Is Trump attacking Obama a big mistake?
Mo Elleithee and Jason Chaffetz debate if President Trump going after Obama is a good idea, or risky because of his predecessors popularity
Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz claimed on "Outnumbered Overtime" Tuesday that Democrats "don't want to hear the truth" about what actually happened during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian collusion and meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The former House Oversight Committee chairman told host Harris Faulkner that Democrats' lack of curiosity about the circumstances surrounding the unmasking and eventual indictment of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn is telling. Former Democratic National Committee communications director and Fox News contributor Mo Elleithee countered that Republicans were making a conspiracy out of a molehill.
"I mean, you have one person doing unmasking the morning Donald Trump was actually going into his inauguration," Chaffetz pointed out. "You have Samantha Power, who is running the United Nations, saying, 'Well, I know all these things happened under my name, but I didn't ask for them.'
"Aren't you curious to figure out who is abusing the system and violating somebody's Fourth Amendment rights?" Chaffetz asked. "There is no curiosity?"
In this Nov. 22, 2019, file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks with members of the press before participating in a law enforcement roundtable at the Flathead County Sheriff's Posse in Evergreen, Mont. Barr on Monday said he disagreed with a watchdog report on the FBI’s decision to launch the Russia probe. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Although Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced an investigation into Mueller's operation last week, Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he does not expect a criminal investigation into either former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden to result from Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham's look into the origins of the Russia invetigation.
Chaffetz told Faulkner that Barr and the DOJ need to follow the facts and advised that Graham do the same in his probe.
"That's where I see the attorney general going. That's where I see the Congress going. And, I think that's the appropriate path to follow," Chaffetz remarked.
"It's one of the most abusive uses of power we've ever seen," he added. "We have over a thousand pages from the Inspector General talking about how corrupt that Department of Justice was, and you just think we should just set it aside? And [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer thinks we should not look here? That is ridiculous."
Elleithee pushed back, arguing the larger abuse of power was Flynn's 2017 guilty plea to making false statements to the FBI and noting that there have been more unmasking requests fulfilled under the Trump administration than under the Obama administration.
Faulkner interjected, noting that while unmasking is not illegal in and of itself, leaking the name of an unmasked person -- as apparently happened to Flynn -- is a crime.
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"But let's remember that the inspector general did all kinds of reports," Chaffetz added. "Do you see Jerry Nadler or [House Oversight] Chairman [Carolyn] Maloney calling these people before Congress to go figure out the facts on what [DOJ] Inspector General [Michael] Horowitz found? No! They didn't even invite them up to go, and they are in the majority.
"So, don't try to pretend, Mo, that the Democrats are really curious about this sort of stuff," he concluded. "They have tools, but they don't want to hear the truth."
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