Top Dem: Kushner reports a 'rumor at this point'

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill



BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 05/28/17 09:56 AM EDT

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday said he expects the special counsel named to investigate any Russia involvement in the 2016 election will get to the bottom of recent reports related to White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.

"The bottom line of course if we now have a special counsel in Bob Mueller. I have the highest level of confidence in him, and I hope that he will follow all the evidence, all the leads and all the suggestions and I'm sure he will," Durbin, the Senate Democratic whip, said on "Fox News Sunday."

"This is a rumor at this point and whether it is something that should be followed up on, I'll trust Bob Mueller's judgment."

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Kushner in December sought to establish a backchannel line of communication during a meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. That channel was never set up.


Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/335462-durbin-on-kushner-reports-this-is-a-rumor-at-this-point

[MFM008]

1. So anxious

To stay out of it.....

[DrDan]

2. Acting like a responsible adult

[karynnj]

7. Democrats have no Congressional subpoena power - we control neither House

Even if he wanted a partisan investigation, the only choice they have is in their own caucus with no subpoena power. We were lucky that circumstances resulted in a special prosecutor.

[Laf.La.Dem.]

3. More "rumor names"?

Michael Flynn
Carter Page
Roger Stone
Paul Manafort
Jeff Sessions
Rex Tillerson
etc.

[leftofcool]

4. Thank you Mr Complicit

[karynnj]

6. Do you know anything about Senator Durbin?

He is a very good Democrat, liberal and person. He is not in anyway "complicit". This is the type of cautious comment you would expect from any lawyer when the case has not yet been made.

He also transitions to referring it to the special counsel who was recently named. This is a smart move. If there is real fire in the story, it should be addressed by the nonpartisan special prosecutor. Note that we do not control either House, so even if he thought it better to have a Senate investigation where the Democrats have subpoena power, that would not be possible. Publicly throwing it to the "judgment" of the special prosecutor, is politely putting Mueller on notice that he must consider whether this is something to look at.

[leftofcool]

8. I know Durbin very well, thank you.

[milestogo]

10. How is Durbin complicit?

[Blue_Roses]

11. Evidently not

if you think he's complicit.

[cstanleytech]

12. He is right though because right now its just an investigation to find out what if anything happened

and who did it.
And dont forget the Russians have planted false flags in the past and they probably have a number of them ready to go in order to create as much chaos inside the US as possible as well as to throw the investigation off the trail of who Russia was really working with so any investigation is going to have be careful and double if not triple check the evidence.

[Xolodno]

17. That's part of the problem....

I think back to the original Dune movie/mini-series after they take control of Iracus, one of the ministers is extremely frustrated because they keep finding bombs, sabotage, etc. too easily.... In other words, they are constantly being kept busy by false but true leads...while missing the main conspiracy.

Keep the chaos going, while everyone misses the real objective. So yes, its Putin, but whats his endgame? That no one is fully sure of...or if he's already accomplished it.

[cstanleytech]

18. I suspect its to weaken the US and its resolve to support NATO as well as

its troops in Japan because if the US wasnt in the way I suspect Putin would love to nip off a few more islands from Japan as well as some more of the Ukraine and Turkey (if Erdoğan turns uncooperative or is removed from office) as well as some of the other older territory that was once part of the Soviet Union.

[Xolodno]

22. I can't get behind the idea "he want's more territory"

...he's got what he wants. He'll keep the northern islands from Japan as they are a useful bargaining chip, but for now, Japan doesn't have anything he wants.

But a dissolution of NATO being replaced with a unified EU I do agree is one of the things he wants. He's publicly stated that he believes the world should return to a multi-polar world that was prior to World War I.

[cstanleytech]

23. Its not that he wants more territory its that he sees long term financial gains for himself

and his inner circle that provide him the support to remain in power.

[pnwmom]

13. Please be fair. He's a Senator, therefore he will be a JUROR

in the Senate trial after the impeachment.

He is SUPPOSED to not prejudge or make his judgment on a partisan basis. You should view every public statement of his through that prism.

But if the House impeaches DT and the case comes to Durbin, he will NOT be complicit in any evil.

[karynnj]

5. Perfect response

The media put the story out there and there is already a special prosecutor. This shows how important it was that a special prosecutor be named.

Here, Durbin is avoiding it being a partisan attack. At this point, it really is a "rumor", but one for which the sources were good enough for the NYT and WP to print it. Remember that early on the Bernstein/Woodward stories were credited to a source that they simply called "Deep Throat". Note that Durbin does NOT reject that it could be something for which follow up is called for.

What does give it more credibility is the chaotic response. McMasters argued that back channels are normal -- ie "nothing to see here". Trump calls it "fake news". Yet, you see stories that Kushner intends to re evaluate every 6 months whether he should return to his important life in the private sector as a real estate magnate (or slum lord.) Also consider that it may have been why Trump cancelled his Iowa rally this week.

If the story were not so negative, I would wonder if it was intentionally leaked to avoid much discussion of how badly Trump went over at both NATO and the G7. Apparently, we have a President that Saudi Arabia likes more than Europe does.

[former9thward]

15. No, Woodward and Bernstein never used "Deep Throat" as a source for articles.

They introduced that term in their book All The President's Men after Nixon resigned in 1974. Mark Felt gave them clues on where to look for information but they never used him as a source in their articles.

[Bradical79]

9. Yes, it is a rumor

Their response and who is reporting on it (and a name being attached) lend a lot of credibility to the rumor, and show it's probably worth pursuing.

It's a good response from Durbin, as it sounds reasonable and gives nothing away. It's accurate as to what is known officially.

[wishstar]

14. McMaster confirmed the backchannel meeting but said he was unconcerned

McMaster did not deny that Kushner, Flynn and Sislyak were discussing setting up secret backchannel but dismissed it as unimportant and normal, so I don't see how we can call it just a rumor.

Maybe Durbin is embarrassed and overly cautious now because he believed and spread rumor claiming Comey had asked for more resources right before being fired, which has turned out to be untrue.

[cstanleytech]

19. What would really be news would be if evidence turns up that

proves they were colluding about the Hillary emails before the election, that would be a major uh huh where Jared would probably be needing a very good criminal defense attorney.

[Skittles]

21. McMaster is a Trump Whore

[Thor_MN]

16. It's not a rumor. It's a tumor.

[cstanleytech]

20. Thats ok, the Repugnant healthcare plan for the tumor is pray it away with cries of "fake news" and

*liberal media conspiracy*.