Sen. Mitch McConnell warns Mueller probe into Russian election tampering 'ought to wrap it up'
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Given that prying a substantive comment on the Russia investigation from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is like trying to coax a turtle into doing a peppy dance number we should presume McConnell intended to send a strong message here. “What I thinSen. Mitch McConnell warns Mueller probe into Russian election tampering 'ought to wrap it up'
Given that prying a substantive comment on the Russia investigation from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is like trying to coax a turtle into doing a peppy dance number we should presume McConnell intended to send a strong message here. “What I think about the Mueller investigation is, they ought to wrap it up. It’s gone on seemingly forever and I don’t know how much more they think they can find out,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview with “Behind Closed Doors,” a Washington Examiner podcast. For the record, the premise of his statement is bunk. The investigation into whether U.S. persons assisted Russian government efforts to tamper with a United States presidential election has not been lengthy–by a stretch. It has gone on for only a small fraction of the time that the Watergate investigation did, a considerably more cut-rate affair, and remains several times shorter than the Republican investigations into something something Benghazi. Or, as investigation expert Marcy Wheeler put it, «Mueller has been special counsel for less time than Scalia's [Supreme Court] seat was held open until Gorsuch was confirmed.» So Mitch here is, as is typical for him, being dishonest for the sake of partisan spin. Of more note is that McConnell is piping up with the suggestion that the Russian election tampering investigation be closed at all. The investigation is, from all outside indications, proceeding at a brisk pace. Indictments, both of Russian and American citizens, are already plentiful. As McConnell offered his comment, Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was waiting to learn whether his bail would be revoked after Manafort was caught by investigators in multiple attempts of witness tampering. Also in the news were reports that Donald Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, had been told he could expect to himself be indicted–reports which were quickly followed by leaks from Cohen's friends suggesting that the odds of him cooperating with the investigation in exchange for leniency were high and getting higher (with ample and unsubtle hints that Trump himself could stand to lose the most if Cohen did cooperate, if the put-upon lawyer was not convinced to keep his mouth shut with the promise of an investigation-sabotaging pardon or other aid). In other words, the Republican Senate leader was giving voice to a demand that the Russia investigation close up shop real soon now even as prosecutors once again tightened the noose around the closest members of Trump's campaign circle. That has been the standard reaction from party hacks like Devin Nunes after each major indictment from Mueller's team or related investigations, but having McConnell himself say it in response to the latest revelations of Trump campaign impropriety can be counted as an escalation. Read more