President Donald Trump is reportedly leaning on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pursue an investigation into the notorious “Obamagate” allegations that surfaced last week, suggesting that Republicans could be in danger of losing the Senate if they do not take an aggressive tack towards claims major Obama administration officials pushed to “unmask” former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Trump posted a “tweetstorm” Saturday pressuring McConnell to move quickly on Obamagate, even posting articles from The Federalist and other outlets, claiming that McConnell won’t “be able to confirm more judges or maintain a Republican majority without addressing the issue,” Fox News reports.
“Mitch, I love you, but this is 100% true,” Trump wrote, referring to the articles. “Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late. The Dems are vicious, but got caught. They MUST pay a big price for what they have done to our Country. Don’t let them get away with this!”
McConnell hasn’t addressed the issue of “Obamagate” head on, except to criticize former President Barack Obama for lashing out at the Trump administration in a call to donors, audio of which leaked to The New York Times last week. In the call, Obama said he was concerned that the “rule of law” was at stake in the 2020 presidential election and excoriated the Trump Department of Justice for dropping perjury charges against Flynn after discovering evidence that Flynn may have been led into a “perjury trap” by the FBI.
McConnell called Obama “classless.”
“You know, we know he doesn’t like much this administration is doing. That’s understandable. But I think it’s a little bit classless frankly to critique an administration that comes after you,” he said. “You had your shot. You were there for eight years. I think the tradition that the Bushes set up of not critiquing the president who comes after you is a good tradition.”
But McConnell, who is now focused on heading off Democrat efforts to spend wildly on a fourth coronavirus relief package full of handouts to key Democrat constituencies, likely would not be in charge of handling any Obamagate investigation. That job would fall to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whom administration officials seem concerned won’t pursue the case aggressively.
Last week, Graham resisted President Trump’s push to have former President Obama testify in front of the Senate as to why he and others in his inner circle were so desperate to “unmask” unnamed individuals listed in intelligence reports as having communicated with a Russian ambassador under surveillance.
“I don’t think now’s the time for me to do that. I don’t know if that’s even possible. I have grave concerns about the role of executive privilege and all kinds of issues,” Graham said. “I understand President Trump’s frustration, but be careful what you wish for. Just be careful what you wish for.”
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