This is just an alert diary. I’ll add to it if necessary...
Warner just started speaking...
UPDATE: Warner just called out Trump! Said Trump would cross a “red line” if he attempted to interfere with Mueller.
(Will Republicans respond? Perhaps the narrative that all the GOP wanted out of Trump was the tax bill is accurate? He’s served his purpose and now they can abandon defending him?)
FURTHER UPDATE: The transcript is now complete thanks to the efforts of Daily Kos member ksmoore777:
“I rise today concerned about the threats to the special counsel’s critical investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Over the last several weeks a growing chorus of irresponsible and reckless voices have called for President Trump to shut down Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.
At first, these calls came from the fringes of our political discourse, those who would refuse to put our country and our security before base political instincts. Earlier this year, many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle were right to push back on these misdirected calls and urge that the special counsel be allowed to do his job without interference. However, in recent weeks those voices seem to be growing in stridency and in volume. Just this weekend, one major news organization suggested the special counsel Mueller could be involved in a coup against the president. One senior adviser at the White House has now outrageously alleged that the fix was in against Donald Trump from the beginning. Those statements are reckless, they are inappropriate and they are extremely worrying. They are at odds with the president’s own lawyers who have pledged to cooperate with the special counsel. Beyond being irresponsible, the seemingly coordinated nature of these claims should alarm us all, particularly since in recent days these baseless accusations have been repeated by several members of the House of Representatives. I believe it is up to every member of this institution, Republican or Democrat, to make a clear and unambiguous statement that any attempt by this President to remove Special Counsel Mueller from his position, or to pardon key witnesses in any effort to shield them from accountability, or shut down the investigation, would be a gross abuse of power and a flagrant violation of Executive branch responsibilities and authorities. These truly are red lines and [we] simply cannot allow them to be crossed.
Let's take a moment and remember why Special Counsel Mueller was appointed in the first place, and why it remains so critical that he be permitted to finish his job without obstruction. Recall last spring: we were all reeling from a series of confounding actions by this President, beginning with the firing of FBI Director James Comey on May 9th. Mr. Comey was fired just two months after publicly revealing the FBI's ongoing investigation of the Trump campaign, and, as we'd find out later, after several attempts by this President to improperly influence Director Comey.
Try to put yourself back into those dangerous days. Director Comey's dismissal was met with confusion and widespread condemnation. We needed a stabilizing action from our nation's law enforcement leadership. We needed some certainty that the facts would be found and brought to light, regardless of what they were. Eight days after Mr. Comey's firing, Trump appointee and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation into "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump," and "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." His appointment reassured Americans that there would be a full and thorough law enforcement investigation.
The announcement was met with support on both sides of the aisle and received nearly universal praise. In fact, many of the same people who are attacking him today praised Mr. Mueller's appointment just months ago.
Indeed, there is much to praise. The fact is that Robert Mueller has impeccable credentials as a man of the law. He has assembled a team that includes some of the nation's best investigators, and he is leading the investigation with the professionalism it deserves. Mr. Mueller is a dedicated Vietnam War veteran and a lifelong Republican, appointed to his current role by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, also Republican. In fact, all the major players to date in this investigation -- former Director Comey, current FBI Director Wray, Rosenstein, and even Attorney General Sessions, who's had to recuse himself, are all Republicans.
The charges. The charges that some have made, that somehow Democratic political bias have [sic] crept into this investigation are baseless given the make-up of the leadership team.
In recent weeks much has been made of some political opinions expressed by an FBI agent during the election last year. This specious line of argument conveniently ignores the fact that as soon as Mr. Mueller learned about these comments, he immediately removed that agent in question from the investigation. If anything, this incident only adds to Mr. Mueller's credibility as a fair and independent investigator.
Mr. President, I stand here as the vice-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We are in the midst of our own investigation into Russian incursion, and I'm proud of the way that Chairman Burr and our committee have taken on this very difficult task. We've made tremendous progress uncovering the facts of Russian interference in our elections. Our Committee's work helped expose the dark underbelly of disinformation on many of our social media platforms. We've successfully pressed for the full accounting of Russian cyber efforts to target our state electoral systems, and despite the initial denials of any Russian contacts during the election, this committee's efforts have helped uncover numerous and troubling high level engagements between the Trump campaign and Russian affiliates, many of which have only been revealed in recent months. We've got a lot of work to do yet. But our committee has gone out of its way to insure continued bipartisan backing, and I am committed to seeing the effort through.
However, it should be very clear that our committee cannot and will not stand as a substitute for Mr. Mueller's investigation. As Chairman Burr and I have noted on numerous occasions, the FBI is responsible for determining any criminal activities related to this inquiry. As such, Mueller has already moved to indict two individuals and has negotiated two additional guilty pleas. There's an investigative path -- This is an investigative path reserved solely for law enforcement and it is essential that it be permitted to go on unimpeded.
The country no doubt remains severely divided on the question of the last election. However, the national security threat facing us today should demand that we rise above partisan differences. No matter the political divide, surely each of us, and all Americans, should want to know the truth of what happened during last year's election, and no doubt, we all want to know that as quickly as possible.
Now, the President has long called the investigation into the Russian meddling into the 2016 election a "witch hunt," and he's done much to discredit the intelligence community's unanimous assessment of Russian interference in our election. The failure of this White House to lead a "whole of government" approach to prevent this type of election interference in the future, either by the Russians or some other adversary, defies understanding. The President's refusal to accept the intelligence community's assessment, and his blatant disregard for insuring that Russia never again infiltrates our election process, has been unnerving and cause for significant concern.
In recent days, the President has said he is not considering removing Special Counsel Mueller, but the President's track record on this front is a source of concern. I'm certain that most of my colleagues believed that he wouldn't fire Jim Comey either.
Firing Mr. Mueller or any other of the top brass involved in this investigation would not only call into question this administration's commitment to the truth, but also to our most basic concept: rule of law. It also has the potential to provoke a Constitutional crisis. In the United States of America, no one -- no one -- is above the law, not even the President.
Congress must make clear to the President that firing the special counsel, or interfering with his investigation by issuing pardons of essential witnesses, is unacceptable and would have immediate and significant consequences.
I hope my concerns are unfounded. In many ways, I hoped I would never have to make this kind of speech, but there are troubling signs. It is critical that all of us as elected officials, and as citizens, speak up against these threats now, before it's too late."