How we get politics out of the inquiry into Russian influence.
As America faces an external threat to the sovereignty of our elections, the head of the House Intelligence Committee stages political theater — and the president pretends it’s all about him. Let’s get one thing clear: Russia’s attempt to influence our election was intended to destabilize our democracy. It needs to be investigated with a maturity level not yet demonstrated in Congress or at the White House.
This isn’t partisan politics as usual. It’s not about President Donald Trump. It’s not about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. It’s about the United States.
It’s time for an independent commission to investigate this with the seriousness it deserves.
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain gets it.
“I’m calling for a select committee, because I think this back-and-forth shows that Congress no longer has the credibility to handle this alone,” he said.
This followed what McCain characterized as a “bizarre situation” in which Republican Rep. Devin Nunes put on a distracting performance two days after FBI Director James Comey gave chilling testimony to the House Intelligence Committee that Nunes chairs — the committee that’s investigating Russia’s meddling.
On Monday, Comey said Russia’s “Number 1 mission was to undermine the credibility of our entire democracy” and “we have to assume they’re coming back.”
Comey said Russia’s efforts were “unusually loud” and easy to trace. The stories boosted Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s image at home and sent a message to the United States. Other intelligence, cybersecurity and Russia experts agree. Ponder that. Comey is no friend of Clinton. He has no interest in attacking Trump.
He’s turning on a light — and we need to take a hard look at how Putin is attempting to manipulate information to destabilize our country.
Nunes sent up a smokescreen — and we need to get beyond this kind of distracting political posturing.
On Wednesday, Nunes told reporters and the White House that conversations by members of the Trump transition team had been incidentally swept up in electronic surveillance.
He did so without first notifying members of the committee he chairs, which led the ranking Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, to call for the same thing McCain wants: an independent investigation.
Trump operatives were likely talking to individuals who were under surveillance by U.S. intelligence. Yet Trump seized on Nunes’ announcement as proof of his claim that the Obama administration had wiretapped him.
“When I said ‘wiretapping,’ it was in quotes,” Trump told Time magazine’s Washington reporter.
OK, then. Apparently it all depends on what the definition of “wiretapping” is.
We expect more precision when the president of the United States is making a sweeping accusation of illegal espionage by his predecessor — and using that accusation to distract the country from focusing on a real threat to our national sovereignty. At least, we used to. During his testimony, Comey said he “has no information that supports” Trump’s charge that the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower.
Comey also said the FBI is investigating Russian interference in the election, as well as whether the Trump campaign “coordinated” with the effort.
Nunes told Comey his testimony put “a big, gray cloud” over the White House and the people “who have very important work to do to lead this country.”
Perhaps he should have invited Little Mary Sunshine to testify.
Again, it is important to point out that this is not about Trump. It’s about foreign interference in our election. Unlike Trump’s claims about being wiretapped, that is a real fact.
The heads of U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia did intentionally interfere in the 2016 election, and that Russia did so to benefit Trump.
There is no evidence yet that Trump’s campaign coordinated with Putin’s people. But there are a lot of questions — including increasing concerns about connections between Trump insiders and Russia.
Most recently, there is the Associated Press report that prior to becoming Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian billionaire on a plan to “greatly benefit the Putin administration.”
Meanwhile, back in Congress, Nunes, a former member of the Trump transition team, is an odd choice to head up a committee investigating the election that brought Trump to power.
Nunes’ press conference took that from odd to deeply disturbing.
His political theatrics — and Trump’s eagerness to use the sideshow to further obfuscate the real issue — make it painfully clear why an independent investigation is needed.
You can bet Putin is enjoying the show.
Americans should not put up with it.