Under Mountain Of Collusion Evidence, Senate Intel Claims “No Direct Evidence”
President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Former Sergey Kislyak (AP)
Rantt Rundown, Day 754 of Trump’s presidency – Today’s top stories:
1. Another inadequate investigation nears its end: Last year the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee prematurely ended their Trump-Russia investigation declaring they found no evidence of collusion. Since then, there have been numerous revelations that prove that assessment incorrect. Now, it appears the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence committee is nearing the end of their investigation and are making a similar announcement. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R- NC) is claiming the committee has found “no direct evidence” of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. This was a comment President Trump made sure to tout on Twitter.
The ranking member on the committee, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), pushed back:
“I’m not going to get into any conclusions I have… there’s never been a campaign in American history … that people affiliated with the campaign had as many ties with Russia as the Trump campaign did.”
The assessment is contradicted by the astounding amount of evidence of collusion that continues to be reported on every day. We have the at least 16 Trump associates who interacted with Russian nationals, the pro-Russia stances added to the Republican platform, the Trump campaign’s June 2016 Trump Tower meeting seeking dirt on Hillary Clinton, the Trump Tower Moscow Project and the Russian offer of “political synergy, the apparent coordination of Wikileaks releases, and the several times Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort met with Russian Intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik, including in August 2016 when Manafort handed him campaign polling data and worked on a Ukraine Peace plan to lift sanctions. This doesn’t even touch on the oddly capitulating behavior of Donald Trump towards Russian President Vladimir Putin while he’s been in office or the history of alleged money laundering or Russian oligarchs. Those are just a few pieces of the bigger puzzle, which we outlined in this 6-minute Trump-Russia collusion primer.
With the newly Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee ramping up their staffing, the House Intelligence Committee relaunching their Russia investigation, the House Ways and Means Committee aiming at Trump’s finances, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report yet to be released, it might be wise for President Trump to wait before he cries vindication.
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