Senate Must Move Quickly on Bipartisan Bill to Protect Mueller Russia Investigation

Statement of Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn

No American is above the law, not even the President. But President Trump is making no bones about the fact that he believes he is above the law and members of his administration continue to float disturbing trial balloons to gauge what the public reaction would be if Trump fired Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In light of these deeply troubling actions, the Senate must move quickly to pass its bipartisan legislation to protect the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election by the Special Counsel.

Common Cause commends Senators Booker, Coons, Graham and Tillis for their efforts to put country over party with this legislation.

The new bill combining two earlier bipartisan efforts to protect the Special Counsel’s investigation from interference has been taken up with a new and sorely needed urgency. Despite Twitter protestations from the President, the investigation has already resulted in numerous guilty pleas and indictments against members of the Trump campaign, the Trump administration, as well as a slew of foreign nationals. 

Passage of the new Senate bill could well help to stave off a constitutional crisis in which the President abuses his power and obstructs justice by firing the Special Counsel whose investigation has already garnered guilty pleas from the President’s inner circle. It is vitally important that the Senate move quickly on this new legislation to protect the rule of law in our nation and safeguard our democracy.