The Trump Russia scandal has spread to Congress as Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu (California) and Ruben Gallego (Arizona) read Donald Trump Jr.’s emails on the House floor, and made the case for why the emails are a Trump/Russia criminal conspiracy smoking gun.
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Rep. Gallego said, “On July 11, Donald Trump Jr. released a series of emails regarding his meeting with a Russian government lawyer and an individual associated with Russian intelligence. Don Trump Jr.’s emails are a smoking gun. It proves that the Trump campaign was not only aware of the Russian government’s efforts to meddle in our elections. They were enthusiastic about accepting Russian support.”
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Rep. Lieu discussed why this is a clear violation of the Federal Elections Campaign Act, “If you solicit or conspire to solict, or show up at a meeting, or expect to get opposition research from a foreign national, that’s a violation of federal law, so in fact most people would not have taken this meeting unless they were crooked.”
The truth is that Trump’s emails are evidence of both an intent to collude and the commission of a crime. The reason why Trump Jr. hired a criminal defense attorney is because he may have broken the law.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are trying everything to keep the Russia scandal from derailing their congressional agenda, but they are failing. With each new Russia revelation another piece of the GOP legislative agenda goes up in smoke.
Democrats aren’t playing, and it has been decades since members of Congress took to the floor to accuse a president’s campaign of comitting a crime. Donald Trump can hide. Trump can golf, but he can’t escape the Russia scandal.
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
