Congressional Democrats Should Fish or Cut Bait on Partisan Investigations

After 675 days, 2800 subpoenas, 500 search-and-seizure warrants, 500 witness interviews, 230 orders for communication records, 50 orders for use of pen registers, 13 requests to foreign governments, 34 indictments and $35 million in costs, Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his 448-page report which is now public with some redactions. This investigation involving 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents and staff, “did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia….”. On the issue of obstruction, the “report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” More importantly, the report found no evidence of any Americans coordinating with Russia in its election interference activities.

Despite the exoneration on “collusion”, Congressional Democrats have continued their investigations. After repeated assertions of collusion by many Democrats and the media over two years, it appears that instead of accepting the conclusions of Mueller’s investigation, they are doubling down on their failed predictions. Latching on to short phrases in the report such as “does not exonerate”, they have been pursuing the path of endless investigations.  To quote Paul Gigot of The Wall Street Journal, Democrats are “claiming obstruction of justice on an investigation that was not obstructed, on a crime that did not happen”. At least five Congressional committees are actively investigating either the President or his administration. Jerry Nadler’s Judiciary committee alone has sent out subpoenas requesting information from 81 people and entities.

The collateral damage from these investigations is significant and has received little to no attention. When you are subpoenaed by a Congressional committee, you will need legal representation. As these investigations continue ad infinitum, legal bills start to pile up. For an average American, this could easily mean a second mortgage on the house or even foreclosure on their home as legal bills come due. In addition to the legal bills, there is the lost time from work. Serving America as part of an administration is a great honor and this is no way to thank someone for their service. Elected politicians like the President will not be financially hurt by such investigations as they can set up a legal defense fund and raise money. It is the average American who makes sacrifices to do the right thing who gets hurt in the process.

More importantly, Mueller’s report clearly states that “Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion”. Russians hacked into servers, infiltrated computer networks, introduced malware and attempted to manipulate voters using an extensive campaign to undermine our Democracy. Yet, we have heard precious little from our elected officials on this major interference by Putin and his thugs. Democrats in the House are too busy investigating the President with whatever excuse they can find, and the President is too busy firing back at them. While our elected politicians are sniping at each other, who is paying attention to Putin? What is the purpose of a House Intelligence Committee if they are not going to address Russian interference and overseeing the development of countermeasures to prevent reoccurrence?

One final point: If the Democrats believe the president obstructed justice, they should proceed with articles of impeachment. If not, they should end the investigations, stop wasting taxpayers’ money, and return to minding the people’s business. They should stop using the investigations to create a cloud of uncertainty and to stifle progress. It’s time for Congressional Democrats to fish or cut bait.