House GOP Puts Politics Over National Security And Votes To Release Phony Memo

In a shameless effort to put politics above American national security, House Republicans voted on Monday to release a classified memo meant to undermine the credibility of America’s intelligence agencies.

Unsurprisingly, the GOP controlled chamber of Congress voted along party lines to release the phony memo, which does nothing but fuel baseless conspiracy theories about the FBI and Department of Justice, which just so happen to be investigating Donald Trump.

As the Huffington Post noted on Monday, “The release of the document is part of a pattern of behavior by the president and his congressional allies — all of it apparently aimed at undermining Mueller’s probe and shielding Trump from scrutiny.”

This effort to thwart the investigation and undermine Mueller’s credibility has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as Trump looks increasingly guilty of obstructing justice. Just last week, it came to light that the president tried to fire Mueller.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Whether it’s Trump’s effort to remove Mueller, his past firing of former FBI Director James Comey or his repeated attempts to put pressure on the FBI to do his bidding, a clear pattern has developed.

As New York Times columnist David Leonhardt pointed out Monday: [I]t’s time for all of us — voters, members of Congress, Trump’s own staff — to be honest about what he’s done. He has obstructed justice.”

In response to the mounting evidence against Donald Trump, Republicans have decided that it’s more important to wage war against the U.S. intelligence community instead of holding an increasingly guilty president accountable. They’ve decided that protecting the GOP president is more important than U.S. national security.

This behavior doesn’t just undermine the current investigation into whether the president’s campaign conspired with a foreign adversary to influence the presidential election. It also has the potential to damage the credibility of any investigation going forward.

In 2016, the GOP rained hell on Hillary Clinton for having so-called classified information on her private server. Now, with Robert Mueller’s investigation on the cusp of nailing Trump, Republicans have no problem using sensitive intel as a political distraction, no matter how much damage they do.

This is government and politics at its worst.

Sean Colarossi

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.