House Dems accuse Republicans of stalling Russia probe to protect Trump

Top House Democrats on Tuesday called on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to “fully investigate” Russia’s threat to the United States and accused GOP lawmakers of obstructing their efforts in order to protect President Trump.

“Russia’s aggression towards the United States and the Trump Administration’s efforts to cover up its communications with the Russians demand an immediate, whole-of-government response,” they wrote in a letter.

Six lawmakers in total signed on to the letter, each of them the top Democrat on a House committee. They include the Oversight Committee’s Elijah Cummings (Md.), the Judiciary Committee’s Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), the Foreign Affairs Committee’s Eliot Engel (N.Y.), the Financial Services Committee’s Maxine Waters (Calif.), the Homeland Security Committee’s Bennie Thompson (Miss.) and the House Administration Committee’s Robert Brady (Pa.).

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The lawmakers accused House GOP leaders of actively undermining their efforts to learn about the extent to which the Kremlin meddled in the election in order to protect the president.

“Yet, Republican House leaders and Committee Chairmen have blocked, stonewalled, and rejected our basic requests to investigate, hold public hearings, and advance legislation to address these matters. House Republicans have chosen to put President Trump ahead of our national interests,” they continued.

They note that their letter comes shortly after the one-year anniversary of the intelligence community’s assessment that confirmed Moscow interfered in the 2016 president election, claiming that “Russia used its influence to help elect Donald Trump.”

“January 6th marked one year since the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its ominous report documenting Russia’s multifaceted campaign to interfere in the 2016 elections and warning that Russia is likely to do it again,” they wrote, adding that they’ve learned “more about the breadth and magnitude of Russia’s growing threat against our democracy and our national security” over the past year.

“We are extremely concerned by the Intelligence Community’s warning that Russia may attempt to interfere with future elections—including the upcoming midterm elections—and we are deeply troubled by the lack of action by the Trump Administration and House Republicans in responding to this core threat to our democracy,” they added.

Shortly after the letter was released, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hosted a press conference with other Democrats to call attention to GOP lawmakers’ failure to fully and sufficiently investigate the Russia ties.

“I have no doubt that if the Democrats were in power, we would have taken action to protect our electoral system. I have no doubt that if the Democrats were in power, the Republicans would be urging that action, but that’s not what they are doing,” Pelosi said at the press conference, adding that “for some reason they are protecting the president.”

The Democrats emphasized that they are concerned about the safety of future elections, including the upcoming midterm elections later this year.

– Updated: 4:15 p.m.