The GOP's New Year's Resolution: Make Russia Go Away
The congressional inquiries are limping to an end as Republicans target the Justice Department.
DAN FRIEDMANJAN. 6, 2018 2:03 PM
With the new year, Republicans are eager to shut down probes of what President Trump has called “this Russia thing.” They are pressing to rapidly complete congressional inquiries into the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia while working to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation.
For months, Republicans have pursued a strategy that boils down to: obstruct, divert, and undercut. They have stymied Democratic efforts to probe various Russia threads, mounted diversionary inquiries related to Hillary Clinton, and sought to kneecap the special counsel investigation by launching an attack on the credibility of the Justice Department itself. On Friday, two Republican Senators, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, asked the Justice Department to investigate whether former British Intelligence officer Christopher Steele, the author of a series of memos detailing allegations regarding Trump and Russia, broke the law by lying to federal authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding his findings. The request marked the first known congressional criminal referral related to the Trump-Russia scandal, and it targeted a figure known for exposing Trump’s Russia ties.
With the midterm elections looming, Republicans in and out of Congress have pushed the notion that the inquiries have run their course and should be concluded early this year. The top Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence have signaled plans to wrap up their work as soon as possible.
“They want to try to start the New Year by giving Trump a clean slate,” says Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), a member of the House intelligence committee. And Democrats charge that House Speaker Paul Ryan has personally pushed the House intelligence committee to conclude its Russia investigation.
Democratic criticism has focused particularly on efforts by House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) to impede the probe. Nunes stepped aside from his committee’s Russia investigation last April amid an ethics investigation into allegations he released classified information, but the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, says the California Republican continued meddling in the probe, blocking interview and document requests. The ethics committee cleared Nunes last month. But Democrats say he is not the whole problem. They argue that the Republicans who took charge of the investigation in his stead, Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), and Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.), face pressure from Ryan to quickly end the inquiry.
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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/the-gops-new-years-resolution-make-russia-go-away/
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