House Republicans have long been in a kind of political coma, unable to agree among themselves or to craft any major legislation let alone pass it. Then, every time it looks like they are moving in a positive direction, they fall all over themselves to prove you wrong. It’s like some kind of self-sabotaging compulsion.
And they’ve done it again.
Devin Nunes has recused himself from the House Intelligence Committee’s (HPSCI) investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The irony won’t have escaped many that the reason he’s having to recuse himself stems from him knowingly inflicting near fatal wounds on his committee’s investigation.
We know what he did, mostly because he chose to publicise it with press conferences before and after the must-inform-Trump rush-to-the-White-House fiasco. That would be comedic if it wasn’t premeditated obstruction laced with obvious ethics violations. The Chairman of the HPSIC should be fully cognisant of what can and cannot be mentioned in public and what can and cannot be communicated to a subject under investigation by his committee. In Nunes’ case, there’s no doubt he does know the rules yet chose to ignore them anyway.
In the wake of such intentional negligence, it was not too surprising when MoveOn.org and the Democratic Coalition filed ethics complaints against him with the Office of Congressional Ethics, while US House Democrats registered their complaints with the House Ethics Committee. It is the pressure emanating from these two bodies which has forced him to recuse himself while they investigate him.
So that’s a good thing, right? It’s a positive move so… oh.
Then, every time it looks like they are moving in a positive direction, they fall all over themselves to prove you wrong. It’s like some kind of self-sabotaging compulsion.
Yep — and they’ve done it again.
Not that Devin Nunes recusing himself isn’t a good thing, it is but only in and of itself. It doesn’t make anything else better. In fact, republicans are unearthing hitherto unknown depths to their ability to make things worse.
Firstly there’s Nunes’ interim replacement in the HPSCI chair, Rep Mike Conaway. I’ve seen several republican counter-arguments (most are just diversions) but rarely anything as batshit crazy as the Conaway countercharge.
At first glance, I thought the Dallas News headline must be some kind of mistake: “Texas congressman compares Russian hacking to Mexican singers campaigning for Clinton.” But no, there was no mistake. Conaway is equating the use of Mexican entertainers to the electoral interference orchestrated by a Russian network of hackers and spies:
“Harry Reid and the Democrats brought in Mexican soap opera stars, singers and entertainers who had immense influence in those communities into Las Vegas, to entertain, get out the vote and so forth,” Conaway told The Dallas Morning News this week. “Those are foreign actors, foreign people, influencing the vote in Nevada. You don’t hear the Democrats screaming and saying one word about that.”
Of course the others on the committee could try explaining the difference to Conaway but it’s likely to be futile. You see, he has a problem with logic — he just doesn’t get it. Take for instance the logic of: Russia wanted Clinton to lose the election and therefore wanted Trump to win. Seems fairly obvious… but not to Conaway. (Note Comey’s efforts not to laugh out loud.)
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This is the nutcase congressman that Speaker Ryan put in charge of the US House KremlinGOP investigation. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence at all, does it.
Speaking of Paul Ryan, let me make it absolutely clear that he had nothing whatever to do with Nunes’ recusal. He’s not happy about it at all and when asked about the ethics complaints, Ryan responded, “He still has my trust” which says a great deal more about Ryan’s complicity in KremlinGOP than it does about Nunes’ trustworthiness.
Then there’s Harold Watson Gowdy III. The only good thing to be said here is that Ryan didn’t put Gowdy in charge when Nunes stepped aside. But he did elevate Gowdy all the same. As Nunes explained in his ongoing series of daily press conferences, Ryan had put in charge Conaway
...with assistance from Representatives Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Tom Rooney, (R-Fla.) [who] would temporarily take charge of the GOP-led committee's Russia investigation
Not only that but Gowdy is also on the House Ethics Committee and therefore involved in the investigation of Nunes’ ethical violations. After the massive fail of his Benghazi committee, he will be anxious to redeem himself. Expect to see him stepping up at press conferences and doing the rounds of the Sunday shows. It will be Benghazi!!! all over again but without the Benghazi!!! (unless he completely forgets himself). For maximum comedic value I hope it will be “Mexican singers!!!” but I suspect I’m destined to be disappointed in this. It will be all very serious and sweaty though so at least we have that to look forward to.