Now that his endless follies and from-the-White House/to-the-White House circular briefing have forced Devin Nunes to step out of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russia connections, there’s a new sheriff in town.
[Mike Conaway] is taking over the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election. He is replacing Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican whose suspiciously cozy relationship with Mr. Trump derailed the inquiry before he was ultimately forced to step aside.
Conaway didn’t slide into office hanging onto Trump’s overlong tie, and he’s not a tea party remnant. He’s a Bush leftover. His history with W goes back to working for Bush’s oil company, then being appointed to a state board when Bush was governor, then having Bush boost him into a congressional seat in 2004. Since then Conaway has done … pretty much nothing but reliably pull the lever for every Republican initiative.
Unlike Mr. Nunes’s fealty to Mr. Trump, Mr. Conaway’s loyalties lie with the Republican Party.
So … he’s not a Trump pal, but he’s a party-first Republican who has demonstrated zero tendency to stray from the hard red line. He’s also a heavy-duty evangelical who thinks God has cursed America because of abortions and “Hollywood filmmakers.” And speaking of films …
In January, in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Mr. Conaway likened Russian interference in the election to Mexican stars who campaigned on behalf of Hillary Clinton, remarks that he struggled to explain to a handful of incredulous constituents last week. He conceded that he had done “a poor job of nuancing what I was trying to get at.”
That’s right. The guy who compared telenovela stars speaking out for Hillary to Russian’s hacking emails and planting stories to support Trump, is now the person heading up the investigation.
Actors. They’re the worst. But the intelligence community is also bad.
Last month, during the Intelligence Committee’s public hearing with the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, Mr. Conaway cast doubt on the intelligence community’s assessment that President Vladimir V. Putin and other Russian officials had sought not only to harm Mrs. Clinton but also to help Mr. Trump.
Conaway believes Mexican actors in commercials represent foreign interference in the election, and that the FBI can’t be trusted when it says that Putin was out to help Trump. What else could make his move to the front less than fantastic when it comes to moving the investigation forward?
To some in Mr. Conaway’s district, the investigation into Russian interference looks like a politically motivated attempt to discredit Mr. Trump. …
That skepticism comes with a risk for Mr. Conaway back home: that the investigation could uncover something, casting him as the inquisitor against his party’s president.
“He could be held to blame by Republicans and by his constituents for being the ringleader that found what was happening,” Mr. Rottinghaus said.
Okay, let’s recap. Conaway doesn’t trust the FBI, or actors, and is worried that should he actually find anything, the Trump folks back home could blame him for actually investigating crimes that should have been ignored. It’s not often that “ringleader” is tied to the phrase “found what was happening.”
Because for Trump supporters, uncovering the truth is the real crime—one that Conaway shows every sign of avoiding.
Oh, and if you think it’s just Mexican actors who come in for Conaway’s scorn …
An ordained Baptist deacon, he is known to conclude speeches with jarringly ominous words about regaining God’s favor for a country defiled by abortion practitioners and Hollywood filmmakers.