Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL) thinks that newly minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is going to have a difficult time trying to hold the kind of hearings that Republicans want.
Speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta on Sunday, Kinzinger asked about McCarthy defying subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee last year, and how that will work out for him in the GOP Congress.
"He did not defend the integrity of House investigations," said Kinzinger, who was one of the Republicans to serve on the committee. "And so as they do their investigations, he'll have to live with that, live with that precedent. And he's got a tightrope to walk. He has a very thin majority. One of his people lies about literally everything. And for me, it disturbs me, yes, the Jan. 6 stuff, but just the lack of respect for the institution."
Kinzinger went on to say that he doesn't think McCarthy had a lot to hide from Jan. 6, unlike other members, but he was playing the "game."
"And that game was to stand against and pretend that Jan. 6 was nothing but a tourist visit, and now, as they have their Oversight coming up, there are people that could use that prior precedent and we'll see what happens," he explained.
Acosta asked if the subpoenas sent out by Republicans would even mean anything.
"Could the subject of those subpoenas say, well, look at what happened with the Jan. 6 committee? Why do I need to comply and so on?" he asked.
Kinzinger agreed, "each one of these iterations lowers the credibility for the House and long-term for this country that is a bad thing."
See the excerpt below or at the link here:
House Republicans have no credibility on investigations: ex-GOP member www.youtube.com
House Republicans, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on the Judiciary Committee, have set out a demand for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to testify to Congress about his investigation of former President Donald Trump's hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels — even before he has issued any indictment, or lack thereof, in the matter.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a longtime critic of Trump, took to CNN on Monday to sound the alarm about this effort — and warn that in addition to being against the rule of law, it is derailing the GOP agenda altogether.
"As your former colleagues, House Republicans are gathering in Florida, is this precisely the type of Trump-inspired action you have been warning about?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.
"Yeah, I mean, look, this is a time where the Republicans should be talking about what's your agenda for the economy, what's your agenda for the banking system, your agenda for poverty, going forward, Ukraine, those kinds of discussions," said Kinzinger. "This is overshadowing, frankly, whether it's this one or the potential charges from Georgia or potential federal charges, this is going to overshadow the Republican agenda. You see people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, this is basically all she's tweeting about. She's the de facto leader of the GOP right now. It's a massive distraction, and I think a lot of these Republicans are getting way out in front of their skis. Read the charges. If they are a nothingburger, they have a right to ask some questions, but they very well may not be, and I worry about the precedent of the chill this sends to any state prosecutor that wants to pursue charges against any American."
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump ally Robert Costello reveals what he told the Manhattan grand jury
Kinzinger warned that "we run the risk of becoming numb to what's really going on here" with House GOP lawmakers trying to interfere with the Manhattan investigation.
"You have an entire party that's basically jumping the gun and trying to interfere before laws, and before law enforcement, really has had its chance, and justice has had its chance, to be done," said Kinzinger. "You have a president that's done one of the darkest videos I have ever seen, the former president, where he called Russia not our enemy but fellow Americans our enemy, and then has tweeted, or put on Truth Social, over and over that his supporters need to come out and basically prevent justice from occurring. Now, you go to Earth 2, five years ago, and people would be shocked by this. We've become numb. And I don't think we can afford and risk to become as numb as we have become."
Watch video below or at this link.
Adam Kinzinger on GOP efforts to go after Alvin Bragg www.youtube.com
(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin and his "dear friend" Chinese leader Xi Jinping planned more talks on Tuesday after a Kremlin dinner where the isolated Russian president showcased his most powerful ally in the face of Western opposition to the war in Ukraine. Washington denounced Xi's visit, saying the timing just days after an international court accused Putin of war crimes indicated Beijing was providing Moscow with "diplomatic cover" to commit additional crimes. It was Xi's first trip abroad since he obtained an unprecedented third term last month. The Chinese leader has been trying to portray B...
Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen appeared on MSNBC on Monday evening after Trump ally Robert Costello spoke out about what he told the grand jury.
MSNBC's Ari Melber went line-by-line with what Costello said outside the New York court, and Cohen explained why what Costello claimed was absurd.
Cohen began by explaining that he had never even worked with Costello when he reached out to the law firm
"When he says he was speaking with you and advising you, was he your lawyer at the time?" Melber asked Cohen.
"No, in fact, there are so many things about his statement which is untrue, first and foremost, that I reached out to them. I didn't know Bob Costello from a hole in the wall," said Cohen. "In fact, the senior partner of the firm, Jeffrey Citron is the one who introduced us and said we should speak and so we set up a meeting. They came. I think either they brought me a retainer or said they were sending one or a letter of engagement. I never signed it. He was never my lawyer."
Another lie is that he waved attorney-client privilege, Cohen said he'd like to know when, where and how because he doesn't remember that.
He also said that the idea that Trump was just doing a "settlement" with adult film star Stormy Daniels is absurd because there was no lawsuit.
"She was going public at a bad time in the campaign," said Cohen.
He also said that the idea that he was accused of purgery and lying to Congress was because he cited real estate deals for Trump at three when the reality was ten. It had nothing to do with Daniels or anything in this case.
"It's a typical Donald J. Trump play out of the playbook,' said Cohen. "How do you muddy the water as best as he possibly can? Disparage them. They did the same thing to Cassidy Hutchinson and did the same thing to anyone and everyone that is for the truth, and the beauty, the beauty that I have is I have facts. I have truth. I have the documentation. Let me rephrase that. The district attorney has the documentation in order to validate every single statement that I've made and to basically dispel anything that Bob Costello has to say which is probably, again, why they didn't need me for rebuttal."
See a clip of the interview below or at the link here.
Cohen says Trump lawyer Robert Costello's 'making up stories' to grand jury: 'A typical Trump play' www.youtube.com
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