GOP Moves To Block A Trump-Russia Investigation

After National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign from the White House, allegations surrounding President Donald Trump's ties to Russia have come under increasing scrutiny. One House Democrat has had enough of all the speculation and allegations, and seeks to get to the bottom of it all — except that Republicans are trying to block investigations into Trump's Russia ties. But you can help stop GOP reps from trying to bury this in the sand in the same way people stepped up and called their reps about Betsy DeVos — and the time to act is right now.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York's 10th district, has introduced H.R. 111, an "inquiry directing the Attorney General to transmit certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to the financial practices of the President." In layman's terms, Nadler is trying to compel Attorney General Jeff Sessions to release anything he might have on Trump's financial interests in Russia.

The GOP is now trying to come out in front of H.R. 111 to prevent a full House roll call vote by killing Nadler's bill in committee. H.R. 111 has 87 co-sponsors — all Democrats. The House Judiciary Committee will vote on Tuesday to decide whether the bill gets out of committee and moves ahead to a full vote, according to POLITICO. The House Judiciary Committee holds a Republican majority.

It's easy to see why the GOP might be so gun-shy on pulling the trigger on a complete investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, which the president has repeatedly denied. If an investigation into Trump came to a full vote before the House, pretty much every Republican that would vote it down would also probably lose their House seat come the 2018 midterm elections. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last week, a majority of Americans think Trump's ties to Russia should be investigated. Gee, I wonder why so many Americans seem to think that something's up between Trump and Russia?

If It Looks & Quacks Like A Russian Duck...

Two weeks ago, Michael Flynn was forced to resign over contact with Russia before Trump took office. More alarmingly, the Trump administration knew about Flynn's Russian communication as early as Jan. 26, yet Flynn wasn't forced to resign until weeks later.

On Feb. 14, The New York Times released a damning report alleging that members of Trump's own presidential campaign were in constant communications with Russian officials during the election season. Trump immediately dismissed the Times report as "fake news" during a complete clusterf*ck of his first presidential press conference. As media pressure continued on the Trump Russia story, several prominent news outlets were barred from a White House press gaggle on Friday — including BuzzFeed, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Politico. Each of these outlets has provided ongoing in-depth investigative coverage into Trump's possible ties to Russia.

The White House did not immediately respond to Romper's request for comment on Flynn's resignation, the Times report, or the banning of media outlets.

Fired Up? Here's What You Need To Do Right Now

The fate of H.R. 111 as hangs in the balance of the Republican majority House Judiciary Committee. There are only 87 current co-sponsors of H.R. 111 — but there are 194 Democrats in the House. We've got a lot of work to do between now and 10:15 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday morning. The most important thing you can do is call your member of Congress today — as in, ASAP right now. The grassroots organizing group Indivisible has a detailed call script to help you talk to your representative specifically about H.R. 111, including what to say if you get push back or vague non-answers.

While it's important to get fellow House Dems to co-sponsor H.R. 111 before Tuesday's vote, the folks you really want to call are the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee. If you're a constituent of any member — Democrat or Republican — of the House Judiciary Committee, your call is especially imperative today.

Just because House representatives are back in Washington and able to escape town hall protests during the congressional recess doesn't mean they are suddenly exempt from hearing the concerns of their constituents. Remember: It's their job to represent what's in the best interest of their constituents, not their party. Hold them to task about investigating Trump's ties to Russia and call your rep today.