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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee engaged in a Russia collusion cover-up for Trump.

Video:

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) just accused House Republicans of a massive Russia cover-up for Trump. https://t.co/vDo8qhYmQD #Russia pic.twitter.com/GX1gqsqq0Z — Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 14, 2018

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Rep. Swalwell was asked if Republicans on the committee engaged in a cover-up for Trump.

He answered, “They were, Nicolle. That is exactly what they did. They made claims all along there was no collusion, but we saw strong evidence of collusion. They just chose to ignore it and some of them worked very hard to bury it. The BuzzFeed had a story just a couple days ago about Felix Sader and that he had worked in the past to help the FBI and CIA to provide information on Osama bin Lauden and also on the North Koreans. Now, I can’t confirm or deny whether that’s true or not, if that story is accurate, Felix Sader, remember, is the first person to offer to connect Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin in October 2015 saying let’s get these two guys together and we can elect Donald Trump president if we get a Trump Tower deal in Moscow. We saw that throughout the campaign, efforts to connect Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the previewing of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails and then an invitation by the candidate himself for the Russians to hack the e-mails. And once the hacking occurred, the candidate’s own mouth amplified what they found in the e-mails and then his television and radio and social media communications perpetuated what was found. So, he invited it, they offered it, and they emboldened the Russians to do more by his own acts throughout the campaign.”

Rep. Swalwell was talking about collusion, which isn’t the proper legal term. What did with the Russians was an illegal act of coordination with a hostile foreign power.

The Russia scandal is a Republican Party scandal

When House Republicans decided to abandon their sworn oversight and investigative duties to protect Donald Trump, they became part of the crime. The scandal is about more than what the Trump campaign did with the Russians. It is also about how the Republican Party sold itself out to Putin to stay in power. The Russia scandal is a Republican Party scandal, and there may need to be a special counsel appointed if Robert Mueller isn’t already investigating Devin Nunes and the House Republicans.

Intelligence Committee Republicans engaged in a massive cover-up to protect Trump, but it what that cover-up says about the GOP that should have the American people demanding a broader investigation.



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