Democrats should be careful what they wish for: In calling for an independent commission, they could be making a terrible mistake.
Neither of those blue-ribbon investigations—especially the 9/11 Commission, most often cited by Schiff, Pelosi and their colleagues as a model for a Trump-Russia inquiry—offers much hope that an independent commission would accomplish the Democrats’ goals, at least not if those goals include getting to the bottom of this mess in a timely fashion and holding individuals accountable for their wrongdoing.
.. the investigation lasted 20 months, with its final report not issued until July 2004, more than two and a half years after the Twin Towers fell.
.. the 9/11 Commission achieved bipartisan agreement only because the panel abandoned any attempt at individual accountability.
.. I find it mindboggling that, despite blistering incompetence by government officials who ignored evidence throughout 2001 that should have allowed them to foil the attacks, none of those officials were fired or disciplined, let alone prosecuted. Several of the most incompetent and dishonest among them even got big promotions after the commission’s report, including a number still on the government’s payroll.
.. the 9/11 Commission failed on another key issue of accountability. The report was widely read as an exoneration of the government of Saudi Arabia .. despite compelling evidence that at least some low-level Saudi officials were part of a support network for the 9/11 hijackers while they lived in the United States before the attacks.
.. the Warren Commission is even less of a model for a Trump-Russia investigation, if only because it failed at its central mission of convincing the public of the truth about JFK’s murder. Opinion polls have shown consistently since the late 1960s that most Americans reject that panel’s finding that there was no conspiracy in the assassination.
.. That leaves one other likely route for an independent investigation: appointment of a special federal prosecutor, a move the Trump White House would probably see as the worst possible outcome.
.. Partisans in the House and Senate will want to keep their hands in the investigation
.. The Trump White House needs to brace itself for the possibility of multiple, competing investigations
‘There’s a Smell of Treason in the Air’
The greatest political scandal in American history was not Aaron Burr’s shooting of Alexander Hamilton, and perhaps wasn’t even Watergate. Rather it may have been Richard Nixon’s secret efforts in 1968 to sabotage a U.S. diplomatic effort to end the Vietnam War.
.. This is guesswork, but it might have seemed natural for Trump aides to try to milk Russian contacts for useful information about the Clinton campaign. Likewise, the Russians despised Hillary Clinton and would have been interested in milking American contacts for information about how best to damage her chances.
.. The Associated Press reports that Manafort had secretly worked for a Russian billionaire close to Putin, signing a $10-million-a-year contract in 2006 to promote the interests of the Putin government. The arrangement lasted at least until 2009.
.. At some point, I suspect, members of the Trump team gained knowledge of Russian hacking into Clinton emails, which would explain why Trump friend Roger Stone tweeted things like “Trust me, it will soon the Podesta’s time in the barrel.”
.. Treason isn’t necessarily spelled out as a quid pro quo, and it wasn’t when Nixon tried to sink the Vietnam peace initiative in 1968.
.. Republicans should replace Nunes as head of the House Intelligence Committee; he can’t simultaneously be Trump’s advocate and his investigator.
GOP Lawmaker Devin Nunes Sparks New Battle Over Trump Spy Claim
.. Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), who is leading a congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections, shared his information with the media and Mr. Trump before he gave it to other members of his committee. The move drew criticism from members of the committee in the House and Senate, and prompted the ranking Democrat on the panel to redouble his push for an independent investigator to take over the Russia probe.
.. Mr. Nunes, who offered little public evidence for his disclosures other than reports provided by sources he declined to name, said the surveillance of the incoming president’s team appeared to be due to what is called “incidental” collection, meaning that Trump transition officials whose information was intercepted weren’t the intended targets. He added it was “possible” the president himself had some of his communication intercepted, though he declined to elaborate on what sort of information the intelligence agencies collected and how it was collected.
Republicans Are Finding It Hard to Play Defense
The Republicans are correct that the leaks should be an enormous scandal, particularly given the often hysterical arguments about the government’s intrusions into American privacy over the last 15 years. Leaking a president’s conversations fundamentally undermines the ability of the president — any president — to talk frankly with foreign leaders, especially our allies. That’s a huge story.
.. The GOP’s leaky strategy took a hit when FBI director James Comey broke protocol (again) to confirm that there is indeed an active investigation of “any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign” and the Russians
.. More important, Russia’s meddling, despite all of the gossip and misinformation swirling around it, is also a major story — and a much sexier one.
.. The Russians’ first priority — as it is in elections throughout Europe — was to undermine the legitimacy of the democratic process and to sow chaos in the West. In this, they have succeeded.
.. It’s like the “Chicago way” applied to democratic norms. Once one side starts violating them, everyone feels justified in doing likewise.
.. My hunch is that some of Trump’s henchmen were involved in skullduggery with WikiLeaks and other proxies for Russian intelligence (which may explain why some were fired).