Adam Schiff says he’s not giving ICE or CBP ‘another dime’ as shutdown looms: Full interview

[0:00] Welcome back. And joining me now is Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California. Senator Schiff, [0:05] welcome back to Meet the Press. Thank you. Good to be with you. It's good to have you back. Let [0:11] me dive right in. And you heard Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the actions of the [0:17] federal officials in that video yesterday. He says at the root of the problem, state and local [0:23] officials are not coordinating with federal officials, with ICE agents and other federal [0:30] officials who were there. How do you respond to that charge, Senator Schiff? Well, first of all, [0:36] it's up to the state and local governments how they decide to prioritize their law enforcement. [0:42] If they make the decision, we're going to prioritize going after violent criminals, [0:45] it is not up to the federal government to say, no, you won't. You're going to help us with massive [0:51] ICE raids in urban centers, going after people who are simply undocumented and have no other criminal [0:57] record. The federal government may make that poor policy decision, may violate the president's [1:02] promises to go after violent criminals, but they do not have the right to coerce states and local [1:07] governments into essentially becoming an arm of federal immigration enforcement. So he's flat wrong [1:14] about that. And what's more, for him to blame the cities and blame the states for flooding the streets [1:21] of America with thousands of poorly trained agents who are shooting Americans in cold blood in the [1:27] street and through windshields is despicable. What the American people have seen is horrifying. [1:33] And I was really struck by a couple things of your interview with him. First, you asked him [1:38] repeatedly, is there any evidence that you have seen or heard that Alex Preddy drew the weapon on [1:46] the agents or brandish the weapon? And he could not answer that question. And you know, if there was [1:53] evidence of that, he would have said so. He then accused you of gaslighting the administration, [1:59] which is also absurd. He would have you disbelieve anything you see. Now, he calls for an investigation. [2:06] Look, I was a prosecutor for almost six years. There does need to be an investigation of both of [2:10] these killings and a lot more. But no one, no one can have confidence that DHS will do that [2:18] properly. When the head of that agency has called these victims domestic terrorists without knowing [2:25] anything, when the White House is calling them domestic terrorists, who can believe an investigation [2:31] led by people who have already reached their conclusion? Local officials, local law enforcement [2:37] needs to be involved in these investigations. It needs to be objective. And we simply can't [2:42] accept an administration that says, don't believe your lying eyes. And that takes me to my next [2:47] question. What, if any, role can Congress play? Obviously, the government could partially shut down [2:54] again on Friday if Democrats vote against this DHS funding measure. My question for you, Senator, [3:04] are you prepared to vote against DHS funding if it means partially shutting down the government? Again, [3:11] coming on the heels of an incredibly long shutdown. Well, I'm not giving ICE or Border Patrol another [3:19] dime, given how this agency, these agencies are operating. Democrats are not going to fund that. [3:25] The government will shut down if Republicans insist that that be joined with other government funding. [3:31] It will be a Republican decision. They understand we're not going to go along with this. And we hope [3:37] some of the Republicans in the Senate may see those scenes in the streets and be as repelled as we are [3:43] and vote against that continuation of violence also. But if they don't, it will be their decision [3:50] whether they couple that funding for these ICE agents and Border Patrol agents with all these other [3:55] government agencies. They will make the decision there in the majority if they want to shut down the [4:00] government so they can perpetuate this violence. But I'm not going to be a part of it. And I think [4:04] anyone who votes to give them more money to do this will share in the responsibility and see more [4:11] American cities, more Americans die in our cities as a result. Senator, let me ask you, because [4:16] Republicans have already passed $170 billion in extra DHS funding through what they've dubbed the one big [4:24] beautiful bill, which would be legally available for the Trump administration to spend even if DHS funding [4:31] lapses. So what would the exact impact be of withholding funding now? [4:39] Well, it would certainly, I hope, stop it from becoming even worse. They have thrown so much money at these [4:45] agencies. They don't know what to do with it. And there is no question that when we actually get a chance to do [4:51] oversight again, which I hope will happen after this November, you are going to find all kinds of [4:56] corruption how that money is going out. I have no question you will find sole source contracting going out [5:02] to friends of people in the administration and money wasted hand over fist. They talk a good game about [5:09] cutting down on waste, fraud and abuse. There is going to be enormous waste, fraud and abuse in DHS, given how [5:16] money is being spent without any kind of real oversight. So I wouldn't make the problem worse [5:21] to begin with. But I would also overhaul those agencies. They need to be completely overhauled from [5:27] from top to bottom. That is going to require, at least at this moment, until there's a change in the [5:33] majority in Congress, some Republicans of good faith to work with us to do it. Otherwise, we're going to [5:39] have to rely on the tool that we have used before, which is litigation. And we will certainly be litigating [5:43] over these abuses. Senator, to that point, I want to ask about something President Trump said. He said [5:49] if Democrats win back the House, he expects to be impeached. You, of course, led the first impeachment [5:56] against President Trump during his first term. What say you? Do you think, would you move to try to [6:02] impeach President Trump if Democrats win back the House? Would you support that? I would focus on the [6:11] most effective remedies when that time comes that can stop the abuses that we're seeing throughout the [6:17] federal government. So I don't want to prejudge what those tools will be. But there is no question [6:22] that we are seeing rampant corruption and illegality from the top down, whether it's the corrupt meme [6:28] coin schemes or the acceptance of massive gifts from foreign governments or all of the other corruption [6:34] this administration, all the crypto deals of the first family, you name it. There is all kinds of [6:40] corruption. And the worst form is the kind that is resulting in death in our streets. So there is [6:46] going to be an accounting in one form or another when that time comes. All right. Senator Adam Schiff, [6:51] thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. [6:54] We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [7:00] or watch live on our YouTube channel.