Republican Texas Congressman, Rep. Lance Gooden, tore into CNN and one of its hosts for what he believes is their biased coverage of the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

Gooden appeared with CNN host Poppy Harlow on Friday and the conversation quickly got heated between the two.

Harlow wanted Gooden to answer for a month old tweet where she said he accused former Vice President Joe Biden of a crime, but Gooden was not having it.

Rush Transcript:

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HARLOW: You’ve had a big week, questioning of Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook. We’ll talk about that, but first what’s going on now, sir. You have not been on this network since September 25th. You talked to Chris Cuomo right before the whistle-blower complaint was released, right before the White House transcript of that call with Zelinsky in July was released.

Now that you have read both, because you told Chris, “I’m waiting to read and then I will have more answers.” What did they tell you about the president’s behavior?

GOODEN: You know, I read that transcript. There is absolutely nothing impeachable in that transcript. And what’s happened since then is we’ve found in talking with Democrats that they don’t like the transcript, but they’ve said, you know, if Nancy Pelosi had waited just a few more days, we probably wouldn’t have gone down this path.

When I talk to my colleagues across the aisle, they have no idea how this thing ends. They have no plan. They just know that as soon as they actually cave and have to vote on something, then they’re in a position they don’t want to be in because they’re having to take a stand on the record, which is what Republicans have a problem with.

Is Gooden correct? Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to our news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You're logged in to Facebook. Click here to log out. 99% (103 Votes) 1% (1 Votes)

Put this on the floor, vote on this, and let’s initiate a real inquiry where the minority party has rights and where these sessions are not being held behind closed doors.

HARLOW: Except you got —

GOODEN: The press — you all should be outraged in the press —

HARLOW: Let me jump in, congressman —

GOODEN: That you’re not available —

HARLOW: Let me jump in with the facts. You have 48 Republicans on committees behind closed doors questioning them. You had Mark Meadows, Republican, who told the “Washington Post” that “Each side alternates asking questions in set time blocks.

There has been no limit provided on the number of questions that each side can ask.” That is from Mark Meadows.

But getting back to the call, you say there’s nothing impeachable in the president’s call with Zelinsky on July 25th. Would you do it? I mean, if you were president, would you solicit help from a foreign government to dig up potential dirt on a political rival?

GOODEN: Listen, for the last four years, I have seen people in the media, people across the aisle, complain about how this president operates.

HARLOW: Can you just answer the question?

GOODEN: I will admit he is nontraditional.

HARLOW: Would you do it? Is it okay? Does it sit well with you?

GOODEN: I’m not the president of the United States.

HARLOW: Does it sit well with you?

GOODEN: I don’t even know what’s happening in these discussions because I haven’t even been a part of these discussions. Yes, it’s great that there are 40 members of the house, but my constituents that I represent, they’re asking me questions that I can’t even answer —

HARLOW: Well, you get the transcripts

GOODEN: You’re asking me questions about — I hope I do. I hope I do, because right now Democrats have closed us out of the process, and people, including the press, yourself, are asking questions for us to answer the things that I don’t have the facts on because we have been shut out of the process.

HARLOW: I don’t think that’s fair, respectfully, senator. Congressman, sorry. Giving you a promotion.

GOODEN: Thanks for the promotion.

HARLOW: You’re welcome. I don’t think that’s fair. I just asked you about the transcript of the call released by the White House and simply said would you have asked what the president asked of Zelinsky? You don’t want to answer that. I understand that. That’s okay.

GOODEN: No, no, I’m not telling you that. I’m telling you I don’t have all the facts to what was going into the before-and-after of that call. I’ve seen just that little bits and pieces of it. You’re asking me to comment on something based on facts I just don’t have. I don’t know if I would have had that same conversation.

HARLOW: Okay.

GOODEN: I just don’t know.

HARLOW: Let me ask you something about facts that you’ve asserted, just so I can better understand it. You tweeted on September 26th — let me quote this and pull it up for you — “The Democrats want to impeach a president trying to expose a crime, then elect a person who committed a crime.” Who are you accusing of committing a crime?

GOODEN: Go back to — repeat that? You’re asking me to comment on something that was out on Twitter a month ago.

HARLOW: That’s okay. Well, it’s a full tweet. Let me pull it up again. I’ll read it to you. You tweeted on September 26th — “The Democrats want to impeach a president trying to expose a crime then elect a person who committed a crime.” Sir, who are you accusing of committing a crime and what crime?

GOODEN: I believe at the time — I believe — you’re taking that potentially out of context, but I think we were talking about Hillary Clinton and we were going down that path of the emails and how we kind of just brushed that aside or how the last Congress did —

HARLOW: No, no —

GOODEN: And now — you’re asking me to comment on something I can’t see. I’m looking into a camera. I’m looking into a camera. You’re asking me to comment on Twitter posts from a month ago. I can’t see what you’re talking about.

HARLOW: Can I just read it to you again? Because —

GOODEN: You’ve read it to me and I believe we were talking about Hillary Clinton.

HARLOW: But here’s why I think it matters, because you’re an elected member of Congress and your words, just like my words as a journalist —

GOODEN: And you’re expecting me to remember what I tweeted a month ago —

HARLOW: I’m not.

GOODEN: You’re asking the same question.

HARLOW Can I just finish the question

GOODEN: You’re asking me to comment on Twitter posts from a month ago. I’m staring into a black screen. I can’t even see who I’m talking to.

HARLOW: So just to put a button on it and we will move on, but I think your words matter, just like mine do as a journalist. Your words matter a lot.

GOODEN: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Because you’re an elected member of Congress, so they matter to every person you represent. And this is again what you wrote. I’m sorry you don’t have it in front of you. You’re welcome to pull out your phone and pull up the tweet, September 26th — “The Democrats want to impeach a president trying to expose a crime, then elect a person who committed a crime.” You’re accusing someone running for president of committing a crime, and I’m asking you who that person is.

GOODEN: Sure. Okay, it triggered me now. We’re talking about Joe Biden in that particular tweet, because at the time we were talking about how the president was bragging about a prosecutor that he got fired in the Ukraine, and we were going down this path at the time when Joe Biden was leading in the polls.

He’s not anymore. But now it comes back to me, now that you’ve read it three times and I’ve run through my Twitter account in my mind, which is difficult to do. But we’re talking Abou Joe Biden.

If Joe Biden is going overseas and bragging about getting an investigator fired that was investigator his son, that is absolutely criminal.

HARLOW: So here’s the issue —

GOODEN: When something happens that the vice president does and then he runs for president, suddenly, he’s immune from any investigation or prosecution at all.

That’s telling me if I want to break the law, all I’ve got to do is run for president and you can’t investigate me. That’s crazy.

HARLOW: There are some really big holes in that argument, but let’s start with the biggest one. There is zero evidence at this point that Joe Biden did anything wrong. As you know, he was among so many leaders in the west calling for shokin to be pushed out as prosecutor. The imf —

GOODEN: How do you know this?

HARLOW: Christine Lagarde — because I read it, because I have it here. Because we fact-check —

GOODEN: Did you read it in a leaked report? A leaked report that you haven’t seen? Is it from “The New York Times”?

HARLOW: It’s not.

GOODEN: They’re great with the leaks.

HARLOW: Congressman, could you just respectfully let me finish the question? Okay.

GOODEN: Sure.

HARLOW: Let me cite to you from someone in the Bush administration, okay? Not some liberal. “Steven Pfiefer who is a career foreign service officer in the Bush administration talking about why Shokin had to go. “Virtually everyone in the U.S. Government,” he says that he knew at the time, “Felt that Shokin was not doing his job and should be fired.” You are saying in this tweet, your words to everyone, without any evidence that Joe Biden committed a crime. Where is your evidence and is that responsible, sir? Is it responsible?

GOODEN: I’m saying that we have gone down — we have gone down this path where if the president of the United States says he wants corruption thrown out of our society, he wants to investigate corruption, that’s suddenly an outrage, offensive thing to bring forward.

HARLOW: Okay, yeah.

GOODEN: Democrats on the other side are outraged that this president wants to get corruption out of our society. And so, what have they done? They’ve started these investigations we don’t even know what’s happening. It’s crazy.

HARLOW: I just don’t — can you just help me finally —

GOODEN: If the Trump — if the Trump —

HARLOW: Can you help me square the circle here? Because I’m having a hard time. You’re upset with the process of how Democrats are conducting this inquiry.

GOODEN: Absolutely.

HARLOW:And you can voice that —

GOODEN: Aren’t you upset with the process

HARLOW: — And that’s your opinion, sir, but they are conducting an inquiry —

GOODEN: It’s an opinion shared —

HARLOW: Sir, they are conducting an inquiry to determine —

GOODEN: By every Republican in Congress —

HARLOW: Whether or not there are high crimes and misdemeanors —

GOODEN: Shut out of this process.

HARLOW: Congressman, the Democrats are conducting an inquiry into whether there were high crimes here, by the president, whether something is impeachable —

GOODEN: Do you know that? Because I haven’t seen anything but leaks —

HARLOW: Without an inquiry, you said on Twitter — without an inquiry —

GOODEN: This is not a leak.

HARLOW: Without an inquiry, sir, you said on Twitter that Joe Biden committed a crime. That’s my point. Square the circle for me.

GOODEN: So, let me — okay, here’s the circle — you’re comparing a Twitter post to an impeachment inquiry that is bringing people into a skiff where members of Congress don’t know what’s happening if they’re not part of the 40. You’re comparing a Twitter post to an inquiry of impeachment that the U.S. House has not authorized. That’s a stretch.

HARLOW: Yeah. Democrats have the right to hold this inquiry the way they are doing it now. They do. That’s just a fact.

GOODEN: Oh, I’m not saying —

HARLOW: I’ve got to go —

GOODEN: I’m not saying it’s illegal what they’re doing, but the American people —

HARLOW: You’re minimizing

GOODEN: — Are outraged. They are outraged by this process.

HARLOW: Okay.

GOODEN: And the fact that the fake news media is not outraged with me is pretty telling.

HARLOW: Please don’t insult the media on this network or on this show, on our show. And congressman, you say it’s just a Twitter post, but it’s your words and your words matter a lot. Thank you for being here.

GOODEN: I didn’t say it’s just a Twitter post. I said you’re considering a Twitter post to an impeachment inquiry.

HARLOW: I apologize. I shouldn’t have added the word “Just.” Congressman Lance Gooden, thank you for being here.