Minnesota senator on current healthcare crisis, James Comey indictment and more
(CBS, KYMA) - Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the current healthcare crisis.
Senator Klobuchar said President Donald Trump needs to meet with Congress "before it's too late."
"This is an opportunity for the country because of one big problem, and that is that the Republicans have created a health care crisis. My constituents, Americans are standing on a cliff right now with these insurance premium increases that are upon them...75% increase in premiums starting November 1, on people who are small business owners, people who are farmers out there, twice as much in the rural areas. So that's what this is about to us, and the President prides himself in the art of a deal, this is the moment for him to meet with Democrats and come to an agreement."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
During the interview, Brennan and Klobuchar talked about the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, with Brennan asking the senator if she has spoken to her fellow Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, as well as talked about Erik Siebert resigning as U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia after "failing to bring a case against New York Attorney General Letitia James," and Klobuchar said:
"I plan on doing that this week. And what I see, this as a former prosecutor myself, this is weaponizing the Justice Department, basically taking a career prosecutor who was recommended by the Republican governor of the state of Virginia, clearly has Republican roots, who made a decision based on the evidence over a period of months, made a decision. Then he's pushed out, forced out, so that the President can install his own aid into the job. When I questioned Attorney General Bondi during her confirmation hearing, she assured me that politics would not play a role that they would make independent decisions. That is not what this is. This is a vengeance prosecution. It is not about the law."
Brennan and Klobuchar then talked about President Trump's recent statements about agents being present on January 6, with the president, according to Brennan, saying the FBI agents "acted as agitators who were secretly placed against all rules, regulations, protocols and standards into the crowd prior to and during the attack."
This prompted Brennan to ask what role did the FBI play during that day, and Klobuchar said:
"I chaired the investigation of the security problems, along a bipartisan investigation with Senator Peters and then Senator Blunt and Senator Portman. This went on. We had a number of open hearings, and we made major, major recommendations for changes at the Capitol and nowhere was it found that the FBI was acting as agitators. In fact, they were called in when there was such a delay in bringing in the military to insist- to assist in what was essentially an insurrection, where over 100 police officers were injured or maimed because of this criminal activity at the Capitol. So I just find it appalling that the President would say that the FBI was somehow part of this. Kash Patel did clarify that in fact, they were brought in after the fact, but they were brought in because we needed help. Senators, Republicans and Democrats were calling the military leaders. They were calling the Attorney General. They were asking for help because that help was not coming to the Capitol, and everyone has seen those facts."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Klobuchar, click here.
