Congress tries to cool partisan fever on Russia
After a week of controversy and bitterness, Democrats and Republicans hope to get their investigations into Kremlin meddling on a more collegial track.
By ELANA SCHOR and KYLE CHENEY 01/14/2018 06:54 AM EST Updated 01/14/2018 09:09 AM EST
Top Russia investigators in Congress are straining to salvage some bipartisan cooperation amid acrimony that has come to threaten the credibility of their probes.
Partisan anger has unsettled Russia inquiries by the Senate Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee, but senior members of those panels say they hope to restore a sense of trust within their ranks. And Senate intelligence committee leaders are stressing their relative political unity in an increasingly hostile environment. But despite hopeful signals from lawmakers and aides of both parties about a return to cooperation, any bipartisan spirit will be sorely tested in the coming weeks — particularly as Democrats raise the volume on concerns that Congress has not taken action to prevent new Russian meddling in the 2018 midterm elections. Some senior Democrats are also insisting that key Trump associates be called to give more testimony before Republicans wind down the probes.
Still, some key members of Congress seem determined to pull back from the brink of all-out partisan warfare over Russia.
In a small but important example, the judiciary panel’s top Democrat, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), offered an olive branch to an infuriated Republican colleague last week. Feinstein expressed “regret” last week for failing to notify her GOP counterpart, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in person before she released a committee interview transcript with a key witness that Republicans had wanted kept private. The move had infuriated Grassley, who called it a breach of trust.
Blaming a “bad cold,” Feinstein told reporters that she “should have spoken with Senator Grassley before.” That defused a perception that Feinstein — who unilaterally released the testimony of Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson, who commissioned a controversial dossier about Trump’s Russia connections — had given up on working with Grassley.
more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/14/congress-russia-probes-bipartisanship-338982
= new reply since forum marked as read
