Congress

House Republicans Want to Go Back to Investigating Clinton

And they’re calling for a special counsel to do it.
Image may contain Hillary Clinton Human Person Face Crowd and Audience
Hillary Clinton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 7, 2016.By Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

It seems Donald Trump isn’t the only politician in Washington still hung up on Hillary Clinton. Frustrated that most of the investigatory intrigue is currently centered on Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference and alleged collusion with the Trump campaign, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are calling on the Justice Department to appoint a second special counsel to investigate “other matters” related to the 2016 election: specifically the role played by Clinton, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and ousted F.B.I. Director James Comey.

“The unbalanced, uncertain, and seemingly unlimited focus of the special counsel’s investigation has led many of our constituents to see a dual standard of justice that benefits only the powerful and politically well-connected,” the Republicans wrote Thursday in a letter signed by 20 members of the House Judiciary Committee. “For this reason we call on you to appoint a second special counsel to investigate a plethora of matters connected to the 2016 election and its aftermath.”

The “matters” the House Republicans want investigated include Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure at the State Department, Comey’s handling of the subsequent F.B.I. investigation, Lynch’s controversial tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton, and an alleged connection between the Clinton Foundation and a uranium mining deal approved by Clinton, among others. “If it’s in the public interest to investigate the Trump administration, it is most certainly in the public interest to investigate the real crimes by the real criminals,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, as reported by McClatchy D.C. “Just because Hillary Clinton lost the election doesn't mean we should forget or forgive conduct that is likely criminal.” He continued, “We need an investigation of Tarmac-Gate.”

The House Judiciary Committee’s request echoes Trump’s renewed attacks against his former political rivals in recent weeks. As the tensions between the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have spilled into the open over the latter’s recusing himself from the Russia investigation, Trump has criticized the “beleaguered” top lawyer for not taking a harsher line on Clinton, while lambasting the Mueller probe as a “witch hunt” orchestrated by Clintonworld.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

House Democrats were taken by surprise when their Republican colleagues spun a Democratic request for a probe into Trump’s firing of Comey to their favor. “There appears to be deliberate stonewalling to stop any inquiry into the questions facing us today,” Democratic Representative Primala Jayapal, who introduced the original resolution of inquiry, said. “You want to have another beating of the dead horse of Hillary Clinton and her e-mails? Fine, I’ll include it. But let’s have another opportunity to debate.”

Trump’s calls for new investigations into the conduct of the Democratic Party and Clinton during the 2016 election has faced greater pushback in the Senate. “It harkens back to the notion of a banana republic,” Senator Lindsey Graham said of Trump’s tweets about Sessions and Clinton. “It’s what dictators do, they look to punish their enemies.”