The senator running the Russia probe was a vocal Trump campaign backer, once boasting he sicced the FBI on Hillary Clinton.
On the campaign trail last fall, Republican Sen. Richard Burr told North Carolina voters there was no “separation” between himself and Donald Trump. The Senate Intelligence Committee chairman also bragged about his role in getting the FBI to investigate Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Now, the third-term senator is under fire for running interference for the White House last week on a news report asserting repeated contacts between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. And some Democrats are wondering whether Burr, who also served as a national security adviser to Trump’s campaign, is too close to Trump to lead an impartial investigation.
These Democrats are weighing whether to be more vocal about their concerns in a bid to pressure GOP leaders to create a more independent select committee or outside commission to handle the investigation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that Burr had been put “on notice” by Democrats and that his decision to help the White House rebut negative news stories “certainly gives the appearance, if not the reality, of a lack of impartiality.” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said over the weekend he had “grave concerns” about Burr’s conduct.
Even two intelligence committee Republicans — Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine — made statements over the weekend that the investigation must be seen as credible. Collins said members of the panel must “avoid any actions that might be perceived as compromising the integrity of our work.”
…..
- Discussion
-
Seems pretty important.https://t.co/HfePxrycRg
— John Schindler (@20committee) February 28, 2017
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.