Whether or not the president and his allies are fond of such a thing being the case, the Russia investigation is continuing to move forward. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has so far brought charges against four former Trump associates and an array of other interests, and his inquiry is still very much open.
That does not mean, however, that the president and his allies are likely to cease their attacks on the FBI, which started the Russia investigation under the now fired James Comey, anytime soon.
Allegations have flown in the president’s camp of the FBI having acted inappropriately and/or illegally in its founding of the Russia investigation, but on Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed that he would not be appointing a second special counsel to investigate those allegations. The alleged issues at the FBI include the agency having supposedly used politically biased information when obtaining what was eventually a series of surveillance warrants on former Trump associate Carter Page. The agency allegedly concealed the nature of that information from the judge who granted the warrant.
Sessions did not dismiss the allegations entirely when revealing he would be declining to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the claims. Instead, he revealed that prosecutor John Huber — who happens to be an Obama appointee — had been investigating and would continue to investigate the claims of FBI misconduct.
This revelation has not sat well with some. After all, if an investigation of the FBI is kept in-house at the DOJ, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions himself will preside over the outcome, and it’s not as though Sessions is a model of impartiality.
Speaking to the issue on CNN, Democratic U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell of California commented:
‘I actually don’t think there needs to be an investigation. There has not been a showing of wrongdoing, and so I think this minimal investigation he’s doing is just an effort to sing for his supper, to appease Donald Trump — but I think giving any light to this is just an effort to distract away from a lawful investigation into what Russia did and who they worked with.’
Check out the video of Rep. Swalwell’s appearance on CNN below.
Rep. Swalwell on FBI misconduct investigation: There shouldn’t even be a minimal investigation, Sessions is trying “to appease Donald Trump … giving any life to this is just an effort to distract” from the Russia investigation https://t.co/PMS8KKPf3T pic.twitter.com/PlDO343w3o
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) March 29, 2018
Sessions, as Rep. Swalwell suggested, certainly has a good reason to “sing for his supper,” as he put it. Reporting about other now ousted administration members being soon on their way out has proven prescient, and Sessions’ name has long been thrown in that mix.
The president has expressed frustration with Sessions having recused himself from the Russia investigation, seemingly under the impression that if the former Alabama Senator had stayed on, the inquiry would have gone more to the president’s liking. It was the man who took over the investigation from Sessions — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
As Rep. Swalwell pointed out during his appearance on CNN, the threat from Russian interference to our elections has not gone away, and yet, the president and his allies are continuing to spend their time attacking institutions of American law and order.
At one point, a lawyer working for the president went so far as to directly call for the Mueller probe to be ended, but that lawyer — John Dowd — eventually made it clear that he was not speaking on behalf of the president and has since left the president’s team.
Featured Image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images
