House Democrats came out their briefing from Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein frustrated and convinced that they couldn’t trust anything that the Trump administration says. One Democratic congressman referred to the briefing as “useless.”
Democrats were not impressed at all:
Democrats are frustrated coming out of Rosenstein briefing. Many saying it didn't need to be classified. Gallego calls it "useless."
— Katie Bo Williams (@KatieBoWill) May 19, 2017
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Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) tweeted:
Just came out of the House briefing by the Deputy AG. It renewed my confidence that we should have no confidence in this Administration.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) May 19, 2017
The transcript of Rosenstein’s opening remarks hints at a Trump snow job:
Key part (about his Comey memo) of Deputy AG Rosenstein's statements to Senate and House members over the past two days, from DOJ release: pic.twitter.com/F0j54zDN49
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) May 19, 2017
Democrats weren’t impressed because the Deputy AG stuck to the White House line, and didn’t say much of anything that would justify it being classified. The idea that Rosenstein would come to Congress and give them any new information was wishful thinking, but the one thing that the Trump White House can’t grasp is how much it would help them to be honest with Congress. The fact that this administration is avoiding honesty like it is a fatal disease suggests that what happened during the 2016 campaign is bad enough to topple this presidency.
Republicans continue to try to move the goalposts by moving the focus of the investigation on to Russia. The congressional majority would prefer it if we as a nation would focus all of our attention on what Russia did, and ignore what members of the campaign and the administration might have done.
The fact that Democrats came out of the briefing frustrated and angry is a good sign. House Democrats are hungry for the truth, and they are going to continue to question and fight for a real investigation until they get it.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
