\nDuring the Trump Presidency, the self-labelled House Freedom Caucus of\nRepublican extremists transformed itself into what is effectively the Russia\nCaucus, focused almost entirely on shamefully supporting the Trump Administration\u2019s\nblatant efforts to cover up Russian interference in the 2016 Election and its\nown related misconduct at all costs. \nTheir intensive efforts to undermine investigations and denigrate\nfederal law enforcement clearly displayed their motivation and the depths to\nwhich they would sink to blindly protect this President even after his most\natrocious moments of abject failure to the country and the American people. History will hold them all accountable, but\nthe country must first survive this ugly, disgraceful chapter of Republican assault\non our Constitution and democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nTheir new Senate Republican allies, now led by Judiciary Chair Lindsay\nGraham, are using their committee to do much the same. They act against the interests of the\nAmerican people, against the interests of our country, and in violation of the\noaths they swore. Many of these\nRepublicans call themselves Constitutional Conservatives, but they\nhypocritically work against the fabric of the Constitution in blatantly\nundemocratic fashion. They change or\nignore long standing rules to force through judiciary and governmental nominees,\nentirely circumventing the normal, critical, necessary vetting that comprises\nthe confirmation process. Their tactics\nand rhetoric effectively prevent, or at least significantly reduce, the ability\nof the House and Senate committees to perform their duties. This is a Constitutional crisis along with\ntheir ongoing campaign of deceit being waged against the American people. Our government isn\u2019t working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Contrary to Republican myth, the Mueller Report did not in any way exonerate President Trump or his team.\u00a0 First, the investigation confirmed the overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that Russia actively interfered in the election, did so to benefit Trump and hurt Clinton, and that the Trump campaign knew it was benefitting from Russia\u2019s efforts.\u00a0 The investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge conspiracy with the Russians; however, it also condemned the Trump campaign for its conduct.\u00a0 The report was replete with examples of impropriety involving Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials.\u00a0 The investigation, in part constrained by DOJ policy, chose not to seek Trump\u2019s indictment for obstruction of justice, but again condemned him for extensive personal misconduct.\u00a0 The report included a dozen examples of ongoing Trump efforts to interfere with the investigation such as improperly influencing witnesses, public denigration, attempts to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation, etc.\u00a0 Trump and his allies ignored the substantial evidence of wrongdoing, focused solely on the lack of indictment, and fallaciously declared total victory.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nMay 1, 2019, saw a new low in Trump\u2019s ongoing degradation of our\ngovernment institutions \u2013 the hallmark of our Democracy and Constitution \u2013 with\nthe testimony of AG Bill Barr. Barr\nfurther confirmed his role as yet another Trump sycophant, an extremely\nprecarious role for the AG. He has\nassumed the role of Trump\u2019s main defender, forfeiting his role as the nation\u2019s\ntop law enforcement officer (a role that has always required independence). Foregoing accusations of perjury or lying for\nthe moment, it was clear based on this and prior testimony that Barr engaged in\na scheme to conceal relevant information, resist answering fair questions, and to\nsupport the Trump cover-up. Here are\nseveral examples (there are too many to list):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* Barr was dishonest when he told Rep.\nCharlie Crist that he had no knowledge of any disagreement by Mueller or his\nteam concerning Barr\u2019s letter to Congress summarizing the Mueller Report. Mueller had earlier sent a letter to Barr and\nthe two had spoken by phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr was dishonest when he told Sen. Chris van Hollen that he did not know what\nMueller thought about Barr\u2019s conclusions in his letter to Congress concerning\nobstruction. Mueller had earlier sent a\nletter to Barr and the two had spoken by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr mischaracterized Mueller\u2019s concerns about Barr\u2019s letter to Congress,\nstating Mueller was concerned about media coverage. Mueller\u2019s letter to Barr never addresses the media\nbut does express concern about how Barr characterized Mueller\u2019s Report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr tried to assert that the Trump campaign never provided election data to\nthe Russians. The Mueller Report\nincludes a direct finding that Paul Manafort, on behalf of the campaign,\nprovided Russia with election information, specifically concerning their\nefforts in the battle ground states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
* Barr\nrepeatedly testified that the investigation cleared Trump, finding no evidence\nof collusion with Russia. Mueller did not\nlook at collusion (not a crime). He\ninvestigated conspiracy and found insufficient evidence to indict, while still condemning\nthe Trump campaign for improper conduct. \nTrump was not cleared or exonerated in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr continuously attempted to excuse, minimize, or even deny Trump\u2019s actions\nthat constituted obstruction of justice or other impropriety. He was an advocate for Trump, not the DOJ or\nAmerican people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr denigrated members of the DOJ and FBI, repeating Trump\u2019s tired narrative, politicizing\nfederal law enforcement, supporting efforts to harass Trump\u2019s political\nopponents, and deflect public attention asway from the truth. This is not how a leader serves his agency or\nthe nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr stated the President could properly end any investigation into his own\nmisconduct if he thought it was unfair to him, in effect for any reason. That is obstruction of justice, abuse of\npower, and contrary to our rule of law system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*\nBarr attempted to conceal efforts by the White House to push him to investigate\nspecific individuals (arguably misusing the DOJ against his political opponents).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nOn May 2, 2019, Barr willfully violated his subpoena to testify before\nthe House Judiciary Committee. He\nclaimed he opposed the plan to allow staffers (30 minutes total for each side)\nto ask questions after the members concluded their questions. Members are limited to five minutes of\nquestioning. Barr, and other Trump Administration\nobstructionists, previously routinely filibustered the questions for most of\nthe 5 minutes, providing a small, nonresponsive answer at the end and forcing\nthe member to yield to the next. Providing\nstaff 30 minutes at the end was a proper attempt to facilitate substantive\ndialogue to get truth and information out to the American people. Barr attempted to argue this was unusual, but\nin fact this has been done before on both the House and Senate when the\ncommittee deemed it necessary. Barr was simply\na coward, afraid to answer questions, especially knowing he has already been\ncaught in dishonesty and deception to Congress. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLindsay Graham said the Mueller Report matter was entirely closed and would\nnot allow any further hearings, to include Mueller himself testifying. In the absence of indictments, the mantle\npassed to Congress to act in response to Russian interference and Trump\nmisconduct. Graham ignored the fact there\nare still 14 open investigations that involve additional serious allegations. Senator Graham and Russia Caucus – this\nmatter is not over. What IS over,\nhowever, is the Clinton email matter and the matter pertaining to improper text\nmessages between FBI Agent Strzok and DOJ Attorney Lisa Page. The FBI concluded investigations into both\nmatters and the DOJ took action. Nevertheless,\nGraham and the Russia Caucus continue to push for needless hearings to open new\nsuperfluous, baseless investigations into both matters. This is a blatant attempt to attack Trump\u2019s political\nopponents \u2013 a direct affront to freedom and democracy. It is also a despicable effort to distract\nthe American people from Trump Administration serious misconduct and threats to\nour democracy. These are not leaders;\nthey are vile operatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The ongoing Russia Caucus efforts undermine the ability and effectiveness of the government to operate.\u00a0 The American people should not tolerate leaders who stand with Trump, more beholden to Russia\u2019s interests than our own national interests. The Constitution mandates that Congress has the duty, authority, and responsibility to both legislate and provide oversight of the administration as the key to checks and balances between equal branches of government.\u00a0 Republican leaders eschew the Constitution now as something they deem inconvenient to their mission to support Trump misconduct at all cost.\u00a0 They work to sow discord, generate mistrust in our government, and stagnate the government.\u00a0 Our government is now increasingly unable to function despite myriad complex, critical issues facing the nation.\u00a0 It has become more important than ever to vote Republicans out of office at all levels and restore normalcy to our government, enabling long overdue action to address key challenges at home and abroad.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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