No one is keener than Paul Ryan to put an end to the House Intelligence Committee's woefully partisan inquiry into Russia's hacking of the 2016 election. Ryan's spokesperson AshLee Strong accused House Democrats of wanting it to "go on forever" before making the case that the only "responsible" thing to do was end it.
It is also the Committee's responsibility to provide recommendations to Congress to ensure what took place last election never happens again. The only responsible outcome would be to get those Committee recommendations in time to implement them before the election coming just this year.
What's that, you say? Republicans are suddenly concerned about preventing "what took place" with the Russia hacking last election by ... er ... indicting the FBI and special counsel investigating the interference. Just wow, Paul, that should really put the kibosh on Vladimir Putin's ambitions.
With help from his bestie Ryan, House Intel chair and White House errand boy Devin Nunes now has a deal to get his hot little hands on certain FBI documents he has been desperately seeking to smear the Russia investigation.
At the same time, two House "Freedom" Caucus members not only made the case for a swift conclusion to the House inquiry in a Thursday op-ed, they proceeded to set their sights on the ouster of Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he doesn't start cracking heads and taking names at the FBI to put end to the rampant corruption they claim has gripped the agency.
It’s amid this chaotic mess that House Republicans, led by Ryan, are ready to bring this wild ride to a screeching halt. Nothing to see here.
GOP leaders on the House panel are eager to wrap up the investigation soon, with influential Republicans saying the exhaustive review has dug through thousands of documents and interviewed virtually every major witness and has found scant evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives to meddle in the 2016 elections.
Exhaustive as in ... not compelling Don Jr. to provide testimony about his phone call with Trump regarding the Trump Tower meeting after Jr. laughably claimed attorney-client privilege to avoid inquiries on the botched response.
Republicans said they were satisfied with Trump Jr.’s appearance. And [Rep. Adam] Schiff told me he’s concerned that if Trump Jr. continues to refuse to discuss this call, Republicans will not press the issue, to avoid determining what happened on it.
“If the majority isn’t willing to find out, then they’re not living up to their commitment to the American people to follow the facts wherever they lead,” Schiff said. “Effectively they’re saying, ‘We don’t want to know where the facts lead, so we’re not going to insist on answers.’ ”
Exhaustive? Seriously, what kind of fantasyland are these guys living in? They've cooked up a completely unsubstantiated FBI corruption charge that they are now using to bludgeon Sessions so they can replace him with someone who will shut down Mueller's probe. Meanwhile, they're burying other evidence and refusing to make certain critical testimony public.
And by the way, have they looked at the polls about the Russia probe lately? Any of them? Because the public doesn't believe even a lick of their hooey.
Americans approve of the special counsel probe by 58 percent, another 72 percent believe Trump did something either illegal or unethical, 68 percent disapprove of Trump's handling of the investigation and 63 percent say he has tried to obstruct it.
If House Republicans shove a truncated and biased conclusion down the throats of a strong majority of Americans who believe there's just cause for these investigations, they can kiss the House goodbye. Right. Now.
Nonetheless, it will be a dark day for the integrity of our republic.