[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Russia Investigation

  Mr. President, on another matter, the Judiciary Committee report, 
this morning Republicans on the Judiciary Committee released the 
transcripts of interviews conducted as part of its investigation into 
Russian meddling. It was a perfunctory move, apparently intended to 
signal the end of the Judiciary Committee's on-again, off-again, 
halting investigation.
  Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are rushing to declare their 
investigation complete when they have barely scratched the surface. 
After more than a year of intermittent effort, Senate Republicans have 
interviewed only 12 witnesses in total. Today they are releasing the 
transcripts of the testimony of just five witnesses who were 
interviewed about the notorious June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. One of 
the witnesses, an infamous, Kremlin-connected lawyer, was allowed to 
provide only written answers--no followup questions, no probing. 
Astoundingly, our Republican friends decided not to even interview two 
of the other key participants in that meeting--Jared Kushner and Paul 
Manafort.
  To call the Senate Judiciary Committee's Trump-Russia investigation 
halfhearted is too generous. It has been no different from the effort 
taken by Representative Nunes. It is designed to let the President and 
his lawyers interfere with the Mueller probe and to get a peek at any 
potential evidence.
  That is why the Democrats on the committee, led by Senator Feinstein, 
have today released a document detailing the open threats of the 
committee's investigation--the interviews not conducted, the leads not 
followed. The information Judiciary Committee Democrats provided today 
shows one thing: Committee Democrats have made crystal clear that 
committee Republicans are prematurely saying ``pencils down.'' There is 
much left to investigate, many witnesses still to be heard, and many 
facts left to follow.
  The message of Senate Republicans on this investigation is ``Pay no 
attention to the man behind the curtain.'' The American people will not 
be fooled. They know the difference between a genuine search for truth 
and a whitewash.
  I remain hopeful that Senators Burr and Warner are running down every 
lead and every thread, but there is no doubt that the Senate 
Intelligence Committee's investigation will be the next target of the 
President's talking heads on FOX News.