Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday morning launched a tweetstorm that called for further investigation into the White House ties with Russia.
Warren insisted that Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Flynn, should not be used by the Trump White House as a scapegoat to stave off a more in-depth investigation by Congress into Flynn as well as other members of Trump’s cabinet with purported ties to Russia.
Warren claimed that a wider probe into the administration’s dealings with Russia was necessary for the sake of national security. She accused the Trump Administration of holding ties to Russia that were “disturbing.”
Michael Flynn’s blinding religious hatred & shady Russian ties disqualified him as NSA on day one. His removal is a win for American values.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
But American national security demands that we not allow Michael Flynn to become a scapegoat for this Admin's disturbing ties to Russia.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
The senator’s list of accused included Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Wilbur Ross, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce, and the president himself.
This isn’t a game. Reports say the Russians conducted a series of successful cyber-attacks on our elections to help elect @realDonaldTrump.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
Warren’s comments referred to a dossier of opposition research on Trump. Multiple former and current intelligence officials told CNN last week that they were able to confirm that some of the conversations described in the dossier were true, but did not (as Warren is alleging here) give any specific details as to their nature.
Reports say our own intel agencies have corroborated parts of a dossier alleging that Russia has compromising info about @realDonaldTrump.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
Warren also accused Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of harboring close ties to Russia.
.@StateDept Sec Rex Tillerson has close ties to Putin. @CommerceGov nominee Wilbur Ross has close financial ties to Putin buddies.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
But Congress may have done all it can regarding Tillerson. Concerns over Tillerson’s ties to Russia dominated the former Exxon-Mobil CEO’s confirmation hearings. Despite reservations by both Republicans and Democrats, Tillerson was confirmed by the Senate last month.
The Secretary of State will depart for Bonn, Germany, on Wednesday for a meeting of his counterparts from the Group of 20 world powers on Thursday and Friday.
The State Department would not confirm whether Tillerson would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but did confirm that Tillerson would meet with foreign ministers from Britain, Saudi Arabia and Oman and participate in talks on Syria and Yemen, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Warren also accused Trump of profiting overseas from his hotels abroad. The Massachusetts senator’s did not present evidence to back up her accusation that Trump has financial ties in Russia (something Trump has denied).
CNN could not find any Trump hotel properties in Russia that were actually completed.
.@realDonaldTrump is still making money overseas & may have financial ties to Russia. Nobody knows since he STILL won’t release his taxes.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
This. Is. Not. Normal. @realDonaldTrump owes Americans a full account of his Admin’s dealings with Russia, both before & after the election.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
When did @WhiteHouse know that Flynn lied? What other contacts with Russia occurred during the campaign? Who knew what? Who approved what?
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
Congress must pull its head out of the sand and launch a real, bipartisan, transparent inquiry into Russia. Our natl security is at stake.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 14, 2017
The Department of Justice contacted the White House in late January about concerns that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was misleading Vice-President Mike Pence and posed a risk to being blackmailed by the Russian government.
Sean Spicer confirmed in a press briefing on Tuesday that the president was aware of the DOJ’s reservations about Flynn and took steps to investigate the situation. Spicer insisted that Flynn had done nothing wrong, but that the president asked for his resignation due to a lack of trust.
Spicer also said that the White House does not plan on asking any other administration officials with Russian ties to step forward, and called Flynn “an isolated incident”.
In the wake of Flynn’s resignation, virtually all Democrats and some Republicans in both the House and Senate have called for a deeper investigation by Congress into Russia’s interference in both the presidential election as well as the current administration.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday afternoon that it’s “highly likely” that the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate Flynn’s involvement with Russia.
There’s silence or opposition from the vast majority of Republicans in the House and Senate into investigating Russia’s influence on the presidential administration and matters of national security. This includes House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), one of the chief proponents of investigations by Congress into the Benghazi terrorist attacks and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) released this sole statement in response to Flynn’s resignation.
“Mike Flynn served his country with distinction. The President needs a National Security Advisor whom he can trust and I defer to him to decide who best fills that role.”