There are some excellent charts doing the rounds of media and social media but I’ve yet to see one that focuses on the connections between Trump’s Russia-addled (mal)administration and members of Congress. Yet such a graphic would not only be of interest in itself, it would also go some way to being a visual explanation of why Congress will shy away from impeaching Trump or any other GOP caught up in KremlinGate.
Who is on the Chart and Why
Devin Nunes chairs the HPSCI (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence). At first he did everything he could to avoid investigating GOP Russian ties, even after the Flynn revelation and resignation.
He was one of three whom Sean Spicer co-opted to contact specific media outlets and use his authority to assure them that the Russia stories were baseless. (Richard Burr, chair of the Senate Intel Committee, and Mike Pompeo were the other two.)
However, a week later, the Sessions story broke and Nunes agreed to investigate Russian connections, even though he’d already been compromised by his avowed denial to the press. That lasted two days by which time he was again stating, without any investigation, that there was no evidence and therefore no case to be made. Less than a week after this, Nunes pounced on the opportunity afforded him by one of Trump’s Saturday morning tweetstorms. He prompted pivoted from investigating Russian connections to investigating non-existent wiretaps.
Paul Ryan appears on the chart because he has steadfastly refused to set up a select committee to investigate KremlinGate or direct any of his committees to do so. While that appeared to be only in order to safeguard the pathway to getting his own agenda passed and signed, it has now emerged that he did have knowledge of Russian interference in the general election and might well be complicit in money laundering via SuperPacs for House and Senate campaigns. He will also be very mindful that Trump will not pardon anyone who moves to impeach him and the likelihood of Ryan’s criminality being exposed before Trump senate trial is far too much of a risk for Ryan to take.
Jason Chaffetz underhandedly assisted Trump’s campaign by leaking Comey’s letter to the press and concocting the monstrous lie re FBI reopening the Clinton investigation. He continues to abet the criminals in the White House by refusing to allow the House Oversight Committee, which he chairs, to investigate any Russian-GOP connections. Instead he launched an investigation into White House and departmental leaks which have been plaguing the Trump (mis)administration since week one.
Mitch McConnell has long been in deep with the Koch brothers but has now added the KremlinGate string to his crooked bow. He first came to notice (though in hindsight, not at the time) after a briefing given to a select few congressional members in August last year. The briefing, given by the chiefs of at least 3 of the 17 Intelligence Community agencies, apprised those members of Russian ties within the Trump campaign. President Obama, also present at the meeting, wanted to go public with the information but McConnell adamantly refused.
McConnell also refused repeated requests to set up a select committee to investigate KremlinGate when it finally did break into the public domain. He continues to maintain this stance, demonstrating that he will do everything in his power to quash any attempt to investigate or prevent confirmation of nominees with Russian ties.
Dana Rohrabacher has long been a Putin admirer. He led a congressional delegation to Russia in February to meet with Russian officials to discuss “how we can work with the Duma.” From the Washington Post:
“Rohrabacher has been criticized for freelancing his own foreign policy”:
Around the time of his election, he briefly joined a mujahideen unit fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. After he won his race, he illegally entered Burma to meet with pro-democracy students. Against advice from the State Department, he became the first congressman to visit Croatia, in August 1991, after fighting broke out between Croatian secessionists and Serbian militants that summer. Ten years later, the State Department reportedly rebuked him for meeting with Taliban officials at a Sheraton Hotel in Qatar.
That history alone should’ve raised a few flags and set off an alarm or several.
Richard Burr was one of the three coöpted by Spicer to call media contacts to refute the Russia stories. Spicer even went so far as to dial the media contacts for Burr and connect him to them via the White House switchboard. As Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr has also avoided any investigations into Russian ties with the Trump campaign and transition team. This might well be because Burr was a member of that transition team. Certainly the volume on his bass actions is turned up to max while his tweeter words are muted.
***
There are a number of others who also belong in this company — all the former congressmen appointed by Trump to cabinet positions plus Sen Rand Paul and who knows how many more. Keep this in mind as information becomes available over the next weeks and months.
***
In order to illustrate why this chart delineates the high improbability of impeachment, we need also to take into account the process.
A Summary of the Process of Impeachment and Trial
1. Formal accusation
2. DoJ or an independent council investigates charges and presents them to the HJC (House Judiciary Committee)
3. HJC reviews evidence and determines if there is a case to answer
4. HJC drafts Articles of Impeachment and presents them to the House
5. House debates and votes; a simple majority determines whether or not the person is impeached
6. Articles of Impeachment are sent to the Senate which conducts the trial
7. Decision is reached via a Senate vote; two-thirds majority is required for a conviction
Why Congress will be Against Impeachment
As is evident in steps 2 and 6 above, rigorous investigation of the charges is undertaken as an integral part of the impeachment and trial process. Everyone listed in the chart (plus others who belong in their company) will do everything in their power to prevent any such investigations for fear it will reveal their own criminal involvement. None of them will want to risk prison and therefore they will work together (either knowingly or incidentally) to avoid impeachment proceedings at all costs.
The solution to the Trump dilemma must come from elsewhere — but that’s the subject of another, future story.