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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsG.O.P. Collusion with Trump Continues Despite the Mueller Revelations
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, if you believe him, is not all that bestirred by the indictment of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trumps former campaign chairman. I really dont have anything to add, other than nothing is going to derail what were working on in Congress, because were working on solving peoples problems, he told a Wisconsin radio host. What Ryan really wanted to talk about, he said, was tax reform. That suggests that Ryan doesnt put possible foreign intervention in the election, or influence peddling, stealth lobbying, tax fraud, and money launderingwhich are strands in the indictments of Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates, who both pleaded not guiltyin the category of peoples problems. News of the indictment was accompanied by the unsealing of a related plea deal that Robert Mueller, the special counsel, reached with George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser. These are questions that go to the heart of the integrity of our electoral and legislative systems. (Indeed, the Manafort indictment, because it concerned lobbying Congress on behalf of Ukraine, was in some ways as much in Ryans realm as in Trumps.) Whose problem, one might ask, does Ryan think they are?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/gop-collusion-with-trump-continues-despite-the-mueller-revelations/amp
HAB911
(8,927 posts)Earlier this month, Speaker Paul Ryan told what was, in theory, a joke. "Every morning I wake up in my office and I scroll through Twitter to see which tweets I will have to pretend I didn't see later on, he said at the Al Smith Charity Dinner, to appreciative chuckles.
Monday, however, was a reminder that Ryan wasnt kidding. Appearing on WTAQ, a Wisconsin radio station, he was asked what he thought of the indictments Robert Mueller had issued. "I really dont have anything to add other than nothing is going to derail what were doing in Congress, he said, and he really didnt. Come Monday night, there was nothing on Ryans web site addressing Muellers indictments. There was, however, a post summing up his busy month, which was cheekily titled Not Another Tax Reform Post and included photographs of Ryan signing bills, handing out medals, and meeting interns.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/31/16579016/paul-ryan-mitch-mcconnell-cowardice-trump