Riveting Washington in recent days has been the sudden, soap opera-quality feud between President Donald Trump and his one-time right-hand man, Steve Bannon, over a new explosive, supposedly tell-all account of the inner workings of the Trump White House.
Yet beneath that roar, congressional Republicans have made considerable progress in the effort to get to the bottom of the other side of the alleged Russia-collusion scandal.
On Friday, per The Wall Street Journal, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina announced they had asked the FBI for a criminal probe into whether Christopher Steele, a former British spy, had lied to FBI agents in how he assembled and distributed the dossier that contained allegations of Trump’s involvement with Kremlin operatives.
No evidence of the Trump’s campaign collusion with Russia has surfaced yet. But Special Counsel Robert Mueller has secured two convictions — of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, once a foreign policy adviser to the Trump team — for lying to investigators about their contacts with Russian nationals.
Grassley and Graham said Friday that they are not alleging Steele did likewise. But the senators said they had uncovered evidence that suggested as much, and wanted the FBI to review it.
“Everyone needs to follow the law and be truthful in their interactions with the FBI,” Grassley said. “If the same actions have different outcomes, and those differences seem to correspond to partisan political interests, then the public will naturally suspect that law enforcement decisions are not on the up-and-up.”
That suggests Steele must be held to the same standard as Flynn and Papadopoulos.
A Republican donor had hired a research firm, Fusion GPS, to gather opposition intelligence on Trump. That project ended, however, once Trump secured the GOP nomination in the spring of 2016. Subsequently, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid a law firm that hired Fusion GPS, which, in turn, hired Steele to dig up the dirt on Trump for the general election.
Tapping his Kremlin sources, Steele eventually crafted a sensationalistic 35-page memo. Although its contents remain largely unsubstantiated after a yearlong investigation, as acknowledged by FBI officials, Steele floated the document to sources in intelligence, law enforcement and the media.
The question now has arisen whether the FBI used the document to launch a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign — one that led to spying on, and revealing, Americans who had discussions with the Russians. If so, and the allegations against Trump are unfounded, such an action by the Obama administration would reek of a political hit job on a rival candidate — one funded by Trump’s opponents.
On Thursday, meanwhile, a federal judge ruled that congressional investigators are entitled to subpoena Fusion GPS’ financial records, as sought by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The firm has fought releasing those for months, and announced it would appeal Thursday’s ruling. Some observers believe the company is bucking the subpoena because it could reveal Fusion had journalists on its payroll. Fusion GPS was founded by a pair of former Wall Street Journal reporters.
These developments are positive ones in this drawn-out, tortured probe into Trump and Russia.
While that vein has been mined and come up empty so far, the Intelligence Committee has hit paydirt with revelations of the Clinton campaign and the DNC funding Fusion’s and Steele’s efforts, and soon finally getting a look at everyone on its payroll.
Throughout this sordid affair, Democrats and some Never-Trump Republicans have had no problem accusing the president of treason in relation to the Russians — something that has resurfaced with the release of the new book.
But if their real concern — as they claim it is — is about the integrity of our elections and whether the Russians plotted to affect the outcome of the 2016, then we need to know everyone who was involved with Russia and what they did, including Steele and anti-Trump forces who paid him.