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I always say it’s ironic how much Jeff Sessions hates marijuana when his party is the Party of Treason P.O.T. During the election they were at least passively if not actively complicit in Russia’s interference in 2016. They knew what was going on yet Mitch McConnell refused to cooperate with Obama on a bipartisan statement about Russia’s interference in October, 2016; and in June of that year we had Paul Ryan’s infamous call to keep the fact of Russia’s support of Trump ‘in the family.’
And they may have been actively complicit as well-according to Maggie Haberman many GOP operatives reached out to Guccifer 2.0 and in at least a few races we know of, the GOP did use hacked DCCC emails against Democratic Congressional candidates.
UPDATE: If you think it’s going too far to define this as complicity note that Papaopoulos himself said that if he had used emails stolen by Russia against Clinton it would have been treason.
Since the election the GOP has abdicated its role as providing oversight over the executive, instead acting as his lackeys to protect him from the many investigations he should be subject to, especially the Russia investigation.
The House GOP in particular did not have an adequate investigation-there were no public hearings and, a number of vitally important witnesses were not brought before the committee. As for those who were, the GOP’s modus operandi was basically bringing witnesses like Jared Kushner, Donald Jr, and Michael Cohen and saying ‘Did you collude with Russia?’ The answer, of course, was no, and then the GOP would say-‘See Democrats? There was no collusion.’
Then they shutdown the Russia investigation and despite not even speaking to George Papadopoulous-who’s revelations to Australia’s top diplomat about the Russians having hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton was the initial basis for the FBI opening the investigation into Russia declared there was ‘no collusion.’ Their report also contradicted the opinion of the intelligence agencies that Russia wanted to harm Clinton and help Trump. They claimed there were ‘statecraft’ concerns but didn’t even try to document what these were.
In any case, the GOP doesn’t appear too proud of its ‘report’ as it the link hasn’t been working for the last couple of weeks-while the Dem report remains accessible.
At the same time, the House GOP has setup parallel contrived investigations into Hillary Clinton, Uranium One, and have gone after the FBI itself. They attempted to build the rather surreal narrative that the FBI was biased in Hillary Clinton’s favor-while in truth, to be sure, the FBI’s interventions into the election won it for Herr Trump.
There is a belief that while Trump knows he can’t fire Mueller-at least not yet-he might try to set up the ground where he can do it by firing Jeff Sessions and/or Rod Rosenstein first. Lately Rosenstein has been showing some stiff resolve in the fact of the Trump/GOP attacks.
He really got under Trump and friends skin in boldly declaring ‘The DOJ will not be extorted.’
A new article in the NY Times shows Rosenstein gets it-the GOP Congress is not acting in good faith.
While the House GOP Intel Committee has ended its Russia probe it has not been idle-rather they are now investigating the investigators:
“Since Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee declared that they had found no evidence of coordination between Russia’s election interference and the Trump campaign, its chairman has decisively turned the panel’s attention from investigation to investigators.”
The chairman, Representative Devin Nunes of California, has issued increasingly bold demands for access to some of the Justice Department’s most sensitive case files. He has courted a series of escalating confrontations over access to materials that are usually off limits to Congress under department policy. And when those efforts failed, he threatened top law enforcement officials — mostly Republicans appointed by Mr. Trump.”
Exactly-despite attempts to claim that ‘hardened Democrats’-Trump’s phrase-are trying to take the illegitimate President down-those at the DOJ and FBI in the forefront of this investigation are mostly lifelong Republicans.
“In the latest episode, splashed across cable news this past week, Mr. Nunes demanded more documents and related materials for his investigation into allegations of surveillance abuse by federal law enforcement officials. His claim pitted him against not just the Justice Department, but also officials in the F.B.I., the intelligence community and the White House, who warned that disclosure could endanger a longtime source who is aiding the special counsel’s investigation.
“As Mr. Nunes sees it, the cycle of confrontation is part of a legitimate effort by him and other House Republicans to conduct oversight of obstinate law enforcement officials.”
In truth, it’s part of an effort by Nunes and friends to obstruct the investigation on Trump’s behalf.
“But increasingly, top officials at the Justice Department have privately expressed concern that the lawmakers are simply mining government secrets for information they can weaponize against those investigating the president, including the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.”
“Mr. Nunes was unconvinced by the warnings about the intelligence and law enforcement source, first issuing a subpoena ordering that the Justice Department comply with his latest records request and then a pointed threat to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who is not involved in the case — in contempt of Congress.”
“Look, I just don’t believe that the White House does not want them to comply with a subpoena from Congress,” Mr. Nunes told reporters. “Everything else that has come out about this investigation has been pretty damaging to their activities,” he added, referring to the Justice Department.
Well sure-the WH certainly wants then to turn over the records of those who are investigating the WH! As would everyone who is the subject of an investigation. Nunes speaks as if the DOJ is nothing more than an extension of Herr Trump rather than an independent agency-the highest law enforcement agency in the country.
“Democrats believe the pattern is clear: Mr. Nunes is abusing his authority to undermine the Russia investigation.”
“The requests have also sent waves of tension through the department itself. The F.B.I. is generally opposed to giving lawmakers access to any materials related to a continuing investigation. But Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who is overseeing the Russia investigation, has political considerations to weigh. To completely withhold information could be politically untenable — and potentially put the Mueller investigation at risk — given the support Mr. Nunes enjoys from Mr. Trump.”
After months of giving into requests, Mr. Rosenstein has signaled that he is unwilling to go much further.
“If we were to just open our doors to allow Congress to come and rummage through the files, that would be a serious infringement on the separation of powers,” Mr. Rosenstein said at an event this month, amid reports that another House Republican had drafted articles of impeachment against him.
Meanwhile Paul Ryan is still ‘keeping it in the family’ as he quietly supports Nunes’ obstruction.
“The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, has repeatedly and publicly backed Mr. Nunes. When Mr. Rosenstein and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, came to Capitol Hill in January in a last-ditch effort to stave off an earlier subpoena, Mr. Ryan insisted that they comply and that Mr. Nunes would act responsibly. And when, weeks later, the department took rare public steps to try to block the release of a much-disputed memo drawn up by Republican committee aides from those documents, Mr. Ryan argued that Americans ought to be able to see the memo.
He offered similar support this time.
“This request is wholly appropriate,” Mr. Ryan told reporters on Thursday. “It’s completely within the scope of the investigation” by Mr. Nunes.
UPDATE: Of course Rosenstein’s role appears a lot more ambiguous in retrospect as we know what Rosenstein promised ‘President Trump’ about ‘landing the plane’ and ‘I will see that you are treated fairly’ along with his reference in his resignation speech to all those personal conversations he and the faux ‘President’ had where Trump allegedly showed all this ‘courtesy and humor.’
In retrospect you wonder if Rosenstein’s buckling to the GOP Congress wasn’t about more than just trying to protect the investigation but also his way of ‘treating you fairly.’
As for parallel investigations that was in its relative childhood at the time compared to where it is now over a year later with Coverup Bill Barr at the DOJ.