GOPers Fume At Republican Colleagues On Senate Intel Over Don Jr Subpoena

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) talks to reporters as he heads to vote to begin debate on a bipartisan criminal reform bill, called the 'First Step Act,' at the U.S. Capitol Dece... WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) talks to reporters as he heads to vote to begin debate on a bipartisan criminal reform bill, called the 'First Step Act,' at the U.S. Capitol December 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump said he would sign the legislation, which would reduce the number of inmates in the nation’s crowded prisons by giving judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for nonviolent crimes and strengthen rehabilitation programs for former prisoners. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Top GOP lawmakers are not pleased that their colleagues on the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee haven’t let the Russia probe die as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell instructed earlier this week.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) scolded the Republican members of his own committee for its decision to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday. He said he planned to talk to the chairman — Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) — and other members about “what we need to do to wrap up our investigation.” Despite the fact that the subpoena vote was bipartisan, Cornyn said the decision “smacks of politics.”

“I think we have an important job to do to try to keep the intelligence committee out of politics,” he said, adding that he sympathized with Trump Jr.’s “frustration.”

Democratic members of the committee have been pushing to review Trump Jr.’s testimony against key findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report since it came out. Lawmakers were specifically interested in his statements about the Trump Tower Moscow deal. In past Senate Intelligence Committee testimony, Trump Jr. claimed he knew very little about the plans.

Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis both invoked McConnell’s words to blast fellow Senate Republicans. Earlier this weekend in a speech from the Senate floor McConnell hit Democrats for keeping the Russia investigation alive with their oversight subpoenas.

“I agree with Leader McConnell: this case is closed,” Tillis tweeted.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tweeted in defense of Trump Jr. and parroted a President Trump talking point by reiterating there was “NO collusion.”

“It’s time to move on,” he said.

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Notable Replies

  1. To hell with the GOP, Trump started this mess two years ago today by firing Comey.

  2. I am surprised that Burr is allowing this to proceed. He reportedly was feeding information to the WH in the early days of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation. Maybe he doesn’t want his name to go down in history with the same infamy as his 12th cousin, Aaron Burr. I still wouldn’t trust ANY Republican as far as I could spit them.

  3. “It’s time to move on. It’s time to focus on ISSUES, not investigations.”

    Seriously, do GOPers still remember how to focus on issues?

  4. Two top Republican lawmakers are not pleased [with] their colleagues on the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee

    That sounds ominous, and then you discover that the two in question are Rand Paul and Kevin McCarthy.

  5. It’s time to focus on ISSUES, not investigations. https://t.co/fbFH5uMLUz

    — Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 8, 2019

    Have any GOP members in Congress introduced bills specifically designed to stymie Russian interference in our election systems, and laying out future sanctions should they evade the legislated measures meant to deter them?

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