During the entire presidential campaign, people were suspicious of Trump’s ties with Russia. Intelligence agencies have been investigating the issue. The New York Times reported that Trump’s campaign aides were in with Russian intelligence agents.
The Republicans are making all kinds of excuses for not investigating this further.
1. There’s Already An Investigation
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been spouting that excuse for months. McConnell recently said:
“The Intelligence Committee is already looking at Russian involvement in our election. They can look into whatever they choose to.”
This is important information. Open up another investigation.
2. Executive Privilege
National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned this week because of his communications with the Russian government. Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee leader said that he would not be investigating this because of executive privilege.
What Is Executive Privilege?
From the Library of Law and Liberty:
“Executive privilege is the constitutional principle that permits the president and high-level executive branch officers to withhold information from Congress, the courts, and ultimately the public. This presidential power is controversial because it is nowhere mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. That fact has led some scholars (Berger 1974; Prakash, 1999) to suggest that executive privilege does not exist and that the congressional power of inquiry is absolute. There is no doubt that presidents and their staffs have secrecy needs and that these decision makers must be able to deliberate in private without fear that every utterance may be made public. But many observers question whether presidents have the right to withhold documents and testimony in the face of congressional investigations or judicial proceedings.”
Congress should have the right to look at these suspicious communications.
3. Flynn Resigned
Slimy Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said that the situation is over, but there is still the issue of these communications with Russia. There are a lot of unanswered questions here. What did he say when he talked with Russian diplomats? Were there other officials involved?
Flynn allegedly told Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that the sanctions put down under President Barack Obama’s administration could potentially be reversed. Flynn’s spokesman said:
“While he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
4. They’re Too Busy Tearing Obamacare Apart
Of course, they are using this as an excuse. They are still working on repealing Obamacare and figuring out a replacement for it. Paul Ryan said:
“I just don’t think it’s useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party. We’ll never even get started with doing the things we need to do like repealing Obamacare if we’re spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense.”
Republicans, get your act together and investigate these communications.
Featured image via Twitter
