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Two House Freedom Caucus members have declared the Russia investigation over, exonerated Donald Trump of any wrongdoing, and launched a war on embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a Washington Examiner op-ed published Thursday.
The big beef of Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) is that they aren’t getting the information they want about the now infamous Steele dossier—the document Republicans are fond of claiming the FBI used to initiate its investigation into Team Trump’s ties to Russia. House Republicans’ urgency about getting their little mitts on the FBI intel skyrocketed after the New York Times reported that the inquiry’s genesis came after former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos divulged over drinks to a U.S. ally that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Meadows and Jordan are particularly concerned about that reporting along with the incessant drip, drip, drip of revelations about Trump’s Russia contacts.
“Hearings, leaks, and so-called ‘bombshells’ saturated the mainstream media coverage almost immediately after the 2016 presidential campaign concluded. Sadly, manufactured hysteria on this issue throughout 2017 has frequently masked the substantial accomplishments of President Trump’s administration—some that qualify as historic.”
"There is no evidence of any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians," they write, adding, "The absence of evidence is not due to a lack of examination." Let’s face it, if you have to resort to these type of declarations, you’re losing.
After devoting two-thirds of their op-ed to dispelling the notion that any collusion or conspiracy existed, they conclude that it’s time for the FBI to move on and finally reveal their real motive.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world. It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations. If Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general?
Sadly, it seems the answer is now.
Sadly, Meadows and Jordan are trying to undermine our foundational principle of checks and balances. They are obviously trying to clear the decks for the removal of Sessions and the installation of an Attorney General who can oust Robert Mueller and stymie his Russia investigation.
As I have argued before, this would be an extreme political misstep for Republicans heading into the 2018 midterms, where voters will feel the natural pull to put a check on the GOP’s nearly unfettered control of government right now.
But it would also push us into a full-on Constitutional crisis that likely wouldn’t be worth the political gains at the polls. Nonetheless, House Republicans appear to be intent on testing the limits of their power.