Congress needs to investigate the winner of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and hold him accountable for Russian interference, says the loser of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Just so we are clear: It is good now to call for investigations of one’s political opponents. At least, that is one takeaway from Hillary Clinton’s Washington Post op-ed, titled “Mueller documented a serious crime against all Americans. Here’s how to respond.”
“[U]nless he’s held accountable, the president may show even more disregard for the laws of the land and the obligations of his office,” the two-time failed presidential candidate writes this week. “He will likely redouble his efforts to advance Putin’s agenda, including rolling back sanctions, weakening NATO and undermining the European Union.”
Clinton continues, claiming that “a crime was committed against all Americans,” according to special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation, which failed to establish evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians and that the president committed a prosecutable obstruction of justice offense.
Trump must be held “accountable for obstructing the investigation and possibly breaking the law,” she writes.
There is more to the op-ed, including Clinton paying lip service to the idea that her call for Congress to investigate the man who defeated her in 2016 is “bigger than politics.” She also suggests that there may be real evidence of wrongdoing in the Mueller report, but we cannot know thanks to “redactions and obfuscations” by Attorney General William Barr. It is up to Congress, Clinton argues, to continue to investigate the report until — well, until Trump is charged or impeached or something.
Congress should hold “substantive hearings that build on the Mueller report and fill in its gaps,” Clinton writes. She also says that it is a matter of “national security,” not unlike 9/11, that Congress investigate Trump and Russian election interference, suggesting that lawmakers should consider establishing a commission to “help protect our elections.” Clinton writes that Congress must do this because the president won’t. She also throws in an aside about how Democrats in the House should also split their focus on advancing mostly unrelated policy proposals, because this is “bigger than politics,” remember?
Yes, Russia absolutely attacked America. Yes, Congress should take steps to protect U.S. elections from meddling by hostile world powers. But in case she didn’t notice, the Mueller Report put to bed the idea that there was collusion between Trump or his campaign and the Russians. Moreover, no one has ever presented credible evidence that Russian interference, as perfidious as it is, had any significant effect on the election outcome.
Moreover, why don’t we get someone more credible to make these arguments — say, someone whose personal investment is one of patriotism and not mere partisanship and personal slight? Clinton’s op-ed gives off the fierce, unmistakable stench of a sore loser.
Clinton writes early in her op-ed that “some may say I’m not the right messenger.” They are correct — she is not.
