The head of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign is using reports that President Trump may have shared highly-classified information with Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week to taunt House Republicans.
“Will the House Republican Leadership be appointing a special committee led by Trey Gowdy to investigate this one?” former Hillary for America Chairman John Podesta tweeted.
Will the House Republican Leadership be appointing a special committee led by Trey Gowdy to investigate this one? https://t.co/iShYWQsNoY
— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) May 15, 2017
A congressional probe into the 2012 attack on the American outpost in Benghazi, Libya, led by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., largely focused on Clinton’s handling of classified information. Democrats were largely critical of the probe that saw Clinton offer over 10 hours of testimony before a House panel. Additionally, the White House says much of the impetus for the ouster of former FBI Director James Comey was his mishandling of the Clinton investigation.
The question of whether Trump’s campaign potentially colluded with Russia has been a storyline the White House has sought to shut down but continues to plague the administration as Democrats have been eager to seize on any news that that furthers that narrative.
Shortly after reports surfaced that Trump had shared sensitive information with Russian officials the Democratic National Committee issued a pointed statement.
“Russia no longer has to spy on us to get information – they just ask President Trump and he spills the beans with highly classified information that jeopardizes our national security and hurts our relationships with allies. If Trump weren’t president, his dangerous disclosure to Russia could end with him in handcuffs,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
This is one of the times when the gaping hole in the White House credibility is hugely problematic in their effort to pushback on a story.
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) May 15, 2017
A former Obama administration spokesperson also was quick to call the Trump administration’s credibility into question.
“This is one of the times when the gaping hole in the White House credibility is hugely problematic in their effort to pushback on a story,” President Obama’s communication director Jen Psaki tweeted.
As the Trump administration seeks to push back on the possibility sensitive intelligence was shared with Russian officials, top Republicans are also saying they want a full explanation of what was communicated.
“We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation’s secrets is paramount,” said Doug Andres, a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration.”
