Who?
Nine powerful Senate Republicans, one senior Senate Democrat and one intellectually feisty House Democrat
LISTEN: Soundcloud mix of Ask a Pol exclusives
AUDIO POSTCARD TRANSCRIPT:
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, House Judiciary Committee
“Why have they changed? Did they lie then? Are they lying now? Something Pam Bondi said is not accurate,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) tells congressional reporters on the US Capitol steps.
“I either want her to say there was no list and she lied about that or there is a list and they can’t release it and here are the reasons why. It’s one or the other, right? She said the list was on her desk. So that was either not true or she’s not releasing the list."
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso
“No. It’s not something that comes up in Wyoming,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) tells me while boarding one of the US Senate’s underground trams. “Nobody at all is asking about that topic.”
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham
“If there had been any there there we’d have known it a long time ago, but, you know, I’ve been more focused on other events,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tells me as his elevator ascends.
“Do you fear, though, that many in the base are now upset?”
“I think most people accept President Trump’s suggestion to move on,” Graham says.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch
“No. I don’t know anything about it. Nothing,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) tells me while boarding a tram with an aide. “I didn’t look into it to begin with, not looking into it now.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo first sold these interviews through his regionally-focused, national wire service, The LCB
Environment & Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito
“I really haven’t paid much attention to it, to be honest with you,” Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) tells me while walking alongside the Senate trams. “It’s just not something I’m focused on. Just let the story play out however it does.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley
“I think transparency’s always a good thing in government," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — the president pro tempore, i.e. third in line for presidency… — tells me through his large security detail as he rides an escalator in the Capitol’s basement.
Senate Aging Committee Chair Rick Scott
“I know Pam Bondi, she’s transparent,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) tells me over his new aide’s question.
Fmr. Auburn Head Football Coach Tommy Tuberville
“We’ve got a hell of a lot more problems than Epstein,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) tells me through a laugh.
Fmr. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Ron Johnson
“I have no information on it whatsoever. I’m as curious as everybody else,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) tells me as he jets to a vote on the Senate floor. “I’ve got questions, I don’t have any answers.”
What should we ask Congress this week?
Fmr. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley
“Make it all public. That’s my view. I’m in favor of getting it all out there,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tells journalists squeezed into a cramped elevator. “I know they’ve got an ongoing series of prosecutions. Unload it all on the public. I think they deserve to know.”
Griselda Maxwell wants to testify publicly?
“That’d be fine," Hawley says. “We should put her under oath.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner
“I’d love to see more information,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) tells a gaggle of congressional reporters before hopping a Senators Only elevator up to the Senate floor.
“It is more than a little ironic, meaning that, when you create what appears to be a false flag operation and then there’s nothing there, and you’ve gotta live with the ramifications of that — a little poetic justice seems to be coming about.”
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