WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Oversight Committee, has demanded an investigation take place to discover whether or not the Trump administration has compromised the U.S. and U.K. through its links with Russia.
Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) said former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation came following reports that said he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before Donald Trump took office. This has led some to question what secrets may have been traded with the Kremlin.
On the house floor Krishnamoorthi said,
“Mr. Speaker, recent executive actions have resulted in confusion, demonstrations and late night court rulings. Many executive orders have been announced with little notice and the American people have had to wait hours afterwards to see the text. Federal agencies have also been blind sided by these orders. The secretary of Homeland Security found out about the President’s Executive Orders through Cable news. In some cases, the President himself has been uncertain of what his executive orders contained. Sir, we need transparency today. Congress has the responsibility to eliminate this confusion and make sure that executive actions are clear and transparent to all Americans. That’s why I am introducing the Executive Order Transparency Act. This one-page bill requires that all executive orders be posted on the White House website 72 hours before each is signed. This simple bill is an investment in a working government, and I urge all my colleagues to join me. “
Krishnamoorthi’s bill comes only hours after the news of General Flynn’s resignation. He called for a full and open investigation into both General Flynn and the Trump Administration’s interactions with the Russian government.
“In light of these revelations, I’m calling for a full investigation into General Flynn and the Trump Administration’s interactions with Russian intelligence services,” Rep. Krishnamoorthi said. “More than half the country already has serious concerns about the relationship between the Trump Administration and the Russian government. Fundamental national security questions remain unanswered, including whether General Flynn went rogue in discussing sanctions with Russian agents, or whether he was directed to. We need to know what was discussed, what the Russians learned, and what they may have offered in return. The American people deserve answers.”
“There are several serious significant unanswered questions,” Krishnamoorthi said during a radio interview with BBC.
“The biggest is quite simply was General Flynn, in Donald Trump’s parlance, one bad hombre who went rogue, or was he directed by someone else to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador? What was discussed exactly, and why, and… what do the Russians know about our national secrets? Because at the end of the day we need to protect ourselves and of course our allies like the United Kingdom, and in order to do so we need to understand whether any of our secrets were compromised in the balance.”
Republican Jason Chaffetz, who chairs the Oversight Committee, previously announced it will not be investigating the circumstances that led to Flynn’s resignation. This because the House Intelligence Committee has already reportedly begun probing Russian links with the Trump campaign and administration.
“I think that situation has taken care of itself. I know that the Intel committee is looking into the hacking issue,” Chaffetz told reporters Tuesday.
However, Krishnamoorthi says cross-party momentum was building for greater transparency on all the dealings the Trump team has had with the Kremlin.
“This is not a partisan issue. I’m very heartened that Republican senators such as John McCain, Lindsey Graham and others have also called for a full investigation within the US Senate. We need to do the exact same thing in Congress,” he said.
“Half the country at this point has serious questions about the relationship between the Government and the Russian Government. We need to have full and open proceedings in order to answer all the questions that the public has, because this revelation as regards Mr Flynn has added fuel to the fire with regard to all the various conspiracy theories that are out there right now.
“This is unprecedented. I cannot recollect a time recently when a national security advisor lasted all of 25 days, who had discussions with the Russian government, one of our primary adversaries today in the world, with regard to lifting sanctions. Was there a quid pro quo? ‘If Russia did X, we will lift sanctions’? What is that ‘X’? That’s what people are asking.
“We must re-evaluate what the Russians know about our national secrets and how we protect ourselves, and then move on from there.”
Information from BBC radio contributed to this report.
