House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that Donald Trump Jr’s emails were just the beginning, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller impaneled the grand jury because the investigation is heating up, not winding down.
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Schiff said:
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If you look at the context we know from James Comey’s testimony before our committee that he opened a counterintelligence last July. So that means one year later rather than turning that investigation off, rather than concluding we’ve looked at this for a year there’s nothing to see here as the President would claim, instead it’s moving into a new phase with the impaneling of a grand jury, so the special counsel can subpoena witnesses and documents — that wouldn’t be taking place if there was no evidence, no evidentiary basis to move forward.
And of course, we can just see in what’s come out in the last month why that investigation is probably closer to the beginning than the end with these emails about that Don Jr. meeting, three of the top Trump campaign people meeting with representatives of the Russian government effectively who are promising dirt as part of ‘the Russian effort to help your father, to help Donald Trump,’ as well as clear intent by the campaign — Don Jr. saying that he would ‘love’ that kind of help. And now you add on the layer of the President, if these allegations are true, helping to fabricate a false statement about what that meeting was about. I think it is a significant development — not particularly unexpected — and you’re right, you can’t read that this means that indictments are going to follow. But nonetheless, it does mean that the investigation is not only not being turned off but moving into a new phase.
The louder that the White House complains that the Russia scandal is nothing, the deeper the investigation into Trump gets. Trump has taken to complaining about Adam Schiff because Schiff is going on television and keeping the American people updated with as much as he can publicly say about the investigation. Schiff isn’t promoting himself or grandstanding. He is a public servant who is trying to explain the process and keep people informed.
To put it another way, Rep. Schiff is the complete opposite of Donald Trump,
While Donald Trump tries to pretend that his vacation isn’t really a vacation, the Russia investigation is slowly closing in on Trump and his family.
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
