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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dems Press Conference May Have Contributed to Naming of Special Counsel

Courtesy of Pam Martens

Congressman Eric Swalwell Speaking at Press Conference, May 17, 2017

Congressman Eric Swalwell Speaking at Press Conference, May 17, 2017

Yesterday, an earnest group of House Democrats held a widely covered press conference to variously cajole and shame Republicans into signing legislation that would result in the appointment of an Independent Commission to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 Presidential election. At the end of the day, there was no Independent Commission but there was the stunning news that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has signed an order naming the widely respected former FBI Director, Robert Mueller, to become Special Counsel for the inquiry.

At the press conference, Congressman Elijah Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, chided the Committee’s Republican Chairman, Jason Chaffetz, for repeatedly threatening to use his “subpoena pen” but never actually getting around to doing so. Cummings said:

“In March, just a month after the President allegedly pressured Director Comey to drop the [Michael] Flynn investigation, Chairman Chaffetz and I sent a bipartisan letter to the White House requesting documents relating to General Flynn. But the White House completely refused. The White House is obstructing our investigation, covering up for General Flynn, and refusing to provide not a single document – not a single syllable; zilch, nothing.” (See video of full press conference below.)

Equally strident were the comments made by Congressman Eric Swalwell, a former prosecutor from California. Swalwell and Cummings had introduced legislation in December to create the Independent Commission and as the press conference took place, their fellow House Democrats were circulating a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill. Swalwell made the following appeal to Republicans:

“I just signed the Discharge Petition on the floor and I did it because the costs of these events have become too much for the people that we represent. What is the cost? What is the cost of the President’s alleged ties to Russia? What is the cost of the President’s alleged obstruction into the investigations that are taking place? And what is the cost of the President’s abuses of power in firing people investigating him – in Sally Yates and Director Comey. Well the cost is that our democracy has become a mess. Our ability to help people put food on their table, a roof over their head, and provide opportunity to their kids has been gridlocked and brought to a halt.

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