After publicly bullying Walt Shaub from the OGE for questioning Donald Trump's non-compliance to government ethics, Rep. Jason Chaffetz laughingly told ABC host George Stephanopoulos three times he doesn't go on "fishing expeditions" to investigate politicians.
You heard him right!
The previous segment ended with chief ethics lawyers, Norman Eisen and Richard Painter asking Rep. Chaffetz to investigate the president-elect's "impeding violation of the constitution, not this poor government official who is just trying to do his job."
Rep. Chaffetz said that Trump has, in his mind complied within the constraints of the law.
George pushed him and asked, " You just heard both Mr. Painter and Mr. Eisen say that they believe that the president-elect is going to be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the constitution on day one. Have you asked for documents from the president-elect?"
Here's where the Congressman becomes a comedian.
Rep. Chaffetz said, "No, that's speculative. I mean, Donald Trump hasn't even been sworn in yet." He continued, "But I'm not going to go on this fishing expedition that they want me to, that the Democrats want me to, the president has a duty and obligation to comply with the law. But again he's exempt from almost all of these things."
Stephanopoulos said twenty-one leading Democrats,"request documents detailing the president-elect's business dealings around the world to get at this question, including possible loans and investments from Russians Will you request that information?"
Chaffetz said, "No. I have no plans to do that at this point." On the Emoluments Clause, he continued, "The president-elect hasn't even been sworn in yet. So, all this flailing about how he's done everything wrong it's a little premature at best."
George asked in five days he'll be sworn in and THEN will he begin to investigate and he replied, "No, not necessarily. Look, I'm not just going to go on these fishing expeditions."
Rep. Chaffetz echoed the same lines as Trump's top TV surrogates have. Since he won the election the American people don't care.
Chaffetz, "Until we see something that is actually wrongdoing, we're probably not going to go on a fishing trip to go see look at -- we're just not going to do that, that's not what we do in this committee."
Most Americans would be able to tell you that the Republicans went on seven fishing expeditions over Benghazi before Rep. Chaffetz and The House Select Committee began the eighth such investigation on Benghazi.
Slate's Ben Mathis-Lilley calculated that if Republican House members were as concerned with investigating the Iraq war as much as Benghazi the results would be staggering.
...calculating proportionally and assuming that those lives cut short in Iraq are worth as much attention as the lives cut short in Benghazi, House Republicans would have launched 6,750 investigations of the Iraq war to have been conducted over the course of 4,500 years. Wouldn't that have been absurd?
I conclude at C&L that you, Congressman Chaffetz are a liar.
If any Democrat was voted into the White House or high powered position without being transparent about their business practices, refusing to release their tax returns, refusing to comply with the OGE and breaking hundreds of years of protocols, he'd already have told the media when the hearings would begin.
