Warner is pushing hard for a reasonby digby
Mark Warner spoke out earlier this week on the Senate floor warning that firing Mueller would be a “red line.” And it’s not partisanship that has him saying that. He’s not a bomb thrower. When he says that the Russia probe is the most important thing he will ever work on, it’s meaningful:
In TV interviews over the past year, Warner has been candid as he vacillated between thinking there’s more smoke or more fire. Now, he clearly sees fire.
The committee plans to go hard after Facebook to cough up more about Russia-sponsored ads, and after Trump’s inner circle to spill more about connections to Putin people.
Up first: Calling back Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr. and other “principals involved in some of these activities” for more Intelligence Committee questioning.
When those witnesses came to the committee before, they were interviewed by staff. This time, they’ll be questioned by the senators themselves.
Warner: “We could debate whether they come back in public or private. I would lean more towards public.”
What’s next for Facebook: Warner said that Facebook still hasn’t been fully candid, and plans to require more information about what happened in 2016, and more transparency on future political ads.
Warner wants independent experts to have access to the Russia targeting data, to provide “a third‑party, almost academic, analysis.”
Warner on Facebook: “I would like to have a higher confidence they’ve really done the investigation of all possible Russian [connections]. And some of the Russian sites were actually … started or activated outside of Russia but are were still controlled by them.”
It seems that Warner has some suspicion that the Trump campaign was involved in the sophisticated propaganda campaign last year. It’s hard to know if the Republican majority will allow them to pursue this angle but it’s truly dangerous not to pursue it. This is a powerful new threat to all elections going forward. For some reason the Republicans seem convinced that it’s always going to work in their favor, which is interesting in itself.
If you feel like dropping a little something in the Hullabaloo Christmas stocking this year I would be most appreciative. As always I’m immensely grateful for all of you who drop by to read this creaky old blog. It’s what keeps me going. Together we will get through this.
Happy Hollandaise everyone! Keep the faith.
cheers — digby
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