[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 86 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Russia Investigation

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, last night, Deputy Attorney General Rod 
Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the 
investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the election last fall 
and any related misconduct. Robert Mueller is perhaps the single-most 
qualified individual to lead such an investigation, in my view, and he 
is certainly independent.
  As a former FBI Director--the longest serving FBI Director since J. 
Edgar Hoover--he, by any measure, has the experience and the 
credibility and the credentials to conduct a nonpartisan investigation 
and come to a conclusion based on the facts alone. We could use some 
conclusions based on facts here in Washington, with the relentless 
torrent of rumor, gossip, and suspicion but very few facts. It is clear 
to me that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein felt this was in the best 
interests of the Department of Justice and the country, and I trust his 
judgment on the matter.
  I do think there is a related concern now that a special counsel has 
been chosen; that is, the proliferation of hearings and contact with 
witnesses and the principals over this Russia matter that while 
certainly legitimate in terms of doing oversight, which is our 
responsibility as the legislative branch, we can't--and shouldn't--
intrude or perhaps undermine inadvertently the investigation being 
conducted by the executive branch and the special counsel. I think this 
is something we should talk about as a Senate because I know each 
committee that has some jurisdictional hook on this issue wants, of 
course, to do its job, but I think, if we don't deconflict between 
committees, as well as between the role of the Justice Department and 
the special counsel, we could risk inadvertently harming the 
investigation. I trust no one would want to do that intentionally.
  Sometimes, having served myself--as has the distinguished Presiding 
Officer as the former attorney general of Alaska--it is interesting, 
this is my first legislative role in government. I have been here for a 
while now, and I am starting to get the hang of things, but the fact 
is, sometimes I think legislators are confused about their role when it 
comes to investigations. They are not the FBI. Legislators are not the 
Department of Justice. They can't investigate a counterintelligence 
matter or a criminal matter. That is simply within the exclusive 
purview of the executive branch.
  What we can do and what we must do, in my view, is to continue to 
conduct a bipartisan oversight investigation into these matters for our 
own purposes, which are legislative purposes, not executive branch or 
prosecutorial purposes. Now that Director Mueller has been appointed as 
special counsel and will be doing that on behalf of the Department of 
Justice and the executive branch, I think it is really important for us 
to again consider whether this proliferation of hearings and running 
down every rabbit trail that happens to pop up is really in the best 
interests of getting to the bottom of this matter.
  I believe it is our duty--and this would be the case no matter who 
was in the White House--to get the facts and to conduct our legitimate 
oversight investigation here but in a way that cooperates with or 
certainly at least coordinates and deconflicts with the Department of 
Justice's investigation under the auspices of Director Mueller. In the 
meantime, I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Senate 
Intelligence Committee on a broad bipartisan basis to conduct the kind 
of investigation that is entirely appropriate so we can get to the 
bottom of this matter. The American people, of course, deserve nothing 
less.