious as anything I have ever been involved in.

Dickerson: Final question. It is serious and there is obviously an attempt by some people in the bureaucracy somewhere to put forward leaks that hurt the President. Do those leaks, which some in your party cheer like crazy, undermine what you are doing and undermine getting to the bottom of this?

Warner: Listen, any leaks of intelligence is serious and needs to be investigated. Because, you know, you put people’s lives in jeopardy potentially. I have great trust and respect for the intelligence community. I wish the President would show that same level of trust and respect for the intelligence community, because they do a good job for us, and we got to have their back.

Dickerson: All right, Senator Warner thanks so much for being with us.