WASHINGTON – This morning, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees, joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss yesterday’s election results, the latest on tax reform, and the resignation of Dana Boente. 

“I just was troubled that immediately following the release of indictments given reporting that has suggested Mr. Boente was running a fairly active component of the Mueller investigation that he was fairly abruptly asked to resign,” said Senator Coons. “I just wanted to ask some questions about the timing given the troubling pattern of the president's personal intervention by interviewing candidates for U.S. Attorneys in several key jurisdictions and given everything else going on, it makes me concerned about Robert Mueller and his security. Dana Boente would have been the fourth in succession in the Department of Justice. I think it's an important feat and an important role that he played that deserves some oversight.”

Video and audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on Trump’s trip to Asia: I’m encouraged by the tone and tenor of the trip, obviously the self-promotion notwithstanding to have President Trump move towards a more diplomatic tone after some early bluster. Now that we have prepositioned three aircraft carrier groups, personnel, and material in the region, I think that President Trump is striking the right balance between having previously being overly threatening and now pursuing diplomatic alternatives – there has to be an off-ramp for North Korea to consider taking, he’s going to have to be strong with Xi Jinping the next couple of days—that’s going to be crucial—but all of us worry about our security and the human consequences and a potential confrontation going wrong have to be encouraged by President Trump’s tone. 

Senator Coons on last night’s election: I think that's right, that's a great question. There is a lot of attention paid to the big wins in Virginia and New Jersey, just across the Pennsylvania state line for me are a series of counties, so-called “collar counties” of Philadelphia, where at the county level there were big wins for Democrats in Bucks county, in Delaware county, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, there has never been a county elected Democrat since the 1700s and Democrats swept the county offices that were up for election. What does that mean? I think it means members of the House that represent the suburban districts who are Republicans will have to begin moving towards the middle. I think it will make it clear to the president or at least members of his team that if they don't begin some real outreach to Democrats on tax reform and other priorities they have, they will not get their legislative agenda through. I think the president slowing a sideways grenade back at Ed Gillespie after his loss last night isn't very encouraging for Republican electeds like Susan Collins who I think will now look forward and say their path towards legislative success will rely on working across the aisle here in Congress rather than counting on President Trump to necessarily lead them forward as a coherent party. 

More on elections: Well the Democratic senators who are incumbents up for election this time in the five states are referencing states like Indiana, North Dakota, Montana, Missouri, West Virginia are terrific, active, engaged, local campaigners, they're very authentic people. They connect well in their home states. I'd say to them, avoid letting your campaign be nationalized. Don't really make this about Democrats versus Republicans, make it about you, your leadership, and your capabilities. These are folks willing to meet with President Trump to consider working with him across the aisle where it makes sense, but they've also stood firm in sticking to core principles on things like defending the ACA and access to good, quality health care for folks in their states. We had a meeting with a group. There were about 12 Democratic senators yesterday evening who met with Gary Cohn, the chief economic adviser to President Trump. The president called in from Asia. I think it's important that these Democrats running for reelection in deeply red states show that they continue to try to legislate responsibly across the aisle. 

More on the Cohn meeting: The president said a number of things and I, frankly, just appreciated the opportunity to sit down with some of his chief advisers and that he took the time from his trip to Asia to call in. It was an interesting conversation. He touched on a number of different topics, but if there was one theme from our side, it was we should have been included and consulted earlier. We've got ideas, we want to work across the aisle to strengthen the middle class, to support manufacturing, to make our country more competitive and the folks on the other side of the table, including the president calling in from Asia said, just wait, you will see a different tax bill in the Senate than the House, we're at the beginning of a process, not at the end. 

Senator Coons on Boente: Well, Dana Boente is a career federal prosecutor who was not just running the Eastern District of Virginia but the acting head of the national security division in the Department of Justice. I just was troubled that immediately following the release of indictments given reporting that had suggested Mr. Boente was running a fairly active component of the Mueller investigation that he was fairly abruptly asked to resign. I just wanted to ask some questions about the timing given the troubling pattern of the president's personal intervention by interviewing candidates for U.S. Attorneys in several key jurisdictions and given everything else going on, it makes me concerned about Robert Mueller and his security. Dana Boente would have been the fourth in succession in the Department of Justice. I think it's an important feat and an important role that he played that deserves some oversight. 

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