Durbin: Special Counsel Report Is Far From "Case Closed"
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pushed back on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s argument that the Mueller report is a “closed case” and renewed his call for U.S. Attorney General Barr to recuse himself from the 14 ongoing referred criminal investigations identified in Special Counsel Mueller’s report. Durbin also argued that as Senate Republican Leader, Senator McConnell did little to nothing to acknowledge the threat of Russian interference ahead of the 2016 election.
“This isn’t over and it won’t be over soon, nor should it be. It is obvious that my Republican colleagues want to move on as quickly as possible from talking about how Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the stated intent to help elect Donald Trump president,” Durbin said. “They certainly don’t want to talk about the overwhelming evidence that Donald Trump obstructed justice.”
Durbin continued, “Here’s my concern: Attorney General Barr’s actions have compromised his credibility when it comes to overseeing the continuing investigations that were brought on by the Mueller inquiry. I’ve called on him publicly and renew that call that he recuse himself from those pending criminal investigations and prosecutions that emanate from the Mueller report. At a minimum he should recuse himself from the 14 ongoing referred criminal investigations, and Special Counsel Mueller and Don McGahn should be called on to testify about unresolved questions.”
Durbin concluded, “On October 7, when the President [Obama] came forward and publicly stated what he had been doing, what his Administration had been doing, to investigate this Russian interference, he called for a bipartisan commitment of Republicans and Democrats to stop it in its place. There was one voice of resistance and it came from Senator McConnell, the Republican leader. He didn’t want to take this as seriously as President Obama did. So for him to blame President Obama for not doing enough is to ignore the obvious.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor are available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.