In a week where we have news of Donald Trump’s personal attorney working with pro-Russian forces to craft a deal that hands over Crimea while lifting U.S. sanctions, Trump’s campaign chair being blackmailed over millions funneled to him from Moscow, and Russian officials continuing to brag about their inside connection to the Trump campaign, is it really possible that this could all go away?
On Feb. 14, the New York Times ran a story on connections between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials.
Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.
The story indicated that the connection between Trump and Russia was part of an ongoing FBI investigation. The first part of the story, that such a connection exists, seems dead certain, with confirmation going back to November. The second part, that there’s an investigation … that’s much less clear. Because while Donald Trump is upset that the FBI refused to provide cover on demand, that doesn’t mean the FBI is actually investigating anything. At least, that’s not what they’re apparently telling Reince Priebus.
[FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe] said “I want you to know the story the story in the New York Times is bullshit.”
Later on McCabe calls back and tells Priebus the FBI can’t say anything. “We’d love to help, but we can’t get into the position of making statements on every story.”
“We’d love to help” is not exactly the kind of statement you want to hear from the people who are supposed to be an independent law enforcement agency. But they’re not the only ones pulling out a shovel to help Trump.
Anyone expecting the FBI to actually come through in the clutch and at least partially redeem the agency’s Trump-favoring interference in the election should tone down those expectations.
Priebus asks if he can cite ‘Senior Intelligence Officials’ as saying there’s nothing to the New York Times story. McCabe says yes.
Later on, FBI Director James Comey himself calls Priebus and reiterated much the same thing—story BS, but can’t out out statement.
The impression coming from Comey and McCabe: the FBI is not investigating anything. Of course, that could be deliberate obfuscation on their part. But it wouldn’t be the first time the FBI stepped in to say we’re not even looking at that. The FBI denied a Trump Russia connection a week before the election and even threw dirt onto the idea that the hacking was done to help Trump at a time when every other intelligence agency was jumping up and down about it.
And you can expect that Congress will actively work to dig a hole and kick in any evidence. No special committee. No special investigator. Only a Democratic maneuver to make some of the information public is getting special attention from Jason Chaffetz.
Seeking to avoid a full House vote on the so-called “resolution of inquiry” — a roll call that would be particularly embarrassing and divisive for the right — Republicans will send proposal by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to the House Judiciary Committee for a panel vote on Tuesday, two Democratic sources said. The GOP-controlled committee is expected to kill the resolution.
Meanwhile, Republicans have also dutifully installed Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III as attorney general, where he can both keep an eye on the FBI and put the focus on keeping everything quiet.
So don’t expect help from the FBI, don’t expect help from Congress, and definitely don’t expect help from the Justice Department?
Well … not quite. Even as Trump and the Republicans dig faster, the stream of stories continues. And following Michael Flynn’s departure, it’s clear that the level of doesn’t-add-up is high enough to make it very, very difficult to keep a handle on all the ways this story can escape.
Congress may be trying to bury the story with one hand, but …
Several members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees tell CNN that the congressional investigations are continuing into those alleged Russian contacts with the Trump campaign, despite Priebus' assertion that there is nothing to those reports. …
Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the goal of his panel's inquiry is to follow "leads wherever they go even if they may be uncomfortable to Republicans."
"The American public will want to know if the President had personal or financial ties to the Russian government," Swalwell said.
And at the same time that Comey is supposedly telling Priebus that the Times story is “BS,” he appears to be saying something else behind closed doors.
On February 17, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a briefing with Comey. It's unclear what was said, but senators suggested there was new information discussed about Russia. ...
Sen. Angus King of Maine also declined to reveal what was discussed during the Comey briefing. In response to a question on Priebus' strong denial of the claims, King said he was "surprised" that Priebus would be "that categorical."
As for Sessions’ Justice Department … it is doing nothing. What did you expect?
There’s no doubt this is a critical moment. Trump and Republicans are working hard to bury this story, even knowing that with past scandals the cover-up has generated more issues than the original crime. That’s not true this time. It’s cover up, or get out.
Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.
Emphasis added.