Rep. Mike Johnson: Democrats have 'weaponized' the oversight responsibility of Congress

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Rep. Mike Johnson: Democrats have 'weaponized' the oversight responsibility of Congress

Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson weighs in on Attorney General Bill Barr's upcoming testimony before the House.

This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," April 7, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Maria Bartiromo.

Joining me right ahead right here on "Sunday Morning Futures," my explosive interview with ranking member of the House Intel Committee Devin Nunes is coming up. What questions does he have for William Barr when the attorney general testifies before Congress this week?

Plus, a new op-ed this morning detailing how Robert Mueller's investigation was tainted by an unprecedented political crisis.

I will also get exclusive Democratic reaction this morning from Elissa Slotkin, a member of the House Homeland Security and Armed Services Committee, her take on the crisis at our southern border this morning, her party's retreat from the Green New Deal and the controversy surrounding Joe Biden -- all coming up.

Republican House Judiciary member Mike Johnson is here to discuss the committee's vote to authorize subpoenas for the Mueller report and how his colleagues plan to get to the bottom of what happened inside the Justice Department during the 2016 election.

Plus, I sat down with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss ongoing trade talks with China, concerns about Huawei and Europe and the president's decision to cut aid to Central America -- all that and a lot more, as we look ahead right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."

And this morning, Attorney General William Barr is getting set to testify on Capitol Hill this upcoming Tuesday. His appearance comes as lawmakers eagerly await his redacted version of the Mueller report, expected in the coming weeks, this amid escalating criticism from Democrats.

They are now calling Barr’s summary of the report into question, pushing for the entire report to be made public.

Joining me right now is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. Republican Congressman from California Devin Nunes joins us from the World Ag Expo in California this morning,. Congressman Nunes was one of the first to cast doubt on the Russian collusion narrative. He's been working two years to uncover and expose it.

He recently penned an op-ed in The Washington Examiner titled "The Russian Collusion Hoax Meets an Unbelievable End."

And, Congressman, it's always a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much for being here.

REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF.: Thank you. Great to be with you, Maria.

BARTIROMO: Look, this is the first time you and I had are talking on this program. I spoke with you last week, I know, on "Mornings with Maria" on the FOX Business Network.

But this is the first time we're talking after the conclusion of the no collusion from the special counsel and from the A.G. Congratulations. You ought to be taking a victory lap here, Congressman. You have been trying to expose all of this for the last two years, coming on this program every several weeks to talk about it.

How you doing after this?

NUNES: I'm doing well.

And I just want to thank you also for your show, because you're one of the few shows that actually let members of Congress and others come on and actually get into the meat of the details. So I would say that your investigative journalism has been great on this, Maria.

And there's still more work to do. And there's no really time for victory laps, because people have to be held accountable for this nonsense that happened.

BARTIROMO: That's absolutely right. And that's what our viewers want to know. Where is the accountability?

You wrote this op-ed in The Washington Examiner, "The Russian Collusion Hoaxes Meets Unbelievable End," where you really laid out exactly how this started and how the Clinton campaign paid for a dirty dossier, which was then penetrated throughout our government, throughout the media to keep this narrative alive and put a cloud under a duly elected president for two years.

NUNES: Yes.

And I would also say this is kind of a strange situation, where you have McCarthyism, like new McCarthyism, that merged with Watergate wannabes. So you had unbelievable leaks that occurred across all levels of our government. You had all sorts of reporters; 90 percent of the press essentially was in on this.

It started by dirtying up a presidential candidate, and then it went on to dirtying up a president. And you had a bunch of, I think, people within FBI and DOJ -- we don't know exactly where -- but they're like the -- want to be the next Deep Throat, the person who is leaking classified information for the betterment of all society.

But, in this case, it just got completely out of hand. And we have had unbelievable disclosures of classified information. And this is why we have been working so hard for two-and-a-half years, waiting for a real attorney general, which we have now in Attorney General Barr. A grownup is finally in the room, and which is why we're prepared to do a lot of cleanup here.

BARTIROMO: Let's talk about that cleanup and what comes next, because we want to get into where the law was broken.

You are going to come out with a list of referrals. And you told me you are ready to hand this over to the A.G. this upcoming week. What can you tell us about this list of referrals and about the referral of criminal conduct that you are about to release, sir?

NUNES: So, we have been working on this for two-and-a-half years, compiling information, right, as we have continued this investigation.

We couldn't really send these criminal referrals over without an attorney general in place. So we're prepared this week to notify the attorney general that we're prepared to send those referrals over and brief him, if he wishes to be briefed. We think they're pretty clear.

But, as of right now, this is -- this may not be all of them, but this cleans up quite a bit. We have eight referrals that we are prepared to send over to the attorney general this week.

BARTIROMO: All right, so you have got eight referrals that you're going to send over to the A.G. this week.

Go through these referrals. These are criminal referrals. Two of them, I know, are about conspiracy. What can you tell us? Tell us as much as you can in terms of breaking this news this morning that you are prepared to send over eight criminal referrals next week. What are they, Congressman?

NUNES: So, I would say that, first of all, all of these are classified or sensitive, and so -- because a lot of them could contain sensitive or classified information.

Five of them are what I would call straight-up referrals, so just referrals that are -- that name someone and name the specific crimes. Those crimes are lying to Congress, misleading Congress, leaking classified information. So, five of them are those types.

There are three that I think are more complicated. So you mentioned conspiracy. So the question on conspiracy is what -- there's the conspiracy statute, and then what do they need to look at under that statute?

So, on the first one, it's FISA abuse and other matters. We believe there is a conspiracy to lie to the FISA court, mislead the FISA court by numerous individuals that all need to be investigated and looked at that -- and we believe the statute is the conspiracy statute.

The second conspiracy one is involving manipulation of intelligence. That also could ensnarl many Americans. And we are -- so that's kind of the second one. As you know, we have had a lot of concerns with the way intelligence was used. So that would be kind of the two conspiracy recommendations, referrals that we're making.

The third is what I would call a global leak referral. So there are about a dozen highly sensitive classified information leaks that were given to only a few reporters over the last two-and-a-half-plus years. So we don't know if there's actually been any leak investigations that have been opened, but we do believe that we have got pretty good information and a pretty good idea of who could be behind these leaks.

It doesn't mean we know all the people who are behind the leaks, because, when you read these, a lot of these, they're always anonymous sources, and they always say something to the effect of current and former senior officials.

So we think we have got a pretty good idea of who some of the sources are behind these leaks. We don't know if the Department of Justice has been looking at these. But there's just been unprecedented things have happened.

And I will just close with this. You had conversations with the president of the United States and the prime minister of Australia leak. You had leaks of the president talking, President Trump talking to the Mexican president leak.

We all know the travesty of General Flynn. Nobody knows where those supposed transcripts came from. So those are just kind of three examples that are absolutely horrific. But there's things that are even worse that were leaked.

And there is only a couple -- two or three reporters involved in this. And so it wouldn't be hard to get to the bottom of. But you have got to -- so, we're prepared to make those eight referrals this week, so the two on conspiracy, the one on global leaks, and then five that are more specific on lying, leaking, and misleading Congress.

BARTIROMO: Explain to our audience what criminal referral means, because we have been talking about this as well for two years, and our audience wants to know where the accountability is.

We already know that there was a criminal referral to Andrew McCabe, the number two guy at the FBI. So where does that stand? What does that mean that he was criminally referred? He's out on a book tour. So viewers are saying, well, OK, he was criminally referred, but he is still on his book tour.

So what does that really mean for accountability?

NUNES: I think it's a great question, because people get so frustrated.

As I am all over -- go around the United States of America and in my district, people are frustrated. They're like, why can't you do anything?

People have to understand there's three branches of government. We're the legislative branch. We don't strap on guns and bring handcuffs out to the crime scene. All we can do is investigate. We can take information from folks. We can interview people.

And, as you -- as everyone knows, that's what we have been doing for two- and-a-half years. But we don't have the power to arrest, or convict, so we have to take these criminal referrals to the Department of Justice with all of our -- all the information, all of the work that we have done, ask the Department of Justice to take these up.

And, look, maybe the Department of Justice already has investigations open, and maybe they don't. But they are the investigative arm. Now, it gets more complicated because you have the top officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI that are likely involved in the referrals that we're going to make.

So, with that said, this is why it's so sensitive, why we want to give this directly to the attorney general and let him decide how to take these -- these referrals.

Then, at the same time, just because we have information and the executive branch decides to look at that information, all Americans have a right to a fair trial. And that goes to the judicial branch of our government.

So I know it's frustrating, but we have three branches of government for a reason, and we have to work within those bounds of the Constitution.

BARTIROMO: But you are an elected official. One would think an elected official sends over criminal referrals to the attorney general, the A.G. will take it seriously and perhaps launch an investigation, criminal investigation.

NUNES: Yes, I think -- look, I think it's impossible to ignore. Some of these are very straight up.

You -- if they're busting people -- if the Mueller team was busting people for lying to the FBI, I mean, there's some pretty simple times when people lied to Congress, misled Congress, you know, for the sole purpose of obstructing our investigation.

And, remember, what we were trying to get to the bottom of, that was that the Department of Justice and the FBI and the Clinton campaign were essentially taking information from Russians, the very thing they were looking at the Trump campaign for.

So I would be surprised if they don't take this up, some of these up that are very just cut and dry, very simple, could be prosecuted in a short amount of time.

BARTIROMO: How many people is this capturing? You have got eight referrals. Several people lied to Congress. Several people also apparently misled the FISA court. And I want you to explain how they misled the FISA court.

But first tell us, how many people is this capturing? Can you give us any names on this list in terms of your referrals?

NUNES: Well, I'm not prepared to give any names, but I think most people that have followed Russia-gate for a long time, they know a lot of the names.

But there's five that are straight up, five names. Then there are -- when you get to the leaks, we don't know. We think there's only a few people behind these leaks, but there could be multiple people

So, on the leak -- the global leak referral, there could be several individuals. When you look at the conspiracy, I mean, that could get up to a dozen, two dozen people. So, for example, we don't know all the people that are involved.

Look, we know Strzok and Page. And we know their involvement because they have been interviewed. But there's other people that were above Strzok and below Strzok that have not been interviewed. So we don't know if they're involved in this conspiracy or not.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

NUNES: But one of the things that's great is, we have had so many whistle- blowers, so many people over the last two-and-a-half years that have come, great Americans who have come and said, look -- look, this isn't right and you guys have to get to the bottom of it;.

And it's been an unbelievable investigation that we have undertaken, but I think one that has been quite fruitful, so that we can put the United States on the road to recovery to get over this manufactured hoax.

BARTIROMO: Yes, and manufactured is what you might call what John Brennan has been going along with for the last two years, calling the president treasonous.

Is he on your list? I mean, John Brennan walking around with his CIA title, former director of the CIA, when he speaks, you sit up and listen. And for the last two years, he said the president committed treason.

NUNES: Yes, well, look, what I would say about all of these former intelligence heads is that, yes, this is just not appropriate.

And I think, at some point, Congress is going to have to look at these laws and decide, do we really want our former CIA or DNI director going out publicly, going on the television, getting huge television contracts? I don't know. Maybe we need to look at how this is set up again, because it really puts somebody in a bind if they can be out...

BARTIROMO: Right.

NUNES: I mean, puts Americans in a bind if they can say, I have seen the classified information, and I can tell you there may be a crime there.

It's just not right.

BARTIROMO: Congressman, we are going to take a short break. I want your take on specifically how they misled the FISA court, because we have had a number of your colleagues on who push back on that.

Also got to get your take on your thoughts of -- on what's going on in terms of the Mueller report being released in its entirety.

Plus, later, Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is with me, with excerpts of my exclusive interview as well with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- all ahead after this short break.

Follow me on Twitter at @MariaBartiromo, @SundayFutures. Let us know what you would like to know from Devin Nunes and my guests today, on Instagram @SundayFutures.

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: And we're back with Congressman Devin Nunes this morning.

And, Congressman, you just broke news on the program that you are sending eight criminal referrals to the A.G. next week, three of them around conspiracy, lying, leaking.

Now, one of them, conspiracy to lie to the FISA court, Congressman, we had on your colleague Jim Himes recently, who kept pushing back, saying that there was absolutely no wrongdoing in front of the FISA court.

And you say?

NUNES: Well, I don't really care what they say. They have lied multiple times to the American people. All you have to do is look at their phony memos. They have had the full support of the media, 90 percent of the media in this country.

They all have egg on their face. And so the fact of the matter remains, is there going to be -- is justice going to be served or is justice going to be denied? And that's why we're sending over these criminal referrals.

So, you know, there's so much left. Remember, the American people have only seen the pieces that have been declassified so far that we were -- luckily been able to make classified and let the American people know about how the FISA court was abused.

There's still more information. I have said this before. This was their insurance policy. A lot of people think the insurance policy was just the overall investigation of the Trump campaign. It's actually much more conspiratorial than that that's left behind there.

There was exculpatory information. We talked about it on your show many times. So, look, Maria, I -- if you take what the Democrats have said and throughout the last two-and-a-half years, there's only one thing that you can be certain of. And that is, whatever they tell you is wrong or a lie or they actually mean the opposite.

BARTIROMO: Should the Mueller report be made public, Congressman?

NUNES: Well, what I have said about the Mueller -- I think I was one of the first members of Congress to actually say that the Mueller report should be made public, but not just the Mueller report, because, remember, many people that are on the team, the Mueller team, are involved in a lot of these conspiracies, right?

So, you have the leader on the team, the deputy, supposedly, and another top lawyer were both involved in the chain of custody of the Steele dossier, the Democratic oppo dirt. It is impossible for me to believe that those two lawyers, very smart lawyers, didn't know in the middle of 2016 that that information was dirt coming from the Democrats. It's impossible.

The other two, you had two FBI agents, Strzok and Page, who were kicked off the Mueller team. So, I want the underlying information, because I don't believe -- I think the indictments that were made by the Mueller team, I think some are very questionable.

And I think there's pieces of them that always read like Russian spy novels. That was done on purpose to create a narrative to make the American people think, as they were indicting these people, that somehow this had to do with collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

And so what do I want about the Mueller report? I don't care what's in the Mueller report. Matter of fact, I call it the Mueller dossier.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

NUNES: What I want is the information underlying the report, so that we can actually look into it...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

NUNES: ... because every time we peel back the onion in this case, what do we find? We find out that, somehow, higher-level officials within the DOJ and FBI were misleading the American people and the courts.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

Well, we're going to keep watching that. We want to find how far up the chain it goes in the Obama Department of Justice and the Obama administration.

Congressman, we will keep fighting and looking for it. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

NUNES: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BARTIROMO: Congressman Devin Nunes.

President Trump has asked Democrats to work with him, meanwhile, on changing immigration laws, as the crisis at the southern border intensifies. Will they? We will talk with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, get the Democratic side on this -- next up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back.

The Trump administration reassigning as many as 750 immigration officers to some of the country's busiest border crossings, as the wait times for cars and commercial vehicles to cross into the U.S. have soared to as many as 10 hours longer than usual.

This all comes on the heels of the president's visit to the U.S. Mexico border in California yesterday, where he doubled down on the claim that our immigration system was overburdened.

Let's bring in Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. She's a member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees and a former senior Pentagon official and former CIA analyst.

This is the congresswoman's first time on "Sunday Morning Futures" since being elected.

And we welcome you to the program.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN, D-MICH.: Thanks for having me.

BARTIROMO: Congratulations to you.

SLOTKIN: Thank you.

BARTIROMO: Yes, we want to talk all about your time in Congress and what you're seeing so far in probably one of the busiest and most momentous times in our country's history.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: Let's talk the border and its impact on national security and the homeland.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: How do you see it?

SLOTKIN: I mean, listen, I'm a former CIA officer, so I spent my entire career trying to prevent homeland attacks.

The border situation is a national security issue, it's an economic issue, and it's a moral issue. The sheer numbers that are coming over right now - - you have got to call a spade a spade -- it is extremely difficult to deal with. And we have got to make sure that the border forces have what they need in order to protect people and deal with them in a humanitarian way.

And that means we have got to surge people there.

BARTIROMO: How do you do that?

SLOTKIN: We have already -- in the Homeland Security Committee, we have authorized spending more to send border agents down there.

I'm from the northern border, and some of those folks are being tasked to go down to the southern border. You just make sure that they have the resources they need, the bed space that they need. It's a practical, logistical situation they have got down there.

BARTIROMO: I mean, do you find it odd its been so difficult for the president to get the money for the wall, to get the support throughout the Congress to actually help him make a difference here?

SLOTKIN: I think that the Congress is all -- you know, is supportive of increasing border security and then making sure we can process people through the border efficiently.

I think that there's different definitions on how to do that. And for me, you have just got to be clear-eyed about it. If we need borders in some areas, fencing in some areas, do it. But if you need drones in other areas, do it. If you need border agents, do it. I think we're...

BARTIROMO: But they're not doing it. So how do you, you know, answer your question -- the issues from your colleagues like Nancy Pelosi, who said a wall is immoral?

(CROSSTALK)

SLOTKIN: Well, I don't think a wall is immoral.

I think that you just -- it's -- we do this every day in the military, do an honest-to-God needs assessment of what you need, and do it. And I think that's gone on. And in some areas, you just don't need a physical wall.

Even the president has said, you don't need a wall from sea to shining sea.

BARTIROMO: Right.

SLOTKIN: So I don't think it's an issue of people not wanting to help on the border.

I do think it's important to maintain a humanitarian standard down there. So, for me, that's ports of entry and putting Customs and Border agents down there where we need them.

BARTIROMO: Now, how do you think about coming up with the real solutions? You sound very practical, and obviously answering the needs and the desires of the American people.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: And yet you have a major pushback, not just from the right, but from the left, from your own party, saying, look, we don't want to look at the fact that this is -- really, the numbers are soaring. We want to take President Trump down.

Don't you think that's a lot of what this is about?

SLOTKIN: Yes, we have a responsibility to protect our country.

BARTIROMO: Exactly.

SLOTKIN: We have a responsibility to deal with immigrants in a responsible and humanitarian way, and we have a responsibility to make sure that our economy has the labor that it needs to function, right?

I have got farmers in my office every day from Michigan saying that: I don't have the seasonal visas I need to actually staff my farm.

So I think that it's become so political, that we can't have a clear-eyed conversation. And it's because our immigration system is broken for everyone, right? It's just -- it's a broken system. Therefore, when we selectively enforce it, it becomes a very political thing.

So I do believe we need comprehensive immigration reform, like the whole enchilada. And I think that it's important that we have that conversation.

BARTIROMO: Are you going to be able to have that conversation? Is your voice being heard amongst the cries to get Donald Trump's tax returns, to take him down, this Russian collusion delusion that we have been dealing with for two years?

What a waste of time for two years.

SLOTKIN: To be honest with you, there's -- I feel like there's two responsibilities for Congress.

We have got to be able to walk and chew gum. And walking is providing a check and balance on the executive branch. That would go for any Congress in any time with any president.

BARTIROMO: So far, they haven't done either, walk or chew gum.

SLOTKIN: Well, I think that there's certainly been a pretty significant change into providing a check and balance, right?

I'm on the Homeland Security Committee. So, the secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen, came up in front of our committee. She had not been up there in, I think, just about a year to answer for some of the policies that she's imposed. That, to me, is providing a check and balance. And that wasn't happening before.

On the other side, we have a responsibility to push affirmative legislation that helps people's lives. That is our job. So, you have got to be able to do both.

BARTIROMO: Yes. So do you fear that your colleagues are doing both?

SLOTKIN: Yes.

I mean, listen, I...

BARTIROMO: Because all I'm hearing is a lot of cries to get Donald Trump's tax returns and get him out because he's an agent of the Russian -- the Russians.

So, I mean, I'm not hearing a lot. I'm hearing a wall is immoral. I'm hearing take this president down. I'm not hearing a lot of what I'm hearing from you.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: So are you being heard?

SLOTKIN: Yes. I mean...

BARTIROMO: You are?

SLOTKIN: Yes.

Listen, I put forward legislation this week, bipartisan legislation, to try and close a loophole, so that, for instance, foreigners can't buy ads in our election system.

BARTIROMO: Let's talk about that bill.

SLOTKIN: Yes. Yes.

BARTIROMO: This is a bipartisan bill.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: You would think that you would get full support on a bill that's going to block foreign entities from buying ads to influence the U.S. election.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

BARTIROMO: What has been the perception and the reception from your colleagues?

SLOTKIN: It's been great.

And this week, we will be collecting co-signers and then push it through committee. We have co-sponsors in the Senate. So I think that there are things that are being done.

But I will be honest. It's the sort of far left and far right that are getting a lot of the media attention. There's a lot of folks in the middle who are focused on doing something affirmative.

BARTIROMO: Do you support things like the Green New Deal, Medicare for all?

SLOTKIN: So, for me, I'm just a pragmatist. I'm from Michigan.

BARTIROMO: I can tell. Yes.

SLOTKIN: We're very pragmatic people.

BARTIROMO: And that's who our viewers are, by the way.

SLOTKIN: Yes.

We're pragmatic people. And I certainly understand the importance of dealing with climate change in a serious way. But I want to do something that actually passes. I want to do something that actually helps.

And, to me, by bringing in some of these other ideas about, let's say, universal health care or a job for every person, it makes it less likely we're going to pass environmental legislation, not more likely. And I just want to get something done.

BARTIROMO: Yes. Well, we like that a lot.

Congresswoman, it's great to have you on the program.

SLOTKIN: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

BARTIROMO: Thank you so much, Congresswoman Slotkin joining us there.

We will see you soon, and we will be watching your work.

Straight ahead, some of my exclusive sit-down interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, excerpts from my wide-ranging discussion, from China to the crisis at the border.

Plus, Congressman Mike Johnson is here, sitting on the House Judiciary Committee. When should his committee expect to hear from Attorney General William Barr? He's testifying on Tuesday, this upcoming week, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back.

Friday on "Mornings With Maria" on the FOX Business Network, I had an exclusive sit-down with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The wide-ranging interview touched on everything from China's I.P. theft to concerns about telecom giant Huawei and the situation at our southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: The I.P. theft issue is something we have spoken about before.

How do you change something that's really ingrained in a country's culture? Do you think the U.S. is going to be able to come up with some kind of an enforcement mechanism to put in place, so that the Chinese keep their promises of not stealing from the West?

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, Maria, this is a challenge.

That's why the negotiations have taken as long as they have and why we're not complete yet. President Trump has for the first time called out China for this theft of intellectual property, hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars stolen by the Chinese over the past decades.

President Trump is addressing it. The work that's being done is about this enforcement mechanism. What is it you do if they don't live up to their word? We have seen the Chinese enter into deals before where they didn't follow through.

And the mission that Secretary Mnuchin, Ambassador Lighthizer have is to get this deal done in a way that, after the deal is done, after the signing ceremony, American companies can count on the fact they can do business in China without substantial risk their I.P. will be stolen. And if it is, they will have a tool to recover for their loss.

BARTIROMO: And that's why the president has been using tariffs as the leverage.

POMPEO: As a proxy, as leverage, yes, to get them to come to the table and take seriously this fundamental obligation for engaging in commerce with the American business community and with American citizens.

BARTIROMO: And there's more to it.

I mean, we're trying to do a deal with a country that is just absolutely the opposite of our culture, right? When you look at the human rights abuses, for example, in China, talk to us a bit about this police state that they have created in terms of, for example, rounding up Chinese Muslims.

They're saying that it's for vocational training, and yet there are officers with guns and barbed wire around these vocational training centers for Muslims.

POMPEO: Maria, there's a long history of China not abiding by its constitution, which says people can practice their faith in China's own constitution.

And yet, today, they have rounded up close to a million Muslims, Uyghurs, in one part of their country, treating them horribly. They say they're reeducation camps, but they, frankly, won't let people in to see what's truly going on there, very limited access to this.

I met with four Uyghurs last week in my office. One of them...

BARTIROMO: The survivors of these camps or whatever you want to call them?

(CROSSTALK)

POMPEO: Some of them are survivors. Some of them have family members in those camps.

One of them, after our meeting, had his aunt and uncle rounded up and taken to a camp in China. This is the kind of thing that they do to impact his behavior. He's here in America. To impact his behavior here in America.

It's unacceptable. They need to let this aunt and uncle -- his mother is in a camp as well. She needs to get her U.S. passport back. This kind of behavior,these human rights abuses are tragic. They are historic. And President Trump is taking on each of these challenges.

BARTIROMO: So, is this part of the discussions in terms of this near-term trade deal? What's the discussion with the Chinese in terms of the broader issues, not necessarily a quid pro quo on a trade deal?

POMPEO: So, the trade deal has its own conversation, its own dialogue that is taking place, but it's against the background of all these other broader issues, issues with China's use of technology and ways that will fundamentally put Americans at risk, the technology from Huawei that is now being put in place all across the world.

It's a company that's very close to the Chinese government and will do what the Chinese government asks it to do. And so we have sounded the alarm, urging nations' security apparatuses from around the world not to put this technology in.

The challenges with China are manifold. And we're approaching each of them, sometimes, in separate silos, but often as part of a broader conversation with China, asking them to engage in trade and conduct and human rights activities that are consistent with the values that Americans hold dear.

BARTIROMO: Now.

And when you came back from your Europe trip, which was really an important trip, when you were in Poland, we talked about this and how you were getting a little pushback from the European nations. You broke news on this program when you said, look, we will be forced to share less information with those countries that are using Huawei telecom.

What's your take on what Italy has done, citing a memorandum of understanding with China? I understand that may not include technology and telecom? What's your take on China's relationship with Italy?

POMPEO: So, I was with the Italian foreign minister yesterday. He was in town for the celebration of NATO 's 70th anniversary.

And we had a conversation about this. I think each of the European countries, including Italy, is working its way through this problem set.

I think they now have become aware of the risk to their own people, not only directly from the technology, but the risk that America won't be able to work as closely with them, something they often count on and depend upon.

I think what we will see is, we will see European countries begin to take this threat very seriously. And I think we will make real progress of protecting citizens around the world from the threat of Chinese surveillance state, Chinese technology inside of these networks.

BARTIROMO: Look, the world wants to get into China. We know that, right, 1.4 billion people. They want a chance to sell to their -- to those consumers.

But there are real risks here. So is that understanding, that partnership between Italy and China, does that exclude telecom? Does that exclude technology?

POMPEO: So, I don't know the details of what's in their agreement.

BARTIROMO: OK.

POMPEO: It is the case where we want to trade with China too.

BARTIROMO: Yes, exactly.

POMPEO: I want American businesses to thrive and flourish and engage in commerce.

We have deep economic relationships with them that are of real value to American consumers. This is what President Trump's trade negotiations are about. He wants that to be fair. He wants that to be reciprocal. He wants American businesses to have a fair shake when we deal with China, not have to worry that, if they do a deal, they're going to give up the seed corn of their business.

BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about the border, because the president is planning to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to these three Central American countries in retaliation for what he's calling their lack of help in cutting the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.

What's your take on this? I mean, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, already very weak countries, foreign assistance programs are critical for them. Is this going to work? Is this another threat? Or how significant is this?

POMPEO: Maria, many of the illegal crossers today, those who are coming across our border illegally today, are coming from the three Northern Triangle countries, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

We have been working with those countries. State Department, DHS have been working with those countries. There two pieces to their effort. One is will. Are they willing to help us? Are they willing to stop people from leaving the country? The second is capacity.

We have given them hundreds of millions of dollars over the past years to create the capacity for them to do so. They have not demonstrated the will, the willingness to actually engage in stopping these caravans from coming across their border.

Our mission, by telling them that this aid will be conditioned on the change in their behavior is to convince them they ought to have the will that they need to try, they need to work at it. We will work with them to build out their capacity to do so, but we have not yet seen enough demonstration of their commitment to actually preventing these folks from crossing into Mexico and making this dangerous trek across Mexico and then coming unlawfully into the United States.

BARTIROMO: Well, the president is using every leverage point that he can. And I get that. He's talking now about tariffs on cars coming out of Mexico. But does that contradict with the USMCA deal?

We had Senator Capito here earlier -- Capito, rather -- pardon me. And she said, look, I'm going to support this deal. But I know that a lot of Democrats have come on this program and said, we're not going to support.

Now the president is talking about new tariffs on cars coming out of Mexico.

POMPEO: We are trying to create the conditions at the border that will keep Americans safe that will reassert American sovereignty along our southern border.

The president is using every tool in his kit. He's also trying to convince Congress to take this threat seriously. We're now seeing members of Congress from both sides of the aisle acknowledge the crisis, acknowledge that we're now in the thousands of people coming across that border each day, with narcotics and trafficking and persons also coming across that border.

What we need, Congress, once they recognize there is a crisis, we need them to change. These are simple changes to the law. They could do them today. They need to move. It's time. This crisis, the American people aren't going to stand for this. And President Trump is using every tool in his kit to try and change the incentives, change the behavior, so that we can reduce the risk here in the United States.

BARTIROMO: He sure is. And the president is also using the tariffs threat quite effectively with the Chinese.

Do you expect that the president will likely leave those tariffs in place that are currently there for China?

POMPEO: I think he's hoping what he gets is a real deal, an enforceable deal, along not just the amount of trade, to make that fair and reciprocal, an important component, but also to protect from illegal theft of intellectual property, technology, transfer that is forced.

If he gets that size of deal, I'm confident the president will say, that's fair. Our tariffs are equal. We're operating in a reciprocal trading arrangement. Let's go and compete and have a great relationship commercially between our two countries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: My thanks to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Lawmakers on Tuesday are getting their first chance to grill Attorney General William Barr about his summary of the budget, but Mueller report questions will come up as well, of course, clearing the president of collusion.

What can we expect from that testimony come Tuesday?

I will talk with Congressman Mike Johnson on that right here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back.

Attorney General William Barr expected to face questions about his letter summarizing the Mueller report during his congressional testimony.

That is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday, this as Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee vote to subpoena the actual full report, along with the underlying evidence that goes along with it.

Joining me right now is a member of that committee, Republican Congressman from Louisiana Mike Johnson. He's also chairman of the Republican Study Committee and a former constitutional law attorney.

Sir, it is an honor to have you here this morning. Thanks so much for talking to us.

You are getting set for this testimony of William Barr on Tuesday. This is supposed to focus on the budget, right?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, R-LA: It is.

The House Judiciary Committee has oversight over DOJ. And this is a regular thing that the A.G. does, comes in and talks about the budget.

But I fear that this meeting may turn into a circus. Our Democratic colleagues, as you have seen over the last several weeks, are really on a tear. They really want to dig into Attorney General Barr. And they're not giving to him, I think, the respect that is due.

The subpoena that they voted to release at our meeting last week was completely unnecessary. I mean, Maria, you know the attorney general has said that he's working diligently to release the Mueller report. The House voted 420-0 to release that.

But our understanding on the Republican side is that that would be done within the bounds of the law. That's the attorney general's responsibility. I think he's doing that diligently. And I hope that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will allow him to do just that.

BARTIROMO: So, let's talk about that.

What is in the bounds of the law? You're a former constitutional lawyer. Tell us about the law as it relates to grand jury testimony.

JOHNSON: Yes, there's -- the federal rules of criminal procedure are very specific about this.

This is part of the rule of law in this country, is that we don't release grand jury matters. It's very sensitive information, for all of the obvious reasons.

Now, there are exceptions to that, but you have to go to a federal court and convince a judge that certain portions of grand jury material is subject for release. The House Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Nadler, have decided to bypass all that.

And in a straight party-line vote last week in our meeting, they decided to issue a subpoena to Attorney General Barr to release everything, all of the underlying information and everything else. We think that's a big mistake.

BARTIROMO: Yes. I...

JOHNSON: And at the end of the day, Maria, the problem here, well look, they have weaponized the oversight responsibility of Congress.

This is for pure partisan politics, and it's a Pandora's box that I think we shouldn't be opening.

BARTIROMO: Honestly, Congressman, I think the American people are sick and tired of hearing politicized, weaponize our agencies that we have so much trust in or had such trust in.

Stay with us, Congressman. We're taking a short break.

I want to talk more about this issue and what you're expecting in this upcoming week, Congressman Mike Johnson, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: And we're back with Congressman Mike Johnson.

And, Congressman, I don't know how this is going to go down in 2020, when you have got so many -- so much pushback of this president.

They wanted the Mueller report done. They got it. No collusion, and yet we're still talking about releasing the whole report, so that they can hang on to this idea for dear life, all the while coming up with really not a lot in the way of proposals for the American people.

You are the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress. And your group came out with a report on the Green New Deal. This is a 13-page pretty much takedown of the Green New Deal.

Tell us about your response to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal?

JOHNSON: Well, it's patently absurd.

And I think most everyone recognizes that now. At the Republican Study Committee, we do a deep dive on these issues. And we put staff in our -- some of our smartest members on this. And we produced a 13-page report to combat the 14-page Green New Deal.

And the findings are just extraordinary. If you look at the estimates of what this would cost the American people, it's somewhere in the negotiating of between $90 trillion and $95 trillion. And, of course, they would want to end air travel and most of our vehicles and all the rest.

It's just absurd. And the sad thing is, Maria, that we're in a political climate where you have leading Democrats, people who want to run for the presidency of the United States, who sign on to these absurd ideas.

BARTIROMO: Right.

JOHNSON: We have got to get back to facts and realistic truth. And that's what we're trying to do at the RSC.

BARTIROMO: And that's just one of other proposals that really create a bigger government, overall federal programs to control more and more people's lives, like Medicare for all.

JOHNSON: Yes, a completely unwieldy proposal.

And I think most people who are honest will tell you that it would never work. That's the problem that we have. There's two competing philosophies right now. We believe in individual freedom and limited government and the rule of law and peace through strength and fiscal responsibility, some of these ideas that are getting lost in the political debate right now.

And we have got to remind the American people that those are the ideals that made America great, and we have to preserve those if we're going to continue this great republic, the greatest nation in the history of the world. We can't abandon it to these crazy ideas of socialism.

Socialism is an evil. It has been responsible for the death of tens of millions of people, in Marxism at its root. All of those things are not American. And we have to take every opportunity we have to remind the American people of who we are and why we truly are the great nation that we are.

BARTIROMO: And...

JOHNSON: And, at the RSC, the Republican Study Committee...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

JOHNSON: ... our members are excited about that debate.

BARTIROMO: Yes, and, all the while, they want to just keep fighting Trump about collusion. It's just extraordinary, Congressman.

It's good to see you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us. We will see you soon.

And thank you for joining us on "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Maria Bartiromo.

I will see you tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. on the FOX Business Network.

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