House Democrats rally around Russia inquiry
WASHINGTON — House Democrats scrambled Thursday to shield the Russia investigation after the new acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, signaled he would not recuse himself from overseeing the inquiry, though he has repeatedly denounced it in public.
They vowed to revive congressional inquiries of President Trump and formally requested that senior administration officials, including FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel, preserve records involving the special counsel’s office and Trump’s ouster of Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions.
Thousands protested outside the White House, in New York’s Times Square and elsewhere to demand Whitaker not interfere with the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Many fear Whitaker will cut Mueller’s funding or impede the inquiry to protect Trump from further scrutiny.
The battle erupted two
days after Democrats won a House majority, empowering them to hold oversight hearings and demand sensitive documents, and one day after Trump named Whitaker as interim replacement for Sessions, who was forced to resign.
“We’re not as powerless as we were on Monday,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), a member of the House Intelligence Committee. “We now have the authority to be a check on abuses of power.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who called for unity after Tuesday’s election, tweeted that Sessions’ ouster was “another blatant attempt by [Trump] to undermine and end ... Mueller’s investigation.”
“Given his record of threats to undermine & weaken the Russia investigation,” Whitaker should recuse himself, she said.
Whitaker does not plan to step aside because he was not a government official when he criticized the inquiry, according to a person familiar with his thinking who could not speak publicly.
Ethics experts and some ex-Justice Department lawyers have expressed concern about his criticism of the inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump’s team cooperated or broke other laws.
In June 2017, Whitaker dismissed the central question that Mueller’s team is investigating, saying in a SiriusXM interview that “there was no collusion with the Russians.”
That August, he tweeted a link to an article that referred to the “Mueller lynch mob.” He also wrote an oped for CNN saying Mueller’s inquiry was at risk of becoming a “witch hunt,” echoing Trump’s language.
Mary McCord, former national security lawyer at the Justice Department, said the comments “would cause the ordinary person to question whether he can possibly be impartial in taking over responsibility” for the probe.
Former department prosecutor David Laufman said Whitaker’s appointment “raises serious and legitimate concerns about the ability of the special counsel’s office to continue and complete its essential mission without political interference.”
With a new target, Democrats began revving the engines on the committees they’ll control in January.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (DBurbank), who is expected to lead the Intelligence Committee, says he wants to know whether Russians have “financial leverage” over Trump by laundering money through his business.
Another question, Swalwell said, is whether Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, talked to his father after meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Trump Jr. spoke by phone with somebody at a blocked number while arranging the meeting, but Republicans running the committee did not want to subpoena the records to determine who the person was.
The changes at the Justice Department and Capitol Hill come at a crucial time for the investigation.
Prosecutors are weighing charges against longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, under scrutiny for alleged ties to WikiLeaks, which released tens of thousands of Democratic Party emails during the campaign.
Russian intelligence officers stole the emails in a covert effort to boost Trump, according to U.S. intelligence and Mueller’s office. Stone denies wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team is reportedly preparing answers to questions from Mueller’s team after negotiating for months over interviewing Trump.
Whitaker could prevent an interview; Mueller would likely need his consent to make Trump testify before a grand jury.
Whitaker’s appointment could face a legal challenge. Neal Katyal, an acting solicitor general for President Obama, and conservative lawyer George Conway say he can’t act as attorney general because the Constitution requires he be confirmed by the Senate.
“It’s illegal,” they wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “... Anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.”
Whitaker has made no secret of his disdain for the inquiry and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of a special counsel after Trump fired FBI chief James B. Comey in May 2017.
“Hollow calls for independent prosecutors are just craven attempts to score cheap political points,” Whitaker wrote in the Hill a week before Mueller was named.
Whitaker later suggested on CNN that Trump could limit the probe by replacing Sessions with someone who, instead of firing Mueller, “just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.”
Justice Department officials are expected to seek department ethics officials’ advice on potential conflicts.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has blocked proposed legislation to shield Mueller from firing. But a few Republicans called for protecting him.
“It is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds ... unimpeded,” tweeted Mitt Romney, who was elected Tuesday as a senator from Utah.
It’s unclear when Trump will nominate Sessions’ permanent successor, and the inquiry will almost certainly be a factor in Senate confirmation hearings. “No new attorney general can be confirmed who will stop that investigation,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said.