Democrats Demand: What Did the President Know and When Did He Know It?
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Democrats demand that Flynn’s resignation spur on broader Russia investigation
Democrats hold no levers of power in Washington, but they have pulled out their megaphones to demand that Mr. Flynn’s resignation open the first chapter — not the last — of investigations into contacts between Trump aides and Moscow — during and after Mr. Trump’s campaign for president.
“Nothing about this resignation, or resignations that could occur in the future, precludes the Senate Intelligence Committee from continuing to investigate Gen. Flynn, or any other campaign official who may have had inappropriate and improper contacts with Russian officials prior to the election,” said Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “It is clear that our task is more urgent than ever.”
In a joint statement, Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said, “We in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them and continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national security information despite knowing these risks. We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security.”
The Democratic National Committee reiterated the party’s call for an independent, bipartisan panel styled after the 9/11 Commission to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.
Representative Eric Swalwell of California, the lead Democrat on the C.I.A. subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee, was blunt: “For the sake of our nation’s future, our intelligence and law enforcement community must determine whether Donald Trump’s loyalties lie with us or with the Russians.”
Senator John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was the first elected Republican to hit hard on the turmoil in President Trump’s White House, and the continuing questions about Russian influence.
“General Flynn’s resignation is a troubling indication of the dysfunction of the current national security apparatus,” said Mr. McCain, who has emerged as one of the few Republican antagonists that Mr. Trump has not silenced.
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