Tag: party over country

Jim Jordan seeks to block increased funds for Oversight panel he helps lead

Chairman Elijah Cummings wants to rebuild staffing, but his GOP counterpart does not

As House Democrats ramp up their oversight investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration, businesses, and 2016 campaign, at least one Republican has found a new battleground to push back: funding for the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

That panel’s chairman, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, asked the House Administration Committee on Tuesday for a funding increase of 4 percent this year and 10 percent next year over funding levels from the previous, GOP-controlled 115th Congress.

But Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the Oversight panel, opposed Cummings’ budget request, citing the national debt and criticizing Democratic committee members’ investigative priorities. The Oversight panel — which is investigating the Trump administration’s security clearance policy and the president’s potential conflicts of interest stemming from his businesses, among other threads of inquiry — could use that extra funding to fill “essential” staff positions that Cummings asserted on Tuesday have “long been vacant.”

View the complete March 14 article by Katherine Tully-McManus and Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website.

Trump claims GOP memo ‘totally vindicates “Trump” in probe’

The following article by Jenna Johnson was posted on the Washington Post website February 3, 2018:

President Trump approved the release of a controversial and classified congressional memo on Feb. 2. Here are some of its main claims. (The Washington Post)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump said Saturday morning that a disputed four-page House Intelligence Committee memo that was composed by Republicans and released on Friday “totally vindicates ‘Trump’ ” in an FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including possible ties to his campaign.

“This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on,” the president wrote in a tweet at 9:40 a.m. Saturday. “Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!” Continue reading “Trump claims GOP memo ‘totally vindicates “Trump” in probe’”

House GOP intensifies assault on Mueller probe

The following article by Katie Bo WIlliams was posted on the Hill website January 6, 2018:

© Getty Images

House Republicans are intensifying a multipronged assault to chip away at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

A vocal group of conservative members has for weeks blitzed the airwaves decrying bias in Mueller’s investigation and on Thursday, two prominent members called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down from the Department of Justice (DOJ) — a resignation that could clear the way for the special counsel’s dismissal.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), secured the backing of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to enforce a swath of subpoenas probing the Justice Department’s use of the so-called Steele dossier in the probe. Continue reading “House GOP intensifies assault on Mueller probe”

FBI No. 2 Targeted By Trump Had No Conflict In Clinton Probe, Documents Show

The following article by Ryan J. Reilly was posted on the Huffington Post website January 5, 2018:

Andrew McCabe had faced criticism because his wife received campaign donations from a political action committee affiliated with a Clinton ally.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting on the FBI’s budget requests for FY2018 on June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. McCabe became acting director in May, following President Trump’s dismissal of James Comey. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON ― FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s Twitter tirades, did not have any role in the Hillary Clinton email investigation while his wife was running for Virginia state senator, according to documents disclosed Friday.

Trump and congressional Republicans have alleged that the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state was tainted because the campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe received nearly half a million dollars from a political action committee tied to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close ally of the Clintons.

The FBI documents made public Friday show that McCabe had no oversight of the Clinton email investigation when it began in July 2015. At that time, McCabe was in the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Clinton inquiry was being run out of FBI headquarters. His wife lost her election in November 2015. McCabe didn’t begin overseeing the Clinton investigation until months later, when he became deputy FBI director in February 2016. Continue reading “FBI No. 2 Targeted By Trump Had No Conflict In Clinton Probe, Documents Show”

Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges

The following article by Devlin Barrett and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website January 5, 2018:

Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, shown in London in March. (Victoria Jones/PA Images/AP)

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate for possible criminal charges the author of the now-famous dossier alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 election.

The move by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) marks a major escalation in conservatives’ challenges to the FBI’s credibility as the agency investigates whether any Trump associates committed crimes. Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), joined in the letter to the Justice Department.

Their letter makes what is called a criminal referral to the Justice Department, suggesting it investigate the dossier’s author, former British spy Christopher Steele, for possibly lying to the FBI. It is a crime to lie to FBI agents about a material fact relevant to an ongoing investigation. Continue reading “Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges”

Nunes announces deal for FBI files, interviews

The following article by John Bowden was posted on the Hill website January 4, 2018:

© Greg Nash

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Thursday that he has reached a deal with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for documents and interviews relating to FBI agents who were removed from special counsel Robert Mueller‘s team over anti-Trump text messages.

In a letter detailing an earlier conversation between the two men released by Nunes on Thursday night, the California Republican announced that the House Intelligence Committee will gain access to documents and text messages relating to agent Peter Strzok and his FBI colleague Lisa Page, as well as access to a number of FBI witnesses themselves, later in January. Continue reading “Nunes announces deal for FBI files, interviews”

Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Dept. over Russia documents, sources say

The following article by Laura Jarrett, Evan Perez and Manu Raju was posted on the CNN website January 5, 2018:

(CNN) — House Speaker Paul Ryan backed his fellow congressional Republican, House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, during a meeting over the Russia investigation Wednesday, capping off a months-long dispute between the committee and the Justice Department, multiple sources with the knowledge of the situation told CNN.

CNN reported Wednesday that Ryan met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI head Christopher Wray in his Capitol Hill office, but details emerged Thursday providing new insight into how a nasty inter-branch dispute has quietly subsided — at least for now.

Continue reading “Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Dept. over Russia documents, sources say”

Devin Nunes, targeting Mueller and the FBI, alarms Democrats and some Republicans with his tactics

The following article by Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website December 31, 2017:

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) arrives for a closed House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill on Dec. 19. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

Rep. Devin Nunes, once sidelined by an ethics inquiry from leading the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, is reasserting the full authority of his position as chairman just as the GOP appears poised to challenge special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

The California Republican was cleared in December of allegations he improperly disclosed classified information while accusing the Obama administration of exposing the identities of Trump affiliates on surveillance reports. Since clearing his name, Nunes has stepped up his attacks on Mueller’s team and the law enforcement agencies around it, including convening a group of Intelligence Committee Republicans to draft a likely report on “corruption” among the investigators working for the special counsel. Continue reading “Devin Nunes, targeting Mueller and the FBI, alarms Democrats and some Republicans with his tactics”

Top Democrat warns Trump not to fire Mueller or interfere with his investigation

The following article by Chris Megerian was posted on the Los Angeles Times website December 20, 2017:

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, one of the top Democrats involved in the congressional inquiries into Russian interference in last year’s election, said Wednesday that any attempt by President Trump to interfere with the separate criminal investigation would be a “gross abuse of power.”

Warner, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, delivered his warning from the Senate floor as Republicans escalate their criticism of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of prosecutors and FBI agents. Continue reading “Top Democrat warns Trump not to fire Mueller or interfere with his investigation”