Angus King: What do we do if we pass a law that says this has to be do...

The only, the only possibility would be if the Republicans are in the majority and they can offer me something that would be especially advantageous to Maine. Somebody said, 'You may be a committee chair.' I don't think so. I don't think anybody would want me that much.

Angus King

majority would-be thinking

Every day in America, about 25,000 people buy a quarter-inch drill. But nobody in America wants a quarter-inch drill. What they want are holes.

Angus King

want america people

I'm too fiscally conservative for the Democrats and too socially liberal for the Republicans, like 75% of the American people.

Angus King

conservative republican people

The idea of some contact of Donald Trump's office with the Russians to try to find areas of common ground is not irrational or unusual. The question is: Were you doing it in an appropriate way and through proper channels?

Angus King

office common trying

I don't think the special counsel can avoid that question based upon the president's Donald Trump own statements. But I'm not charging obstruction of justice.

Angus King

special justice thinking

James Comey had nine interactions with Bob Mueller after the Donald Trump's election. And in none of those, Comey testified, did he express any interest, concern, about what the Russians did, how they did it, how do we prevent it. He continuously has in fact denigrated the whole idea and dismissed that it was the Russians, and apparently hasn't yet accepted the 100-percent consensus of everybody that knows about this that this was a conscious and deliberate effort on their part to attack our democracy.

Angus King

election effort democracy

That's because of everything the public interest and the media interest is focused on: What did Donald Trump know and when did he know it? Whether there was cooperation with the Russians. I don't mean to say that's a distraction or we shouldn't follow it up. But the underlying story of the Russians trying to subvert our democracy, both through propaganda, planted stories, manipulation of social media and through direct efforts to infiltrate our state election system, is really an enormously significant event. And it's not over.

Angus King

effort democracy mean

We are at this moment where what concerns me is that we're all so caught up in Donald Trump, James Comey, and David Kushner, and Mike Flynn, that it's in danger of overwhelming the real story, which is what the Russians did and tried to do. I contend that it was the most serious attack on our country since September 11, 2001. It was deliberate, it was sophisticated, it was conscious, and it was in some ways successful.

Angus King

real successful country

I would say it would be worth it if, in fact, it would - if you could demonstrate that that would be the case and that the results and ramifications around the world wouldn't lead to more problems and more people dying. It's a very complex issue, and that's why I think we need to decide it.

Angus King

issues people thinking

The intelligence community, in particular the FBI, have been sounding alarms about this for more than a year. So to argue that suddenly we have to do this because of the San Bernardino case doesn't really pass the straight-face test. I mean, they've been talking about this. And to say, well, it will only apply to this case, that just - that doesn't wash. This is a major piece of public policy.

Angus King

talking mean years

I haven't seen - I haven't heard the arguments that would make that case. And I haven't seen a proposal yet that satisfies the objections. The problem is, you create a key like this, and it can't - it's hard to say that it's going to be hidden. And then it becomes used both by our government in multiple cases, but also it could get out as far as hackers are concerned or other countries.

Angus King

government keys country

There's a host of difficult issues here, and that's why when you mentioned at the top of the show that the committees were looking at this, that's where I think we should be going.

Angus King

host issues thinking

I think it's important to also realize that this isn't a case of Apple being asked to simply flip a switch or, you know, plug in a wire from one place to another. They're being asked to write new software that doesn't exist. They purposefully did not create this kind of backdoor.

Angus King

apples writing thinking

Well, first let's say that the fundamental responsibility of any government is national security - in the preamble to the Constitution, provide for the common defense and insure domestic tranquility.

Angus King

defense government responsibility

It would make it very difficult to have a full intelligence sharing information with a partner who has installed a direct line to Beijing.

Angus King

company-news

I think Donald Trump knows Donald Trump's got a problem. Donald Trump knows Donald Trump has to be more open and people have to be held accountable.

Angus King

politics

And United Arab Emirates is doing something similar. So there's going to be humanitarian assistance coming into Yemen in very short order, which is absolutely necessary.

Angus King

politics

I don't think that was appropriate, but I suspect he now thinks that, too, it was at the very beginning, had it been an ongoing pattern, I think it would be a greater concern. But I think he's demonstrated through the course of the investigation that he's sticking with it in a non-partisan way and a serious way. ... I wish that hadn't happened, but I don't think it taints his work on the investigation.

Angus King

politics

We have a reasonable expectation of knowing what the universe of potential projects cuts are before we take this vote.

Angus King

politics

I don't think that there's evidence yet available to the public where there would be more or less a consensus that this was an appropriate path, my concern is that if impeachment is moved forward on the evidence that we have now, at least a third of the country would think it was just political revenge and a coup against the President.

Angus King

politics