MTP Transcript for Oct. 1

SEN. DeWINE: I’m not going to be getting the point of speculating. We all know some, some people who, who have prestige and the talent to do the job.  But that’s not, that’s the president’s decision, that’s not my decision. And I’m not going to tell the president what to do in this regard.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to the events on Friday. Congressman Brown, you’re a member of the House of Representatives. Mark Foley, Republican senator from Florida, resigned because he had sent salacious e-mails to Capitol Hill pages, young high school boys who come to school here and work in the Congress. It now has been suggested that some in the Republican leadership knew about a year ago that the speaker of the House, the Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, and Tom Reynolds, the chairman of the Republican Committee, knew earlier this year. Should more have been done? And should there be an investigation as to exactly who knew what when?

REP. BROWN: Oh, of course, and of course. Yes and yes. I—my first thought when I heard about that Friday—and to most of us it just happened like that—was that I was thinking about the families around the United States who sent their 15- and 16-year-olds to Washington, assuming they were safe, assuming they were part of a program that, that, that was uplifting for them and safe for them, and I think about what those families must think about the safety of their children. And when, when you hear that the leaders of the House of Representatives, the, the people’s House, knew about this ahead of time and did nothing to protect the safety of those children, it’s just absolutely outrageous.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator DeWine, Congressman Chris Shays, Republican from Connecticut, says that if anyone in the House leadership knew about these e-mails they should step down from their leadership role. Do you agree?

SEN. DeWINE: Tim, I—it’s a horrible situation. You know, Fran and I have eight children. I think this could’ve been one of my kids who was out serving as an intern or serving as, as a page. It’s a horrible, horrible situation.  I think there has to be a full investigation of who knew what and when they knew it.

MR. RUSSERT: But should anyone in the House leadership step down, like Congressman Shays recommends, if they knew about this?

SEN. DeWINE: I think you have to look and see what they knew and what they did about it. I would want to know what they did about it. And, you know, this is reprehensible. I mean, these kids are entrusted to us when they come out here, they’re either our pages or they’re interns, sometimes they’re college students. And, you know, they do magnificent work, they do wonderful jobs, it’s a great program, but this is horrible, horrible.

MR. RUSSERT: Have you spoken to Congressman Boehner of Ohio about this?

SEN. DeWINE: I have not, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: Let...

REP. BROWN: Tim, I think anyone should resign, any leader that knew about this should resign, absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Should resign.

REP. BROWN: But, see, he’s forfeited any public trust. The leader of the House of Representatives that, that knew about a situation that jeopardized the safety of 15- to 16-year-olds in the government’s custody, in the, in the custody of the House of Representatives, if they did nothing to protect those children, they aren’t fit to be House...

MR. RUSSERT: So Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Boehner should resign?

REP. BROWN: If they, in fact, knew that—I don’t—I’ve only read the articles in the paper—if they knew about this ahead of time and did nothing, any legislative leader that knew ahead of time and did nothing should resign.  Yes, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator DeWine, this is an article in the Financial Times about the Buckeye state. “Perhaps the most telling sign of the difficult environment Republicans face is in Ohio. ...[DeWine’s] tough race against Sherrod Brown...took many by surprise. But it is evidence that the Republicans’ overall weak standing...has been pushed still lower by corruption scandals in the state.

“Bob Taft, the Republican governor, has pleaded no contest to ethics violations, and Bob Ney, a Republican congressman ensnared in a separate investigation into the dealings of Jack Abramoff, a powerful Washington lobbyist, this month pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.”

On Friday the House Government Reform Committee says that Abramoff billed clients for 400 contacts with the White House. There are 66 e-mails to indicate those contacts. Are you caught up in a perception of a culture of corruption regarding the Republican Party, particularly in Ohio?

SEN. DeWINE: Tim, the climate, as they say, in politics is not good. But Ohioans know me. I’ve served Ohioans starting as a country prosecutor in 1976 for, for 30 years. I think they know my integrity, I think they know my honesty, I think they knew who, who I am. So in the end, Ohioans are very discerning. They pick and choose among parties and they, they will make a decision on an individual basis, but I think they know me.

MR. RUSSERT: Is it fair that Senator DeWine is caught up in this whole perception of corruption because it’s the governor, Congressman Ney, Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley, but it’s not Mike DeWine.

REP. BROWN: Well, it’s, it’s a bit more than a perception. Thomas Noe has contributed to money to Mike DeWine, so has Jack Abramoff. Senator DeWine has...

MR. RUSSERT: Thomas Noe being someone involved with Governor Taft.

REP. BROWN: Who is, who is, is now convicted of a crime and probably will serve time, may already be in prison, I’m not sure. He was a big Bush backer, close to Taft, funded much of the Republican Party. I mean, Senator DeWine has benefited, as have so many other Republicans have benefitted from this political machine in Ohio. It’s right in the midst of the culture of corruption. But, but it’s more than that, it’s ultimately, you know, who you’re going to—who you’re going to trust to fight for the middle class when you see, not just what’s happening in Columbus, but in Washington. Mike DeWine received more than $400,000 from oil and gas interests, votes for an energy bill...

MR. RUSSERT: But, Congressman Brown...

REP. BROWN: ...that they wrote.

MR. RUSSERT: ...one-third of Abramoff’s money went to Democrats.

REP. BROWN: Maybe it did, it didn’t go to me. And I went—but, as I’m saying, Mike DeWine received a third of a million dollars from the drug industry, votes for a Medicare bill that meant huge profits to the drug companies, huge profits to the HMOs and, and seniors are seeing drug prices go up faster and faster, faster than anytime in the last five years. It’s a question of—you know, the fundamental difference in this campaign is I’ve devoted my whole career to fighting for the middle class. Middle-class tax cuts, working to help college kids go to, go to school. Voted against these job-killing trade agreements that, that even conservative David Brooks in The New York Times today wrote about as something that’s really important in Ohio.  And that...

MR. RUSSERT: Would you repeal NAFTA?

REP. BROWN: I would renegotiate NAFTA, as I would renegotiate PNTR with

China, and I would write tax laws that benefit workers in communities rather

than—and small businesses. We’ve lost so many small businesses in Ohio,

machine shops, tool and dye makers in Akron and Dayton and Zanesville, as

these big companies outsource. And Mike DeWine has supported every time these

trade agreements, these tax bills that give incentives to the big corporations...

SEN. DeWINE: Yeah.

REP. BROWN: ...rather than to the small companies that stay in...

MR. RUSSERT: All right.

REP. BROWN: ...in, in Lima, in Toledo, and manufacture here.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me give Senator DeWine a chance to respond.

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