'I Thought There Would Be More Jeff Flakes, More John McCains, More Bob Corkers'

[DonViejo]

Adam Schiff says Republicans are doing Trump’s dirty work on the Russia investigation.

By SUSAN B. GLASSER March 19, 2018

What was it like inside the partisan hot mess that was the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of President Donald Trump and the 2016 Russian election meddling?

Republicans abruptly shut down the probe last week, giving no notice to their Democratic counterparts before announcing they had not uncovered proof of Trump or his campaign’s “collusion” with the Russians and, what’s more, they did not even agree with the U.S. intelligence community’s finding that Russia had interfered in 2016 specifically with the goal of electing Trump. Trump gleefully tweeted out the news, in all capital letters in case the point wasn’t clear.

But the timing seemed terrible. The sudden end to the House probe came the very same week the president himself—while stepping up his attacks on special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s “witch hunt”—finally and belatedly authorized new sanctions to respond to the Russian hacking. Newspaper editorialists, angry Democrats and even a few Republicans had a field day; the Daily Beast summed up the mocking coverage by calling the Republican report the equivalent of a “half-researched term paper.”

The backlash was such that even on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace seemed to eviscerate the House exercise as little more than a cover-up for Trump, pointing out that the committee had never heard from key witnesses ranging from former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadapoulos. “Your conclusion is not conclusive,” he said to one of the Republican members, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).

more + audio of the interview:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/19/i-thought-there-would-be-more-jeff-flakes-more-john-mccains-more-bob-corkers-217655

[lame54]

1. First dumb thing Schiff has said...

Thinking more repugs would do the right thing - yeah right

[Hortensis]

2. Perhaps he's shaming them and pointing out their

shame to others, i.e., the electorate. Schiff is not really a stupid man.

Someone was tossing flowers at Jeff Flake this morning for being "principled" and speaking out against what his fellow Republicans are doing these days. But the GOP was already on an ethical downslope in the 1980s, picked up dangerous speed in the 1990s and ever since has been roaring corrupted and out of control, except by its donors.

Flake first took office in 2001. For his entire career he has played his part in the severe corruption and betrayal of the GOP. I bet all our long-time Democrats could dine out every night for the rest of their lives on stories about their Republican colleagues from this period.

[tblue37]

6. Only those not running for reelection, and even they are very tepid and mealy-mouthed

in most of their criticisms of Trump.

[Hortensis]

7. Right. Shows they are not totally deluded

as to right and wrong, though. They're still trying to protect the guilt and the guilty.

[tblue37]

8. And these "critics" still support Trumpism with every vote. nt

[Hortensis]

11. Spot on. Note that Flake at least is a libertarian,

so he's still trying to destroy the New Deal amap in the time left -- against the will of the people, while deploring OTHER Repub behaviors that are threatening his libertarian goals.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Seems more like lamenting

Of course, one thing that nearly all of the aforementioned GOPers have in common, however, is that they're leaving the Senate (and McCain probably doesn't have long to live) and don't have to worry about their re-election and are, thus, freer to speak their minds.

[poboy2]

3. Our side is perpetually fooled or naive. Babes in the woods.

We may become a fascist state by Nov..

[retread]

4. Hopefully this is just his public face and he's not really this naive. Here we go again!!

[LAS14]

9. Glad to hear this quote from Schiff. One of the most distressing things about...

... this whole Trump fiasco is to find out how few Republicans see themselves as defenders of our constitution, complete with checks and balances. Oh for the days of Watergate.

[DFW]

10. The trouble with hoping that is this:

Even Jeff Flake, John McCain and Bob Corker were not "Jeff Flakes, John McCains, or Bob Corkers."

Look at their voting records in Congress, not their noble speeches. Their speeches were go high, but their votes on the Senate floor--what counts when you're a U.S. Senator--were cockroach-crawling low, as usual.