Transcript: Rep. Will Hurd on "Face the Nation," September 29, 2019
The following is a transcript of an interview with Republican Congressman Will Hurd of Texas that aired Sunday, September 29, 2019, on "Face the Nation."
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd. He joins us this morning from Burbank, California. Congressman, thanks for getting up early to talk to us. You heard Senator Graham say all of this is hearsay. We know the Acting Director of National Intelligence has said he has no reason to doubt the motives of the whistleblower. Where do you fall on this?
REPRESENTATIVE WILL HURD: Well first and foremost, I think we should be protecting the whistleblower. Having laws in place to ensure that folks throughout the government are able to get to the right committees information where they think may be wrongdoing is important. There are troubling issues within the whistleblowers report, but they are allegations and I think that's why we should explore these allegations through hearings where- we had a hearing last week. We're going to be having some depositions this week, as well, in order to get to the bottom of this. And I will say this, you know, I- I was never in a terrorist organization, but I collected a lot of intelligence on terrorist organizations when I was an undercover officer in the CIA. And so being able to get information second hand is not necessarily a bad thing, but I can't- I can't speak to the veracity of this whistleblower's--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REP. HURD: --information, but that's why we bring people and we- and try to collect- collect facts, understand what was said and be methodical about this. We shouldn't rush it, but we should- we should explore many of those issues highlighted by the whistleblower.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So do you support the impeachment inquiry?
REP. HURD: Well an impeachment inquiry I- I- I think this is wordplay being used by- by Speaker Pelosi in order to placate some of the extreme wings of her party. The last three times in history that there was an impeachment inquiry of a president it was a vote on the House floor and it was done in a bipartisan way. There are many of my friends on the other side of the aisle that have been trying to impeach this- impeach this president since January of 2017, but these are investigations. We should bring witnesses forward. I want to hear from the folks in the State Department. I want to hear from Mayor Giuliani. I want to hear from Hunter Biden. I think he should- he should show up and testify as well too. So there's a lot of questions to- to be had. And anybody who thinks that we have enough information to make a statement on impeachment, that's- that's incredibly premature.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The president was captured on camera this week saying that whoever told the whistleblower any of this is a spy and that he should be dealt with in the old way. Many perceive that to be a threat. How did you hear it and what are your concerns?
REP. HURD: Well again, whistleblowers are important. I'm concerned about the identity of this current whistleblower. We should hear from the whistleblower and- and talk to this individual about motives--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will you?
REP. HURD: --who are they talking to. I- I hope. I know the whistleblower has told both the House and the Senate committees that he or she is interested and willing to testify. That will be important. I hope we can protect this individual's name. I find it highly unlikely in this incredibly partisan environment. It's unfortunate. I believe that- that Chairman Schiff is handling this like this is a tribal council on the Survivor and we're voting somebody off the island. This is- this is serious business. We should be proceeding on the House side--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yea.
REP. HURD: --the way the Senate is and do this stuff in a thoughtful manner. And transparency is important after we've done our work. Let the American people know what's happening. But trying to do this in the public eye is having impact on our foreign policy. The fact that- I'm sure many leaders of other countries are concerned about speaking to the U.S. president because they're afraid their words are going to get out into the U.S. press. So these are- this- this type of thing is having an impact on our foreign policy, especially at a time when you have the threats like Iran.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REP. HURD: Especially at a time when you're dealing with the economic shenanigans of China. This is where we should be- our allies should feel comfortable having conversations with us.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But to be clear, it was the White House who released that call transcript.
REP. HURD: That's correct. That's correct.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. All right Congressman Hurd we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your insights and we will be watching the developments over the coming weeks. We'll be back in a moment.