As Rep. Adam Schiff vehemently noted, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are doing nothing more than putting Trump and their party above the nation and the people.
House Republicans have had every chance, and ample warning, to investigate Donald Trumps shady ties to Russia. But their priorities apparently lie elsewhere.
Monday evening, over the unanimous objection of Democrats, the GOP majority on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release a memo from chairman Devin Nunes, which alleges widespread abuse of surveillance power against Trump campaign official Carter Page. But they will not release any information about the actual intelligence that supposedly informed the memo. According to other members of the committee, that intelligence also provides crucial context that contradicts the memos underlying claims.
The committee also voted against the release of another memo from Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the committee, which disputes many of the claims in Nunes memo.
Schiff made his thoughts on the move quite clear.
"It is a sad day," Schiff told reporters on Capitol Hill following the vote. "Today, this committee voted to put the presidents personal interest, perhaps their own political interest, above the national interest."
Breaking: "It is a sad day.. today this committee voted to put the President's personal interest, perhaps their own political interest above the national interest" - Rep. Adam Schiff on House decision to release Nunes memo: pic.twitter.com/kaXSpKHlR8
TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) January 29, 2018
Schiff added that the entire affair was a "charade" to "circle the wagons around the White House and distract from the Russia probe."
Schiff has been been sounding the alarm for nearly a year about his Republican colleagues' efforts to slow-walk or obstruct investigations into Trump. Last April, he warned that the investigation was understaffed. The evidence, indictments, and guilty pleas have grown considerably larger since then.
According to the Washington Posts Robert Costa, Schiff further said FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned him he has "concerns" about the memo, and would have wanted to consult on the matter before the committee made a decision.
Astonishingly, Republicans on the committee voted to open investigations of the FBI and the Department of Justice, but against even allowing Wray to brief the committee on the intelligence that they claim is so important.
The Republican Party is abusing the power of the House Intelligence Committee not only to wage war against federal law enforcement officials seeking to uncover the truth in the Russia matter, but to silence federal investigators from responding to their baseless claims all without a shred of input from the minority members of the committee.
As Schiff noted, they are doing nothing more than putting Trump and their party above the nation and the people.
