McConnell embraces subpoena of Obama-era officials

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled on Tuesday that he is backing efforts to subpoena Obama-era officials.

McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, referenced Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) announcement that he will schedule a vote for a wide-ranging subpoena on June 4.

“Senate Republicans are taking steps to issue new subpoenas to a wide variety of Obama administration officials. … The American people deserve answers about how such abuses could happen. And we intend to get those answers,” he said.

Graham announced on Monday evening that that he would have the committee vote on the subpoena as part of an investigation into the court established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and “Crossfire Hurricane,” the name for the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Graham’s subpoena would cover dozens of officials including Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and former FBI Director James Comey.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is also months into a wide-ranging probe on potential wrongdoing or conflicts of interest stemming from the Obama administration and has indicated that he will also look into the investigation of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

President Trump has publicly pressured Republicans to dig into decisions stemming from the Obama-era Justice Department and FBI.

“Mitch, I love you, but this is 100% true. Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late. The Dems are vicious, but got caught. They MUST pay a big price for what they have done to our Country. Don’t let them get away with this!“ Trump tweeted over the weekend in reference to the Obama administration.

McConnell, on Tuesday, said the Obama administration used the FISA court to “snoop” on Trump’s campaign. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz found a total of 17 inaccuracies and omissions in the FISA warrants involving former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Horowitz said in his report that he did not believe the opening of the investigation was motivated by political bias. 

“This is just one of the realities that President Trump’s Democratic critics spent years calling conspiracy theories or inventions of the president’s mind. Yet here it is, in black and white, from exactly the kind of independent inspector general that Democrats rush to embrace when convenient,” McConnell said.