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U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., on Monday asked the Democrats to rejoin "reality" as a hearing opened into yet another claim the party has posed against President Trump.
In fact, the hearing featuring John Dean, of Watergate scandal fame from nearly 50 years ago, was just another way "to repeat the fairy tale that the president is a criminal," Collins charged.
It was the House Judiciary Committee, headed by Democrat Jerry Nadler, that held yet another hearing on Nadler's belief that the president has committed crimes. The two-year investigation the Democrats' allegations triggered, by special counsel Robert Mueller, found no evidence of collusion with Russian during the 2016 election and no charges of obstruction.
"Mr. Chairman, you can talk about the Trump campaign’s willingness to accept help from the Russians, but the American people aren’t buying it," Collins said. "You can talk about obstruction of justice, but the bottom line is those claims are all castles in the air. Robert Mueller handed down no indictment and indicated no criminality."
Collins, in his opening statement to the hearing, asked Nadler bluntly, "What happened to Russia?"
"On May 29, Robert Mueller said the 'central allegation' of the indictments in his report were the 'multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election.' Those were his words. The central message of the Mueller report is the threat Russia poses to our elections. So, why aren’t we talking about Russia?"
He said the Democrats' immediate response, "within an hour," was that they became "obsessed" with impeachment.
"Impeachment of the president for allegedly obstructing an investigation into something he didn’t do," he clarified.
"Actions speak louder than words, and the actions of this committee suggest the Democrats no longer consider Russia a threat to our elections. For years, we have been urging Democrats to take seriously the Russian threat. The Democrats seemed to listen to us for a little while when they thought talking tough on Russia might lead to the removal of a sitting president, but I guess they are back to President Obama’s old refrain, when he said, 'The 1980's are calling to ask for their foreign policy back.'"
He explained Mueller's message was that "Putin’s thugs have an alarming potential to cause harm through coordinated cyber attacks."
But, he said, Nadlery doesn't want to talk about that.
"The chairman wants to talk about anything that might sway opinion against the president before the 2020 election. That’s why these proceedings are moving so slowly: Robert Mueller closed up shop a little too early in the election cycle," he said.
"The chairman has slowed the Judiciary Committee’s agenda to a crawl, even if it means allowing Russian meddling to go unchecked leading up to the 2020 elections. The chairman is slow-walking this process. He’s refusing to review new information offered by the Justice Department. He’s hoping his base doesn’t notice he’s been dangling impeachment in front of them for months, all the while failing to discover any evidence of conspiracy."
He said there is a path forward.
"We welcome the Democrats back to reality. Now that Robert Mueller has written in black and white what we have said for two years — Donald Trump had nothing to do with colluding with Russians — we are ready to work on real legislative responses to a hostile foreign power. Democrats, though, aren’t interested in combating Russian cyber aggression at all, unless they can connect it to the American president.
"That’s really why we’re here today, to repeat the fairy tale that the president is a criminal …"