Mueller marches on, while the House GOP covers up

In a partisan and shameful draft report, House Intelligence Committee Republicans are seeking to discredit and debunk the work of American law enforcement and the U.S. intelligence community.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are now leading participants in one of the great coverups in American history.

{mosads}They are acting in contempt of guardians of American security, the bipartisan tradition of congressional intelligence committees and the opinion of the American people who want these crimes thoroughly investigated without the stench and slime of partisan politics.

Let’s give credit to one Republican on the House Intelligence Committee,  Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), who has the integrity and honor to break with other committee Republicans who prepared the shameful coverup report that will soon be formally announced.

It is the united view of American law enforcement and intelligence community leaders that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin attacked America in the 2016 presidential election with the hope of undermining the electoral process.

There must have been celebrations in the Kremlin when House Intelligence Committee Republicans essentially said that Russian operatives are right, and the American intelligence and law enforcement leaders are wrong.

It is the united view of American law enforcement and intelligence leaders that Russian operatives, some of whom are already indicted and with other indictments likely coming soon, continue to launch multi-faceted attacks against America that may, or may not, have been done in collusion with individuals tied to Trump.

The issue of whether there was collusion, or more accurately a criminal conspiracy involving some Americans working with the Russians, is currently under active investigation.  

By contrast, the House Intelligence Committee Republicans amazingly suggest that their congressional investigation should be ended early and that the united leaders of the American law enforcement and intelligence communities are all wrong because, these Republicans falsely claim, the absence of collusion or conspiracy has already been proven.

It was stunning that on the day the United Kingdom pointed the finger at Russia for a murder on British soil, the House Intelligence Committee Republicans drafted a dishonest report aiming to discredit the American law enforcement and intelligence community work defending America from the Russian attack against us.

It takes incredible gall for House Intelligence Committee Republicans to assert that the Russian attack against America in 2016 should no longer be investigated by the Congress.

Put this on the list of reasons that the Republican Congress is so unpopular with the American people and has performed so poorly in a growing number of special elections.

In the end, the epic failure of House Intelligence Committee Republicans matters a great deal to the political future of Republicans but does not matter to the investigation. While the House Intelligence Committee was widely discredited long ago, Robert Mueller marches on with his focused investigation of the Russia scandal.

Mueller marches on, achieving a growing number of indictments of Russians and Americans as complicit in crimes. He marches on, achieving a growing number of plea bargains with Americans who are detailing the dirt to the Feds, to be used at trial in coming criminal prosecutions.

Mueller marches on, interviewing witnesses at length, who will be indicted if they do not tell the truth when they are questioned by investigators.

Mueller marches on in the pursuit of justice and the defense of America against the Russian attack, despite the danger of his being fired in a Saturday Night Massacre or suspected criminals being pardoned by a president in fear of the facts, the truth and the law.

The Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are now leading participants in one of the great coverups in American history, while Robert Mueller, a decorated Marine and lifetime Republican, marches on in his battle for truth, justice and the American way.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.