- Banned
- #21
China called, they want the great wall o text back.A thirteen minute vid by a homer far right Republican without time or date or url?
C-Span2 june 22, 2017 US Senate Reacts Unveiling GOP Health Care Bill, Jun 22 2017 | C-SPAN.org
Transcript Jake...
MR. GRASSLEY: IN MARCH, MR. MR. COMEY BRIEFED RANKING MEMBER FEINSTEIN AND ME, AS CHAIRMAN AND RANKING MEMBER OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, ON THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION. THIS INCLUDED TELLING US WHO WAS AND WHO WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION. AFTER THAT MEETING, I PUBLICLY CALLED FOR MR. COMEY TO TELL THE PUBLIC WHAT HE HAD TOLD US ABOUT WHETHER PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION. LET ME ASK THE LEADER, MR. LEADER, I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU WERE GOING TO BE HERE TO SPEAK, SO I'LL YIELD THE FLOOR AND START OVER AGAIN. MR. McCONNELL: I WOULD THANK MY FRIEND FROM IOWA. I'LL JUST BE A MINUTE. MADAM PRESIDENT, I ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT NOT WITHSTANDING ROULETTE 22, ALL -- RULE 22 ALL POSTCLOTURE TIME ON THE BILLINGSLEA NOMINATION EXPIRE AT 2 P.M. TODAY AND PORE ON THE KRISTINE L. SVINICKI NOMINATION EXPIRE ON MONDAY, JUNE 26. THE PRESIDING OFFICER: IS THERE OBJECTION? WITHOUT OBJECTION. MR. McCONNELL: I THANK MY FRIEND FROM IOWA.
MR. GRASSLEY: MADAM PRESIDENT. THE PRESIDING OFFICER: THE SENATOR FROM IOWA. MR. GRASSLEY: IN MARCH, MR. COMEY BRIEFED RANKING MEMBER FEINSTEIN AND THIS SENATOR ON THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION. THIS INCLUDED TELLING US WHO WAS AND WHO WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION. AFTER THAT MEETING I SPUNICALLY CALLED --
I PUBLICLY CALLED FOR MR. COMEY TO TELL THE PUBLIC WHAT HE HAD TOLD US ABOUT WHETHER PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION. I DID THIS BECAUSE THE PUBLIC HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW. MR. COMEY TOLD ME AND OTHER CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION. HE EVEN TOLD THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF -- AND I UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS REPEATEDLY TOLD TO THE PRESIDENT. BUT MR. COMEY DIDN'T LISTEN TO MY REQUEST FOR TRANSPARENCY. AND I THINK TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY, AND GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE. MR. COMEY DIDN'T LISTEN TO THE PRESIDENT'S REQUEST. ONLY MONTHS LATER HAS THE TRUTH FINALLY COME OUT. WELL, IT OUGHT TO RAISE A QUESTION WITH ANYBODY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MEANTIME. WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE MR. COMEY REFUSED TO TELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT THE PRESIDENT WASN'T UNDER INVESTIGATION. THE SHORT ANSWER IS SOMETHING YOU SEE ALMOST HOURLY, PARTICULARLY IN THIS CITY. MEDIA HYSTERIA. COUNTLESS MEDIA ARTICLES FALSELY CLAIMED THE PRESIDENT WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR COLLUDING WITH RUSSIA. AND UNFORTUNATELY, A NUMBER OF OUR DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE PLAYED RIGHT ALONG. OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE MEDIA PUBLISHED SELECTIVE LEAKS. THEY PUBLISHED CLASSIFIED HALF-TRUTHS. ALL THIS WAS USED TO MAKE FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SINISTER CONDUCT BY THE PRESIDENT. AND OF COURSE, THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED IT. THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CONDUCTED AN ASSESSMENT OF RUSSIA'S EFFORTS TO INTERFERE IN THE ELECTION. THAT ASSESSMENT SAID ONE OF RUSSIA'S GOALS WAS TO UNDERMINE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. BECAUSE MR. COMEY REFUSED TO TELL THE PUBLIC THAT THE F.B.I. WAS NOT INVESTIGATING THE PRESIDENT, CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND, OF COURSE, WILD SPECULATION HAVE RUN RAMPANT ABOUT THE ELECTION, ABOUT THE PRESIDENT, AND ABOUT RUSSIA. THESE CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WILD SPECULATION HAVE PLAYED RIGHT INTO RUSSIA'S AIM OF UNDERMINING FAITH IN OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. NOW THAT DOESN'T COME OUT VERY OFTEN IN THESE STORIES, BUT YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, RUSSIA MAKES A CAREER OUT OF NOT ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES UNDERMINING DEMOCRAT SYSTEMS, LOOK AT WHAT THEY'VE DONE IN THE UKRAINE MILITARILY. LOOK AT WHAT THEY'VE DONE IN FRANCE WITH THE ELECTIONS, NETHERLANDS WITH THE ELECTIONS, AND THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT UPCOMING ELECTIONS IN GERMANY WHERE THEY'LL TRY TO DO THE SAME THING.
BECAUSE, YOU SEE, AUTOCRATS DON'T LIKE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS THAT WORK, AND WHAT THEY CAN DO TO UNDERMINE THOSE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS IS GOING TO OBVIOUSLY MAKE THEM LOOK BETTER. THOSE NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS SHOULD HAVE TAKEN PRECEDENT. MR. COMEY SAID THAT HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE DUTY TO CORRECT THE RECORD IF EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION INVOLVING THE PRESIDENT CAME TO LIGHT LATER ON. BUT THAT CONCERN WAS MERELY HYPOTHETICAL.
IN OTHER WORDS, PURE SPECULATION. IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT IT CAME TO PASS, THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW IF THE F.B.I. IS PURSUING A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. JUST LIKE THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW IF THE F.B.I. IS PURSUING A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AGAINST A MAJOR PARTY'S NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT. BUT MR. COMEY AGREED WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH TO SHADE THE TRUTH IN FAVOR OF THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN RHETORIC AND CALL WHAT WAS AN INVESTIGATION A MATTER -- ,QUOTE-UNQUOTE, -- A MATTER, INSTEAD OF USING THE WORD "INVESTIGATION" AT THE ORDERING BY THE --
IT CAME ABOUT BECAUSE OF THE ORDERING BY ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH.
AFTER A YEAR OF THE ENTIRE MIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY AND THE F.B.I. LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION WITH THE RUSSIANS, WHERE IS THAT EVIDENCE? BUT AFTER ALL OF THIS CHAOS AND MOUNTAINS OF INNUENDO ABOUT THE PRESIDENT AND COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA, THE TRUTH FINALLY CAME OUT. THE F.B.I. WAS NOT INVESTIGATING PRESIDENT TRUMP IN THE RUSSIA PROBE. SO THE MEDIA WAS WRONG. SO THE DEMOCRATS WERE WRONG. SO THE WILD SPECULATION AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES ENDED UP HARMING OUR COUNTRY. THEY PLAYED RIGHT INTO RUSSIA'S HANDS. AND HOW DID WE ALL LEARN ABOUT THIS TRUTH? IN PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LETTER REMOVING MR. COMEY FROM OFFICE, AT FIRST MOST DIDN'T BELIEVE IT. THE MEDIA SCOFFED WHEN THEY WROTE WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID IN THAT LETTER. THEY INSISTED THAT MR. COMEY WOULD NEVER TELL THE PRESIDENT HE WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION. WELL, WE LEARNED EARLIER THIS MONTH FROM MR. COMEY HIMSELF THAT HE HAD DONE EXACTLY THAT. IT WASN'T A SURPRISE TO ME BECAUSE MR. COMEY HAD TOLD ME THE SAME THING. I HAVE TO NOTE SOMETHING ELSE HERE. MR. COMEY DIDN'T JUST TELL THE PRESIDENT, SENATOR FEINSTEIN AND ME THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION. HE HAD ALSO TOLD THE GANG OF EIGHT. OF COURSE THE GANG OF EIGHT INCLUDES SENATE MINORITY LEADER, SENATOR SCHUMER. BUT EVEN AFTER MR. COMEY TOLD THE GANG OF EIGHT THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION, THE MINORITY LEADER TOLD THE MEDIA THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION. AND OF COURSE THAT FURTHER HELPED FEED MEDIA HYSTERIA. THE MAJORITY LEADER EVEN TRIED TO -- OR THE MINORITY LEADER EVEN TRIED TO SAY THAT THE SENATE SHOULD VOTE ON THE SUPREME COURT NOMINATION BECAUSE A PRESIDENT WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION. AND THE WHOLE TIME HE KNEW IT WASN'T TRUE. SO MEDIA HYSTERIA AND BASELESS POLITICAL ATTACKS FILLED THE VACUUM LEFT BY MR. COMEY'S FAILURE TO INFORM THE PUBLIC TO BE TRANSPARENT, TO BE ACCOUNTABLE. THE ODD THING ABOUT IT IS NONE OF THIS FIASCO HAD TO HAPPEN IF MR. COMEY HAD JUST BEEN TRANSPARENT WITH THE PUBLIC, AS I UNDERSTOOD IT TO BE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. UNFORTUNATELY, NOW IT LOOKS LIKE MR. COMEY AND THE MEDIA MIGHT BE DOING THE SAME THING TO ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS. TO WEEKS AGO MR. COMEY SAID THAT HE DIDN'T TELL THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ABOUT THE CONVERSATION HE SUPPOSEDLY HAD WITH THE PRESIDENT ABOUT GENERAL FLYNN. MR. COMEY SAID, THIS WAS BECAUSE HE BELIEVED THE ATTORNEY WAS GOING TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION. MR. COMEY SAID THE F.B.I. WAS AWARE OF THE FACTS THAT HE COULDN'T DISCUSS IN AN OPEN SETTING THAT COULD HAVE MADE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTINUE ENGAGEMENT PROBLEMATIC. WELL, THAT VAGUE STATEMENT SOUNDS VERY MISS -- MYSTERIOUS TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH. THEY WILL WONDER WHAT WERE THESE SECRET FACTS? AND WHAT DID THE F.B.I. CONCLUDE ABOUT THOSE SECRET FACTS? WAS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER INVESTIGATION? DID THE ATTORNEY GENERAL COLLUDE WITH RUSSIA? ONCE AGAIN, MR. COMEY IS NOT BEING AS TRANSPARENT ABOUT SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION AS HE COULD OR SHOULD BE. NOW THE SPECULATION IS RUNNING RAMPANT AGAIN, THIS TIME ABOUT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. INSTEAD OF THE PRESIDENT. CNN REPORTED THAT MR. COMEY TOLD THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS THAT THE ISSUE WAS A POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL MEETING BETWEEN SESSIONS AND THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR. THE MEDIA HAS BEGUN TO SPECULATE ALL SORTS OF NEFARIOUS THINGS. SO HERE WE GO AGAIN. THE RUMOR MILL IS BACK IN BUSINESS. IT'S INSINUATING IMPROPER TIES WITH RUSSIANS AND UNDERMINING PEOPLE'S FAITH IN ANOTHER SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WITH ALSO THE FOLLOW-UP THAT IT ALSO UNDERMINES PEOPLE'S CONFIDENCE IN OUR INSTITUTIONS IN GOVERNMENT AND MAYBE EVEN IN OUR CONSTITUTION. THIS IS THE SAME DESTRUCTIVE PATTERN, AND IT PLAYS RIGHT INTO RUSSIA'S HANDS AGAIN. WELL, THIS TIME AROUND WE SHOULDN'T PUT UP WITH IT. WE OUGHT TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. THERE'S NO REASON MR. COMEY COULDN'T HAVE TOLD THE PUBLIC THE WHOLE TRUTH. WEDNESDAY -- ONCE AGAIN THREEL MONTHS AGO MR. COMEY SPECIFICALLY TOLD MEMBERS WHO WAS AND WHO WAS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION IN THE RUSSIAN PROBE. HE SHOULD ALSO TELL THE PUBLIC WHETHER THE F.B.I. EVER HAD AN OPEN INVESTIGATION ON ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS. HE SHOULD TELL THE PUBLIC WHETHER THE F.B.I. CHECKED OUT THE TIMES SESSIONS MET THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR. HE SHOULD TELL THE PUBLIC WHETHER THE F.B.I. LOOKED INTO THE MAYFLOWER MEETING, THE MAY FLOWER HOTEL MEETING AND THE EVENT THAT WENT ON THERE. HE SHOULD TELL THE PUBLIC IF THE F.B.I. FOUND NOTHING IMPROPER ABOUT THESE MEETINGS. IF THERE WAS NOTHING TO IT, HE SHOULD SAY SO PUBLICLY. HE SHOULD NOT BE TELLING SENATORS ONE THING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND THEN MAKING PUBLIC INSINUATIONS THAT ARE DIFFERENT. HE IS THE PERSON THAT CAN NIP THIS RIDICULOUS SPECULATION IN THE BUD. MR. COMEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE PUBLIC EARLIER WHAT HE TOLD MEMBERS ABOUT THE PRESIDENT. AND NOW HE SHOULD TELL THE PUBLIC WHAT HE TOLD MEMBERS ABOUT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE. THE INVESTIGATIONS OF RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE AND OF CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING MR. COMEY'S FIRING WILL CONTINUE. I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY GET ALL THE FACTS ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. AND WE WILL GO -- WE'RE GOING TO GO WHERE THE FACTS TAKE US. IN THE MEANTIME, IT'S TIME TO STOP THE RUMOR MONGERING. IT'S TIME TO STOP THE INNUENDOS AND HALF-TRUTHS. IT'S TIME TO STOP LEAKING NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS. AND IT'S TIME TO STOP PLAYING INTO RUSSIA'S HANDS BY INTENTIONALLY SOWING FALSE DOUBT ABOUT YOUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS. INSTEAD IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS IT'S TIME TO GET BACK TO DOING THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS. I YIELD THE FLOOR, AND I SUGGEST THE ABSENCE OF A
