Video: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) Says He’s “Learned Very Little” About FBI/DOJ Wiretapping His Calls with VA State Sen. Louise Lucas

This morning on CNN,  Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) had the following to say:

• On Donald Trump “putting himself front and center” of the midterms: “President Trump putting himself front and center and making himself the face of these midterms is great news for us as Democrats because he’s historically unpopular, his policies have been a complete failure, and he’ll remind voters that Republicans in Congress have rubberstamped him this last year and a half, and they will continue to if they stay in the majority. So we see this as a good development.”
• Should Democrats have a “midterm convention”?:  “Well, we are in our districts every day, all the time, just making sure that voters see us in person rather than going down to Dallas and having a convention there. We are having many conventions with our voters every single day, so I think our approach is actually the better one. We will make sure that our constituents and our voters know that we will be there for them and that there will be change come next January if they elect a new majority.”
• On Trump’s trade war with Canada: “Again, this president’s policies have led to higher prices for people, and the tariffs with Canada will be no different because in the end, Canada is the leading trade partner of many states in our country. And it’s not just Canada. There is tariffs all over the world right now that are hurting small businesses. When they are deemed illegal, it is big corporations that get the majority of the refunds, not the American people. And so the American people are paying higher prices over and over again. And that will be on the ballot boxes coming November.”
• On the FBI/DOJ wiretapping his calls with Sen. Louise Lucas; what has he learned about this?: “I’ve learned very little. So to recap, you know, they were listening in on my conversation with the state senator, Louise Lucas, and she was one of the leading architects of the redistricting referendum that we had in Virginia, right? The Democratic-led redistricting referendum. And so weeks before the election for that, they were listening in on her conversations, and they were listening on my conversations with her. And so I want to know why was I not notified until about four or five months later by snail mail? Why were they listening in our conversations weeks before this referendum? The timing seems very suspicious. And what else do they have on me? I remember when Republicans after the September — after the January 6th insurrection happened, they were being investigated too for their part in that and some of them had their phone transcripts turned over to investigators. And so they held up the government for weeks trying to get restitution in the form of millions of dollars because of that. And so I, you know, that’s what they reacted — how they reacted. And I am also upset about what happened, and I want some answers.”
• On the investigation into Sen. Lucas supposedly beginning during the Biden administration: “That’s right, but then why are they listening in on my conversations with her? And why would they not tell me until many months later? And what else have they been listening in on? The lack of transparency, the timing of the conversations is really suspect to me and I want some answers.”
• On what “punishment do you think would be fitting or appropriate” for two Democrats who “split on what usually is a routine party-line rule vote”:  “I think it’s important when we do sway from our leadership that we at least communicate that to them. I think that’s what they’re upset about. They’re not upset about the actual vote itself, although it’s a rule vote. So generally we stick together. I will say this is the only time I’ve seen us not stick together on a rule vote. And, you know, I would say that, you know, we are not unanimous as a party, and what our leader, Jeffries, says is that we are united, though, even though we’re not unanimous. And that means we’re going to have differences. We’re going to have differences of opinion. We’re going to have a wide array of views, but in the end, we do come together. We’ve been pretty united this Congress, and I think we will be more united than people think come next year, but we won’t always agree on everything…I mean, again, we are a pretty big-tent party here. But I will say that we are not the Republican Party, which falls in line even if it defies their own principles when President Trump tells them to. We are not that party. We never will be. We’re a party where we have lots of fights in-house, but in the end, we come together for the American people because we want to do what’s best. And Republicans come together for Donald Trump, and that’s the difference between our two parties right now. And we will see how voters decide this in November. But I believe that voters want a party that will stand up to Donald Trump and want a party that has many independent thinkers within it who all care about doing what’s best for their people.”