Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday said a special counsel investigation into Russian election interference and the Trump campaign should be allowed to play itself out, pushing back on criticism that he ignores controversies surrounding the president.
“My view on that is let Bob Mueller do his job, let the professionals do their jobs,” Ryan said in an interview with CNN. “This is our Justice Department — I mean, our justice system and the justice system needs to play itself out.”
After the first indictments in Robert Mueller’s probe were unsealed Monday, Ryan simply responded that the news would not derail legislative efforts in Congress. But he disputed the idea that he ignores President Trump’s tweets, comments and headlines.
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“So two guys get indicted and then Congress is going to stop trying to cut people’s taxes, trying to get people middle-class tax relief, trying to reform our tax code so we stop sending these jobs overseas?” Ryan asked. “That would be ridiculous.”
Ryan said Mueller’s probe and the ongoing investigations in the House and Senate into Russian meddilng in the 2016 election aren’t a distraction for Congress.
“This is our job as legislators, is to multi-task, to understand all the concerns and the frustrations that our constituents are facing and to address and deal with those things,” he said. “So I really frankly don’t see this as much of a distraction. You are always going to have high-pressure moments and high-intensity issues.”
The first indictments in Mueller’s investigation were unsealed Monday, implicating former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business associate, Richard Gates.
A third former Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, has pleaded guilty to charges of lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russians.