Shame on Cruz, Grassley for Russia scandal cover up

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who himself had a problem with meetings he had with the Russian ambassador in Washington, and who claimed he had recused himself from the investigation of the Russia scandal, should be removed as Attorney General because he violated his recusal by advocating the firing of the FBI director running the Russia investigation.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) should apologize to their constituents for using a recent Judiciary Committee hearing called to discuss the Russian attacks against American democracy to score partisan points on unrelated issues, while showing little interest in combatting Russian attacks against American and European democracy.

{mosads}There are some Republicans, such as Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who have been intensely patriotic and professional about exposing and combatting Russian cyberwar, infowar and espionage against American democracy. Kudos to McCain, Sasse and those other Republicans who perform a service to America and democracy by protecting our security and pursuing attacks against the nation by Russia and others.

By contrast, shame on Cruz and Grassley for acting more like defense lawyers for Trump associates than seekers of facts about Russian hacks and defenders against those attacks. Every intelligence agency believes that Russian attacks against American democracy have occurred, continue today and will escalate through the 2018 and 2020 elections. Do Cruz and Grassley care about this?

Let me repeat for emphasis, some Republicans, such as McCain and Sasse, are acting with intense patriotism and honor while others, such as Cruz and Grassley, are acting to change the subject and divert attention which is the time-honored strategy of cover-up artists.

Politically, Cruz, who is running for reelection as senator from Texas, is playing with radioactive political fire in the Lone Star State. Texans do not take kindly to Russians attacking America in any way.

Cruz is being challenged for reelection by Texas Democratic Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, a rising star in Democratic politics, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Veteran’s Committee. O’Rourke is widely respected by his colleagues in Congress in ways Cruz is not and by veterans who value his service on his committee assignments.

It is politically inexplicable and legislatively disgraceful that Cruz used a hearing called to investigate Russian attacks against America for the ulterior political motive of scoring cheap points on unrelated matters to help his reelection campaign, which polls show is in some trouble.

The Cruz-O’Rourke campaign will reveal how Texans feel about reluctance of Cruz to defend America from Russian cyberwar and infowar. I will place my bet on O’Rourke, after the kind of debate that will occur in states across the nation.

Republican members of the House and Senate would be well-advised to follow the patriotic example of McCain and Sasse, who are fierce defenders of America, than Cruz and Grassley, who were fierce defenders of their own political interests when given the opportunity in committee to defend America against Russia.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then-chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.