President Trump should have waited until Senate and House Intelligence Committees completed their Russia investigations before appointing special counsel Robert Mueller, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"What I've always said about it was — the special counsel was named far too soon. I would've much rather had the Senate and House Intelligence Committees complete their report.”
"There, there are completely different goals of a special counsel versus congressional oversight. I think, in this case, the most important thing is public disclosure," Johnson said. "And that is harmed when you start having special counsels, and all the information is, is gathered and is held close and sometimes never disclosed." (Politico)
Public disclosure, Johnson insisted, "trumps everything else.”
Judging by Johnson's timeline, now's about the time Trump could have considered a special counsel. House Intelligence Committee Republicans indicated last month they are ready to wrap things up. They released a report stating they have conducted their last interview, having found zero evidence to prove the Trump campaign and Russia colluded during the 2016 presidential election.
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Democrats, however, say they are not through with the Russia probe, and are ready to send subpoenas to witnesses and hold former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon in contempt for refusing to cooperate with the committee.
Meanwhile, retiring Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) has spoken out against the leaks that continue to emanate from these congressional investigations. The leaks, he said, are like the show "Gossip Girls."
"They are just not serious," he said. "Serious investigations don't leak."
Although he thinks Mueller was put in place prematurely, Johnson said he should be allowed to finish what he started.
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