GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz suddenly discovered this week that a 12-year-old injury needed urgent attention and announced he would be leaving town for a multi-week sabbatical by Friday. Assuming no scandalous details emerge to claim credit for Chaffetz's quick exit and imminent retirement from Congress, he is arguably the progressive grassroots' biggest prize yet related to investigations of Donald Trump.
It was the spellbinding town hall of nearly 1,000 people chanting "Do your job!" at an ambitious congressman with a plum committee chairmanship that laid the groundwork for Chaffetz's retreat. After an unusual show of bipartisanship at a Tuesday press conference with his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Elijah Cummings, and the stunning assertion that ousted Trump adviser Michael Flynn probably violated the law, Chaffetz had no good options. He simply hadn't signed up to be a central player in an investigation that threatens to take down a Republican president and perhaps a cadre of his GOP colleagues. In a separate press conference Thursday, Cummings even went a step further to say the White House was "covering up" for Flynn.
Columnist E.J. Dionne marveled this week that despite Russia-related headlines peppering Trump's first 100 days, the pr*sident himself has emerged mostly unscathed from those repeated bombshells.
Recall that just a little over a month ago, FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee that the bureau was investigating possible cooperation between Trump’s team and Russia’s hacking and disinformation campaign to undercut Hillary Clinton. As the New York Times wrote, Comey’s testimony “created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump.” Yet the president slipped by.
In mid-February, the administration should have come under sustained inquiry when Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, was forced to resign because he misled White House officials about the nature of his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
If you think about it, Russia scandals have dominated Trump’s first 100 days. Though Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation and Trump’s erratic foreign policy forays have long-term implications, the only story that has rivaled Russia’s persistent pervasiveness has been the administration’s bumbling attempt to pass Trumpcare, Trumpcare 2.0, and finally, Trumpcare 3.0 (may they all RIP forever).
Yet Team Trump just keeps gliding along. In an ultimate show of hubris, White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed this week that blame for the failure to properly vet Flynn should be laid at the Obama administration’s doorstep. It's beyond preposterous—it's infuriating. President Obama fired Flynn; Trump gave him a national platform while he was literally working as a foreign agent, then hired him into the most sensitive national security post in the White House—either failing to update his security clearance or ignoring the content of that update. And now they’re claiming that’s Obama’s fault?
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2pJsjZ5
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