Senate Russia probe continues
Committee chairman Graham: ‘I’m not going to be stopped’
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee swiftly moved ahead on Thursday with its investigation of the Justice Department’s Russia probe, voting to allow dozens of subpoenas over Democratic objections.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee chairman, was defiant as he held the vote. The committee rarely pursues subpoenas without bipartisan support. Democrats said the move could affect relations on the panel for years to come.
“You are trying to stop me from doing something I think the country needs to do, and I’m not going to be stopped,” Graham said, responding to the committee’s top Democrat, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Feinstein, a longtime member of the committee, had said she never thought the committee would reach the point where they couldn’t agree on subpoenas.
“I assure you we are not going to be deterred. If we have to do it by ourselves we’ll do it by ourselves,” Graham said. “Somebody has to be held accountable for what happened here, and we’re going to be in the accountability business.”
The vote empowers Graham to issue more than 50 subpoenas of current and former Justice Department officials. Graham said the panel would be looking at how the department went “so off the rails” as it investigated Trump and his campaign for almost three years.
Republicans have turned their attention to a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general last year that found multiple errors and omissions in the applications the FBI submitted to conduct surveillance on a former Trump campaign aide in the early months of the investigation. Graham has said he also wants to look into the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Democrats said the subpoenas won’t effect any real change, but simply revisit the contentious probe one more time.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-del., said the authorization for subpoenas won’t fix flaws with the surveillance, “and will not overturn the results in the Russia investigation, or change the IG’S conclusions.”