Tag: Chuck Grassley

Grassley tests positive for coronavirus

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday evening that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, hours after announcing that he would be quarantining after a potential exposure.

“This morning, I learned that I had been exposed to the coronavirus. I received a COVID-19 test and immediately began to quarantine. While I still feel fine, the test came back positive for the coronavirus,” Grassley said in a statement.

Grassley, who is 87 and third in line to the presidency, added in a tweet that he was “feeling good” and would continue to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Continue reading.

GOP set to release controversial Biden report

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Republicans are preparing to release a report in a matter of days on their investigation focused on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, a move they hope will put fresh scrutiny on the Democratic nominee just weeks from the election.

The controversial probe, spearheaded by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is focused broadly on Obama-era policy and Hunter Biden’s work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.

The GOP report, which is set to be released this week, is expected to argue that Hunter Biden’s work impacted Obama-era Ukraine policy and created a conflict of interest given then-Vice President Joe Biden’s work in the area.

Legal experts explain how a GOP senator’s Ukraine probe enabled ‘three channels of Russian disinformation’

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In an 11-page letter sent on Monday, August 10, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin vigorously defended his Ukraine-related investigations. The Republican senator has denied that any of his investigations have been used to promote Russian government disinformation, but legal experts Ryan Goodman and Asha Rangappa — in an article published by Just Security on August 11 — argue that Johnson has often promoted Russian talking points.

In the letter, Johnson wrote, “It is neither me, (Senate Finance Committee) Chairman (Chuck) Grassley, nor our committees that are being used to disseminate Russian disinformation.” But according to Goodman and Rangappa, “Fellow Republican senators — including the previous and current chairs of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Richard Burr and Marco Rubio — have warned Senators Johnson and Chuck Grassley that their Ukraine investigations could aid the Kremlin. Johnson and Grassley appear committed to going further down that path regardless, taking some of their Republican colleagues down with him.”

According to Goodman and Rangappa, “There are three channels of Russian disinformation that have apparently affected Sen. Johnson’s Ukraine-related investigations.” And those channels are “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives communicating directly with Sen. Johnson and his staff” and “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives spreading disinformation via media outlets, which have been picked up and expressly relied upon by Sen. Johnson” as well as “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives providing information via Team (Rudy) Giuliani.” Continue reading.

‘All I want is a reason’: GOP senator blocks Trump’s nominations until administration explains why it fired watchdogs

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Thursday said he would block two Trump administration nominations until the White House explained why it fired two federal watchdogs.

Grassley had previously sent letters to President Donald Trump asking for explanations after the firings of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

The White House counsel responded to Grassley’s letter in late May about Linick’s ouster, but it “failed to address” the requirement that there be a “good reason” for such a termination, Grassley said at the time. Continue reading.

GOP chairmen stake out turf in Obama-era probes

The Hill logoGOP chairmen are carving out their turf in controversial probes stemming from the Obama administration.

Senate Republicans are set to escalate their investigations on Thursday, when two panels will vote on dueling subpoenas that have significant areas of overlap.

But Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)—who chair the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, respectively — say they are trying to avoid a jurisdictional fight as they prepare to do a deep dive into decisions stemming from the Obama era.  Continue reading.

Grassley says White House response on IG firings insufficient

Washington Post logoA senior Senate Republican criticized the White House late Tuesday for what he deemed an insufficient response to demands from senators to more fully explain President Trump’s controversial recent ousters of two inspectors general.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a longtime defender of the dozens of independent government watchdogs placed throughout the federal government, released the five-page response from White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Tuesday evening.

Senators had raised concerns about the abrupt dismissal of Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general and had alerted Congress to a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival — a chain of events that led to Trump’s impeachment and eventual acquittal in the Senate. Grassley also demanded an explanation for the ouster of Steve Linick, the inspector general for the State Department who had started to investigate alleged misconduct on the part of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans Suddenly Call For New Biden Probe

A top GOP senator on Sunday announced new actions in a Republican-led investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — less than 24 hours after the elder Biden’s primary victory in South Carolina.

According to CBS News, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to his colleagues on Sunday, saying he wanted to subpoena witnesses related to Hunter Biden’s role at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Johnson, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) initially launched the investigation in November to back up Donald Trump at the height of his impeachment inquiry. Continue reading.

GOP duo moves ahead with Biden investigation

The Hill logoA pair of influential GOP Senate chairmen are plowing ahead with a wide-ranging probe related to the Bidens and Ukraine, sparking a new round of tensions..

With the months-long impeachment fight in the rearview mirror, Republicans are hoping to speed up their investigation, which has included document requests related to work done by former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the two GOP chairmen involved in the investigation, said he hoped the end of the impeachment trial would break the “logjam” on their requests for information. Continue reading.

Treasury Department Hands Over Hunter Biden Info After Withholding Trump’s Tax Records

The impeachment trial is over, but Senate Republicans are pressing forward with an investigation into the Bidens

WASHINGTON ― The Treasury Department has given congressional Republicans sensitive financial information related to Hunter Biden after having refused to give Democrats President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Yahoo News first reported Thursday that the Treasury Department handed over highly confidential information in response to a November request from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) for suspicious activity reports filed with the department by financial institutions.

Last year, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin blocked a Democratic request for the president’s tax filings, saying Democrats had no legitimate legislative purpose for seeking the documents.

 

A second Senate Republican just broke with Trump on the Ukraine whistleblower

AlterNet logoRepublican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa took a stand at odds with President Donald Trump on Thursday, defending protections for whistleblowers as the White House fights back a scandal sparked by alarms raised in the intelligence community.

Trump has engaged in outright attacks on the whistleblower who alerted officials about the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating his potential political rival Joe Biden. He has called the intelligence community member partisan, suggested that the person and those that provided the information in the complaint are guilty of treason and could deserve the death penalty, and said that he is trying to uncover the whistleblower’s identity.

As NBC News reported, Ernst joined Sen. Chuck Grassley, the other Iowa Republican in the Senate, who stood up for the whistleblower earlier in the week.

View the complete October 4 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.