Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:59 pm
When it comes to whether the Trump administration has questionable ties to Russia, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul admitted Tuesday that he’s not interested in finding out – even as the controversy surrounding Michael Flynn continues to boil over.
Why? Because it’s not “useful” for Republicans to investigate other Republicans.
The Kentucky senator made the comments in a Fox News radio interview when he was asked about Sen. John McCain’s recent calls for an investigation into the Trump administration’s ties to Moscow.
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His remarks:
I think that might be excessive. I think it looks like the President has handled the situation and unless there’s some kind of other evidence of malfeasance, this sounds like something that was internal White House politics and it looks like the President’s handled it. … I just don’t think it’s useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party. We’ll never even get started with doing the things we need to do like repealing Obamacare if we’re spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense.
Besides the fact that Paul essentially admitted that only Democrats should be subject to investigations, there are three things particularly troubling about his comments:
1. He thinks the President has “handled the situation.”
First and foremost, Trump has known for weeks that Michael Flynn was lying about his interactions with Russia. If Paul’s definition of handling a situation is to force Flynn to resign only after the story gets widespread media attention then, certainly, Trump has “handled the situation.”
2. He doesn’t think it’s “useful to be doing investigation after investigation.”
Really? Where was the Kentucky senator when Republicans in Congress were wasting taxpayer dollars doing “investigation after investigation” into the non-scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton and Benghazi? How about her emails? Now, after a legitimate scandal surfaces and prompts bipartisan outrage, he’s grown tired of investigating things.
3. Investigating the Trump administration’s ties to Russia is distracting the GOP from repealing Obamacare.Â
Instead of being concerned that an incoming administration was working with a foreign state and undermining American national security prior to even taking office, Sen. Paul is concerned that this whole mess will distract Congress from taking health insurance away from more than 20 million Americans.
For a Senator that has, at times, shown himself to be a refreshing and independent voice within the Republican Party, his comments on Tuesday were shameful.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
