The Flynnn fall out.

[EdyKel]

It's almost been 3 week into his term, and already Trump is embroiled in another scandals. This time it involves Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, who met with the Russian ambassador in secret, weeks before Trump's inauguration, and talked about US sanctions. The problem is that Flynn continuously denied the talks ever happened, or couldn't remember them. At least 9 witnesses attested to the meeting, and it eventually leaked to the newspapers, with Flynn continuing to claim innocence. Today, Flynn resigned, and most people think he's guilty as hell. Including Congressional Republicans.

We know that if this happened under a Clinton administration the Congressional Republicans would already be setting up impeachment hearings. But, besides a few grumblings from Republicans on the Hill, it's been relatively quite. Jason Chaffetz, House Oversight Committee Chairman, basically said he had no plans to investigate it, and that House Intelligence Committee might look into it. Trump, who has said that Flynn has his full confidence, seemed more concerned over who leaked it to the press.

So, what do you guy's think. Is this the end of it? Do you thinks it's a non issue? Did Trump know about it?

Personally, I think it's pretty dead in congress, because Democrats can't do a thing. It might haunt Trump, but it will be mostly be forgotten, especially when other scandals come up.

[TaintedLogic]

Yeah, there's no way this is going to lead to anything. I just hope Trump doesn't find a way around the Muslim ban court challenges.

[aviewaskewed]

Well, The Atlantic is all over it. Some other outlets are at least paying some lip service, but they need to get more on it. Because look, let's remember initially Watergate was nothing much really, and Nixon won in a landslide. But then the press and the government stayed on it, they made it an issue, and all of a sudden: Nixon is ruined. That to me is what ultimately defeats the bad actors in this country, and screws with those in power who wish to fuck us over and snow the public. You don't let up, you don't let it lie. This absolutely needs to be investigated and people need to demand their senators and representatives do so. Partisanship can't work if the people decide their vote is tied to how individuals act in office.

As for Russia though, this represents a small stumbling block in their race to try and normalize US relations. In fact, they've weathered worse then this. Once again from everything I can get my hands on....The Kremlin still looks poised to be in a no lose situation here.

[EdyKel]

At 2/14/17 09:27 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: Well, The Atlantic is all over it. Some other outlets are at least paying some lip service, but they need to get more on it. Because look, let's remember initially Watergate was nothing much really, and Nixon won in a landslide. But then the press and the government stayed on it, they made it an issue, and all of a sudden: Nixon is ruined. That to me is what ultimately defeats the bad actors in this country, and screws with those in power who wish to fuck us over and snow the public. You don't let up, you don't let it lie. This absolutely needs to be investigated and people need to demand their senators and representatives do so. Partisanship can't work if the people decide their vote is tied to how individuals act in office.

As for Russia though, this represents a small stumbling block in their race to try and normalize US relations. In fact, they've weathered worse then this. Once again from everything I can get my hands on....The Kremlin still looks poised to be in a no lose situation here.

I was reading an article today over a response by Rand Paul, over the whole Flynn situation, and he said the following "Makes no sense' to investigate fellow Republicans".

I'm not surprised by it, but rather expected many Republicans to downplay this. I also expect them do the same for other scandals by the Trump admin. It's quite a a difference from when Obama was in office, when rumors and conspiracy theories drove the GOP to investigate them, to almost unprecedented levels. I think that kept the Obama administration a lot more honest, knowing about all the piranhas in congress, and in the media, looking for the slightest smell of blood as an excuse to go after them. The trump admin is going skinny dipping, with all these self inflected wounds, from bad vetting of the cabinet picks, to Trumps business interests, and his sense of being above the law. But like you said, the media is not going to let any of this go, and they are desperate for blood with a guy who constantly attacks and belittles them.

Trump can go on about fake news all he wants in an attempt to cover his ill doings of his own making, but it's going to be hard sell for a skeptical public, who are increasingly seeing nothing but worries and drama, corruption and scandals. And watching Republicans try to downplay and turn a blind eye to all of it is like watching them try to hide, or stick their fingers into the cracks of a dam that is about to erupt, and sending them down the river along with Trump. This may be the best chance for a divided Democrat party to take control of Senate, and chip away at the GOP numbers in the house. It may very well give them the best chance to take congress and the white house in 2020.

[Heretic-Anchorite]

Seems like pressure is mounting among senior Republicans.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a real nail in the coffin for Trumps presidency. I really hope this goes somewhere; these past few weeks have been exhausting for more reasons then me not being able to sleep well. The US also needs vindication imo.

[aviewaskewed]

At 2/15/17 12:56 AM, EdyKel wrote: I was reading an article today over a response by Rand Paul, over the whole Flynn situation, and he said the following "Makes no sense' to investigate fellow Republicans".

The Pauls to me have always been overrated in terms of being "for the people". They trot that sort of thing out where it's politically convenient, then when the cameras aren't around they go back to just being party loyalists.

I'm not surprised by it, but rather expected many Republicans to downplay this.

I'm not sure how much they can. Also, I think the downplay will only be done insofar as they are allowed to and it's politically viable. I've not heard it officially, but people are talking about high level Republican sources who tell them there's already and always was a plan in place to impeach Trump once one of his many ethical problems, shady deals, or downright illegal dealings made it viable to do so. They want Mike Pence in that chair, they like him a lot because he checks the right boxes. But I think they want to wait a bit longer. Because Donald Trump signs a lot of paper that gets a lot of attention, or he sticks his foot in his mouth constantly. While everyone is looking at the side show in the White House, this Congress winnows away at regulations, the environment, and all those other Republican dream schemes knowing they can put it on the desk of their vacant rubber stamp who will put it through till they've gotten everything they can and they're done with him. The Flynn situation and what it could mean in a larger investigation threatens to torpedo all of that with a more "normal" President installed....people might start paying attention to what the Congress is doing again, not good for those guys.

[EdyKel]

At 2/15/17 07:22 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: I'm not sure how much they can. Also, I think the downplay will only be done insofar as they are allowed to and it's politically viable. I've not heard it officially, but people are talking about high level Republican sources who tell them there's already and always was a plan in place to impeach Trump once one of his many ethical problems, shady deals, or downright illegal dealings made it viable to do so. They want Mike Pence in that chair, they like him a lot because he checks the right boxes. But I think they want to wait a bit longer. Because Donald Trump signs a lot of paper that gets a lot of attention, or he sticks his foot in his mouth constantly. While everyone is looking at the side show in the White House, this Congress winnows away at regulations, the environment, and all those other Republican dream schemes knowing they can put it on the desk of their vacant rubber stamp who will put it through till they've gotten everything they can and they're done with him. The Flynn situation and what it could mean in a larger investigation threatens to torpedo all of that with a more "normal" President installed....people might start paying attention to what the Congress is doing again, not good for those guys.

I agree, but I think there is a lot of reluctance on their part to publicly endorse any investigations, or even support impeachment procedures, at any point, against him. Nixon still haunts them. And while they diffidently would prefer Pence over Trump, any public attempt of trying to get rid of him is going to hurt them, not just politically, but it's also going to anger their base, who voted him into power. There may be some Republicans who will break away from their party in support of a Democrat effort to do something against Trump, but it's seems unlikely they'll get anywhere with Republican leadership in control of Congress for the next two years, even with numerous scandals. We saw how a lot of this worked during the Bush years, where The Bush admin was protected, because Republicans investigated everything but the Bush administration, much to the anger of Democrats. So, I don' see anything happening unless the Dem win back Congress, and even then it depends on if they win both chambers, which seems slim.

Unless, Trump does something that will even offend even his supporters, I don't see Republicans doing anything but just waiting, and cringing.

[mothballs]

I dunno man, it's all over the news, I wouldn't say it's relatively quiet. And you bring up the fact that if it were Clinton they'd already be trying to impeach, well the Dems are apparently are trying to find a way to put together an impeachment case against Trump by saying that the Flynn case was not a lone effort on the part of Flynn, but that Trump had ordered him to do so. That way they can try and gather enough evidence that Trump and Russia colluded during the election which would be enough to get him impeached.

The problem with that? It's just a bunch of whiny allegations.

Until they can gather actual proof that any collusion was happening, which they failed to do for the last few months, trying to use this as more ammunition to impeach Trump is just a pipe dream. Especially when you add in the fact that they're going to have to get more Republicans in Congress to crack if they want a serious effort to do so, and they haven't been. So it's not going to happen.

[aviewaskewed]

At 2/16/17 07:01 PM, mothballs wrote: Until they can gather actual proof that any collusion was happening, which they failed to do for the last few months, trying to use this as more ammunition to impeach Trump is just a pipe dream. Especially when you add in the fact that they're going to have to get more Republicans in Congress to crack if they want a serious effort to do so, and they haven't been. So it's not going to happen.

There's other avenues they can use for impeachment. Their doing the right thing in calling for an investigation, reports that the Trump campaign were in touch with Russia have been floating for a bit now. Flynn falling on his sword here (and that's what this looks like) certainly to cynical eyes looks like an effort to insulate the rest of the bad actors and give them a name to throw out and say "the rot stopped there". But I think there should absolutely be an investigation and as I've said with other issues, if The President and his people are innocent, they should want that investigation too.

[EdyKel]

Didn't know where to put this, but I thought it was pretty funny, and indicative, of Trump, and somewhat relates to this topic.

Trump calls for probe over a 2003 photo of Chuck Schumer and Putin together at the grand opening of a Russian gas station in NY.

[Gario]

At 3/3/17 04:05 PM, EdyKel wrote: Didn't know where to put this, but I thought it was pretty funny, and indicative, of Trump, and somewhat relates to this topic.

Trump calls for probe over a 2003 photo of Chuck Schumer and Putin together at the grand opening of a Russian gas station in NY.

I thought that was a joke post, but I'm seeing it on plenty of news sites.

What the fuck, this is 100% Onion territory.

[aviewaskewed]

At 3/3/17 04:12 PM, Gario wrote: I thought that was a joke post, but I'm seeing it on plenty of news sites.

What the fuck, this is 100% Onion territory.

"laugh at the funny clown! Look at what the funny clown is doing! Be distracted by the funny clown!"

This way you won't look at the very real and increasingly probable situation that his AG will either resign, or be fired because he too wasn't 100 about talking to the Russian Ambassador....

[Gario]

At 3/3/17 11:07 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 3/3/17 04:12 PM, Gario wrote: I thought that was a joke post, but I'm seeing it on plenty of news sites.

What the fuck, this is 100% Onion territory.

"laugh at the funny clown! Look at what the funny clown is doing! Be distracted by the funny clown!"

I wasn't laughing, though I'm sure you know that. Trump shifting blame on Democrats for acts that are not equivalent, then getting people to TREAT it as equal also isn't a joke - it's a very effective tactic that will give his administration more leeway to lie to congress. In doing this to Schumer (and Pelosi) his administration is trying to argue that Democrats already set up precident for this, which while untrue has an air of legitimacy.

It's really not a good thing.

[aviewaskewed]

At 3/4/17 03:11 PM, Gario wrote: It's really not a good thing.

Then he has a meltdown, accuses Obama of wiretapping and kicks all his friends off the plane (which admittedly isn't really good for discussion here and should be a new topic. I just bring it up to illustrate my next point). This is the thing about Trump: He's not Machiavelli, there isn't a wider ranging plan here. He just says shit, and the news covers it because, you know, he's The President so there's a certain assumption (which frankly needs to stop) that what he's saying must have some basis in reality, or in intelligence and facts we don't possess because we don't hold that office. If he had that sort of attention span and capacity, yes, very dangerous. As stands he's a different kind of dangerous because everything keeps coming back to the scary possibilities of Russian compromise. The more he's pushed on that, the more we get outbursts like this. At some point I think this whole thing might need it's own separate thread

[EdyKel]

At 3/4/17 06:55 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 3/4/17 03:11 PM, Gario wrote: It's really not a good thing.

Then he has a meltdown, accuses Obama of wiretapping and kicks all his friends off the plane (which admittedly isn't really good for discussion here and should be a new topic. I just bring it up to illustrate my next point). This is the thing about Trump: He's not Machiavelli, there isn't a wider ranging plan here. He just says shit, and the news covers it because, you know, he's The President so there's a certain assumption (which frankly needs to stop) that what he's saying must have some basis in reality, or in intelligence and facts we don't possess because we don't hold that office. If he had that sort of attention span and capacity, yes, very dangerous. As stands he's a different kind of dangerous because everything keeps coming back to the scary possibilities of Russian compromise. The more he's pushed on that, the more we get outbursts like this. At some point I think this whole thing might need it's own separate thread

At some point, but at the moment, it just seems that this is his reaction to the continued fall out, as more and more information comes to light about the interaction that the people of his campaign, or future nominees, had with Russia during and after the election, which they have gone to some lengths to hide - or not to Remember. :)

Trump can whine all he wants, but Russia's interference in this election, by hacking the DNC, was a huge scandal, one that benefited his campaign, and most likely helped him to win. And Russia was desperate, and Trump seemed overly friendly to them for some reason, to the point of willingness to get rid of all sanctions, or allowing them to do as they pleased, without consequence.

This is a very serious matter, and Trump is using this shit as a distraction, or to fool people into thinking he's a victim here. We still do not know if he was compromised by Russia, because he has failed to release his tax returns, or if he, or members of his inner circle, were in collusion with them, or made it known to them that they were intentionally willing to undermine US sanctions that were in reaction to the transgressions they made against other countries, including the US.

If Russia thought they could get away with the things they have done, so far, the chances that they would do this stuff again are very real. So, Trump's recent twitter madness either shows that he is an idiot for not understanding, or caring about the threat Russia poses, or that he's very desperate to change the subject, or undermine it, for other reason he knows will hurt him - not just his ego.

[Camarohusky]

What fall out? Trump has courted and thrived in muck like this since has campaign started. Sure Flynn left, but there are no real probes into Trump's knowledge, no impeachment murmurs, and no other real consequences. The only hit Trump has taken is to his reputation, and let's face it, he didn't really have any of that to begin with.

[EdyKel]

At 3/5/17 11:08 AM, Camarohusky wrote: What fall out? Trump has courted and thrived in muck like this since has campaign started. Sure Flynn left, but there are no real probes into Trump's knowledge, no impeachment murmurs, and no other real consequences. The only hit Trump has taken is to his reputation, and let's face it, he didn't really have any of that to begin with.

We don't know where the fallout will lead, but it's already happening around him. First Flynn, then Sessions, who had to recluse himself from the justice department investigation over it. This is also not going away anytime soon, and any further investigation by the press, from leaks, or other slip ups by current or former Trump advisors - like Roger Stone - is just going to add to the fire, till something happens. Trump's constant, narcissistic, need for praise is going to continue to implode onto the twitter universe, and other stages where he can rant and whine, to the point he may let something slip by accident that will get him further into trouble.

[orangebomb]

At 3/5/17 11:08 AM, Camarohusky wrote: What fall out? Trump has courted and thrived in muck like this since has campaign started. Sure Flynn left, but there are no real probes into Trump's knowledge, no impeachment murmurs, and no other real consequences. The only hit Trump has taken is to his reputation, and let's face it, he didn't really have any of that to begin with.

That's what happens when you have a (to borrow a NCAA colloquialism) lack of institutional control in the White House, it's not necessarily impeachment worthy, but at some point, you would think that the writing would be on the wall and Trump would have to get someone who isn't unqualified, controversial or both. Regular Cabniet turnover is to be expected from any president, I get that much, but it's quite different to hire sycophantic yes-men who only get in because the Rs are either in too deep, gutless or are marginalized.

Then again, short of any actual criminality, Trump isn't going to leave office and everyone knows it.

[EdyKel]

At 3/5/17 06:20 PM, orangebomb wrote:

Then again, short of any actual criminality, Trump isn't going to leave office and everyone knows it.

I have it at 50% chance he well step down in the next 3 years, claiming health reasons, either that or he well totally implode and be forced to leave. And a 20% chance he well be impeached for something that will be entirely unrelated to this, which will involve a women.

[orangebomb]

At 3/5/17 06:37 PM, EdyKel wrote:

At 3/5/17 06:20 PM, orangebomb wrote:

Then again, short of any actual criminality, Trump isn't going to leave office and everyone knows it.

I have it at 50% chance he well step down in the next 3 years, claiming health reasons, either that or he well totally implode and be forced to leave. And a 20% chance he well be impeached for something that will be entirely unrelated to this, which will involve a women.

Considering how prideful Trump is, I highly doubt that he'll resign on his own volition. For lack of a better term, he "stole" the election and he's going to do his damndest to hold on to power, even if it means pushing everyone else under the bus, he's been doing just that for decades. Though, if it really does come that, and if he's half as smart as he thinks he is, it would be wise for him to resign and save face.

[aviewaskewed]

At 3/5/17 07:31 PM, orangebomb wrote: Considering how prideful Trump is, I highly doubt that he'll resign on his own volition. For lack of a better term, he "stole" the election and he's going to do his damndest to hold on to power, even if it means pushing everyone else under the bus, he's been doing just that for decades. Though, if it really does come that, and if he's half as smart as he thinks he is, it would be wise for him to resign and save face.

Can't see him quitting. I believe the articles that say he doesn't really like the job....but at the same time as I said during the campaign, he's gotten himself into a bad situation here. I really believe he never imagined he'd win, probably didn't even think he'd get the nomination. I think he did a publicity stunt that started as a ploy for more money from NBC, but the Mexican rhetoric pushed it too far and they bailed. So then it became about seeing how far he could go and then who would take him on with his new shiny celebrity. He couldn't quit because his brand is "winning" and winners don't quit. But now improbably, he's found himself isolated in the White House, surrounded by people who while they may want to just "do what the boss says" periodically have to point out to him he can't be CEO of America, that that isnt what a President does.

No, I think he's kicked out of office, probably over Russia....but honestly, if it turns out Pence is dirty too....I wonder if we aren't headed towards some kind of Constitutional crisis.

[EdyKel]

At 3/6/17 07:28 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:

No, I think he's kicked out of office, probably over Russia....but honestly, if it turns out Pence is dirty too....I wonder if we aren't headed towards some kind of Constitutional crisis.

I think the odds for any of that happening are pretty low. If it was Clinton, on the other hand, the impeachments procedures would already have been started. But, we have a Republican controlled congress, and looking at Trey Goudy's reaction (3:24), he doesn't give it much credence. Even some former intelligence officials I listened to don't think it's a big deal, mostly because there is no smoking gun that directly ties Trump with Russia. And public outrage is just not there, at least nothing that would lead Republicans to take the investigation serious.

The point I'm trying to make is that this is not going to progress much further, unless someone really screws up in the Trump admin, or there is a major leak from somewhere. There might be a few more rotten apples that fall from the tree, but nothing that would lead to Trump's removal.

[aviewaskewed]

At 3/7/17 03:01 AM, EdyKel wrote: The point I'm trying to make is that this is not going to progress much further, unless someone really screws up in the Trump admin, or there is a major leak from somewhere. There might be a few more rotten apples that fall from the tree, but nothing that would lead to Trump's removal.

He just keeps fucking up and talking though....there seems to be issues. Like I say, Watergate was slow, any major scandal is going to be slow. It has to be, our system is designed that way. But The fact that we keep coming back here, that this just can't be killed....I don't know where it ends, maybe it's like Bush where everybody who pays attention knows this is a bad deal....but they don't do anything because either unmotivated, or it doesn't rise to the standard. But man....I dunno. I feel like things are in play, issues are in motion here. Let's see where we go with the various issues and situations, some this thread clearly can't cover. I feel like we're in the Curse of the Chinese: "May You live in Interesting Times"

[EdyKel]

At 3/7/17 08:04 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: He just keeps fucking up and talking though....there seems to be issues. Like I say, Watergate was slow, any major scandal is going to be slow. It has to be, our system is designed that way. But The fact that we keep coming back here, that this just can't be killed....I don't know where it ends, maybe it's like Bush where everybody who pays attention knows this is a bad deal....but they don't do anything because either unmotivated, or it doesn't rise to the standard. But man....I dunno. I feel like things are in play, issues are in motion here. Let's see where we go with the various issues and situations, some this thread clearly can't cover. I feel like we're in the Curse of the Chinese: "May You live in Interesting Times"

I think it's going to take a lot before Republicans will even consider it, and that will mostly be based on public outrage over it.

Meanwhile, new revelations show that Trump's business dealings in Azerbaijan, over the building of a new Trump tower, involved a front for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard - Trump backed out of the deal a month before he took office.

Who knows how many corupt business deals, or connection, Trump has with foreign nations that are hostile to the US.

[aviewaskewed]

Then there's all this.

If nothing else, I'm thinking as catastrophically bad as his appointment was (seriously, this is looking like basically zero vetting was done), seems to me it might be time to take this up with the Senate again. I mean, this is become such a huge and important role and now you've got a situation where you've seen the Executive can clearly be run by an incompetent who could make this decision badly. Checks and balances, I think this should now require that extra layer of confirmation and investigation.

[EdyKel]

Republicans have themselves to blame for that. They rushed his nominees through without doing much if any vetting. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Trump, and the people surrounding him, have so many conflicts of interest that its going to continue bite them in the ass. And the media is going to be relentless, even if congress is not.

[Rotten-Carrot]

An interesting interview about the influence of the Russian secret service:

http://index.hu/belfold/2017/03/21/hungarian_secret_agent_reveals_how_serious_the_russian_threat_is

[EdyKel]

The House Intelligence chief just tossed a huge wrench into Trump-related investigations

No surprise, I guess. Republicans seem to be going out of their way to kill off any serious investigation into Trump's ties with Russia, even going out of their way to do unprecedented thing, such as to bypass congress and go directly to the White House to help him out.

[EdyKel]

Here's the latest on this roller coaster of a scandal.

Rep. David Nunes, Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who is in charge of leading an (on and off again) investigation into the Trumps campaign/administration connections with Russia interference during last years presidential elections, recently acquired some intelligence reports from unknown sources (which he will not divulge the names of), which suggested some vindication to Trump's claim about Obama wiretapping him. Instead of following procedure, and sharing this information with other members of his committee first, he felt that it was his duty to talk to Trump first, then the press. Nunes claimed that (from these sources) members of Trumps campaign team were "Incidental" caught in government surveillance, but was not clear if this was in relation to telecommunications received from Russia. Since then, Nunes has canceled all hearing with intelligence officials over this issue of Trump and Russia.

It should be noted that Nunes was part of the Trump's transition team. This, alone, should have made him recuse himself from leading these hearings involving Trump and Russia, since he had a clear conflict of interest, and was unable to act impartial. This week he totally destroyed any illusion of impartiality, by his unprecedented actions of bypassing members of his own committee, to inform the president, and then the press, of his finding from unnamed sources. Effectively, he undermined the whole investigation, in some ways, sabotaging it, leading to Democrats, and some Republicans, to demand that he recuse himself from further involvement in the congressional investigation. Nunes has refused to recuse himself, and still retains the House majority leader's, Paul Ryan, full confidence, who has the power to remove him.

It was later discovered, after Nunes went to the president, and talked to the press, that he had gone to the White House the night before to meet his unnamed sources. His unprecedented action, and sources, were already alarming, and suspicious, but to have gone to the White House to have obtained his information, with the White House denying it, only intensified things. Then, today, the NYT published the names of those two sources, both white house officials. One was Michael Ellis, a white house lawyer, who previously worked under Nunes in the House Intelligence Committee, before being hired by the White House. The other is National Security Council intelligence director Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a former aide to Michael Flynn. And Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, though he didn't want to confirm or deny it, didn't call it fake news, which he often does with these thing, and ended up confirming it because he didn't outright deny it.

So, this is a huge bombshell. We now have evidence that the White House was intentionally interfering into the House investigation, and that Rep. David Nunes is a willing stooge for Trump. This was incredibly brazen. Did they really think they could get away with it? Is Republicans leadership so complacent with the Trump administration that they thought that they could do anything they wanted and be immune? And how far does this go up in the Trump administration? Did Trump know? I mean, instead of letting it run it's course, if they truly had nothing to fear, they threw gasoline on it and now it's threatening to engulf more than just the Trump administration, but members of congress, while adding even more suspicion on Trumps campaign ties to Russia.

Still, even with all this, politics will continue to play the deciding factor in it. I don't see much happening because of this, because of Republican leadership. At the very least, Nunes may be forced out, and that may be about it. The Republican leadership will try to bury it, while any further investigation into Trumps' ties with Russia, and Russia involvement in the election, will be increasingly held behind closed doors.

[EdyKel]

And the circus act that is known as the house investigation, over Russian involvement in last years election, continues to entertain the public without seriously investigating it.

Nunes has finally recused himself (temporarily) for the part he played in undermining the investigation by working as a Trump surrogate instead of independent investigator, and the GOP congressmen who may replace him, Mike Conaway, Trey Gowdy and Tom Rooney, have already declared their skepticism over claims that Trump's campaign had ties with Russia, and seem just as disinterested in investigating it as Nunes was. Also, Nunes is being investigated by the House ethics panel over possible release of classified information to the public, but it's just mere formalities, and I don't expect it to go anywhere.

Meanwhile, former Security advisor, Michael Flynn, one of the first casualties of the Trump administration over this investigation, wants immunity in exchange for his testimony - but so far no one wants to give it to him. He may be the sacrificial lamb for the Trump admin, just like Scooter Libby was for the Bush administration. In an ironical twist, both he, and trump, remarked on the campaign trail that those who requested immunity were guilty of something (in reference to the immunity given to people involved in the Hillary e-mail server investigation). So what is Flynn guilty of?