Ranking Member of the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Eric Swalwell (D-CA) slammed a Republican member of Congress on Thursday for complaining that nobody is calling for a special counsel investigation into “the Clinton administration.”
GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold, who’s currently under fire for his own sex scandals, said his constituents are concerned that “no one is addressing the Clinton administration.”
Video of Farenthold’s stunning remarks and Swalwell’s response:
Dem Blasts GOP Rep For Proposing A Special Counsel Investigation Into ‘The Clinton Administration’ #inners pic.twitter.com/2KJc2jn6AW
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— Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) December 8, 2017
Farenthold said, “I just want to reiterate something that I hear regularly from my constituents in south Texas, and that’s a concern we have a special counsel investigating the Trump administration, but it seems like no one is addressing the Clinton administration.”
Swalwell shot back:
It’s the land of misfit toys is what it is. But it’s dangerous for our democracy because nothing gives our enemies more comfort and aid than to watch my colleagues undermine the work that the FBI does, particularly as we know that Russia intends to attack us again as the intelligence community assessment reported. So they see more divisiveness and discord in Congress and a real eagerness to look backward rather than forward. That’s a problem for the job we have to do.
As the Democratic congressman noted, this type of rhetoric from Republicans – which downplays what Russia did simply because it may implicate a president of their own party – is dangerous for the country. It doesn’t just undermine the important work of the U.S. intelligence community, but it also encourages our enemies to wage attacks on our democracy similar to what Russia pulled off last year.
And while Republicans in Congress ignore the special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s involvement in last year’s Russian attack on our democracy and instead choose to focus on the nonexistent Clinton administration, Moscow is likely planning its next attack.
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.
