Paul Ryan: Congress Must Investigate Russia’s Ties to Trump Team

Intel Chief Nominee Promises to Support Investigations

Speaking on the Today show, House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R – WI) insisted it was the duty of Congress to carry out bipartisan investigations into the allegations of communication between the Trump team and the Russian government ahead of the November election.

We need to make sure that nothing happened that shouldn’t have happened,” insisted Ryan, adding that he thought Congress was the appropriate place to carry out such investigations. He did not, however, discuss the question of a special prosecutor, something a number of Democrats are calling for.

Former Sen. Dan Coats, going through the nomination process as the next Director of National Intelligence, appeared to support the idea as well, telling the Senate Intelligence Committee that it is “something that needs to be addressed,” and that he would support such investigations.

Coats added that he views Russia’s assertiveness with “great concern,” saying that the US needs to address Russia’s intentions with healthy skepticism. Coats is expected to be fairly easily confirmed.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.