A top GOP senator faced a grilling from a conservative radio show host over not yet subpoenaing ex-officials, such as fired FBI Director James Comey, in his inquiry into the “Russiagate” controversy.
Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, was pressed by Hugh Hewitt during his radio show on Wednesday morning. The conservative commentator said Republican voters are frustrated that Johnson and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham have not called in Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, or fired FBI special agent Peter Strzok to testify under oath about what the host called “an attempted coup” against President Trump.
“Well, first of all, I need approval of my committee members,” Johnson said. He added that “it was tough enough” getting subpoenas approved against Blue Star Strategies in his inquiry into the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy and allegations of corruption related to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The Wisconsin Republican also said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had assigned Graham “to really investigate that portion of the corruption.” Johnson emphasized how, with his committee being made up of eight Republicans and six Democrats, “if I lose one, I lose the vote … I had a devil of a time just getting the subpoena authority that I got.”
But in June, Johnson’s committee voted to give him the authority to subpoena Comey, Brennan, Strzok, and numerous others, including former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Thus far, Johnson has not subpoenaed any of those people to testify.
“Chairman Johnson is committed to running a thorough investigation into abuses by the Obama administration toward the Trump campaign,” a spokesperson for Johnson told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “Committee members want Chairman Johnson to attempt to get voluntary compliance, and also to be fully prepared for interviews by obtaining necessary documents, before compelling testimony. Chairman Johnson has been working for months to gather documents and information from witnesses on a voluntary basis but will subpoena witnesses when necessary. And as he has mentioned, his patience is wearing thin.”
Hewitt told Johnson, “The election is here, and whether it’s you or Lindsey, we’re out of time. You guys have blown the time … We’ve waited three years for someone to put Comey under oath — you or Lindsey — I’ll blame you both.”
When asked if he would publicly commit to bringing a subpoena for Comey up for a vote during the next committee hearing, Johnson said, “Not on a radio show, Hugh.”
Johnson said he was pursuing documents to assist with future questioning, calling Comey “a slippery character, so you need documents to effectively question him.” The Senate chairman emphasized that he had subpoenaed current FBI Director Christopher Wray for a host of documents related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation just a few days ago. He also pointed to the revelations from a newly declassified document from Sunday that showed that the FBI apparently misled the Senate Intelligence Committee in early 2018 about the reliability of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s anti-Trump dossier.
But when pressed by Hewitt about “which Republican doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this” Trump-Russia controversy, Johnson said, “We had a number of my committee members that were highly concerned about how this looks politically.” The radio show host asked for the identity of the “screw-up” on the committee blocking subpoenas, but the Republican senator declined and said, “I’m just not going to be naming names that way.”
“I have had it with Republicans in the Senate not calling up anyone that we want to hear from,” Hewitt retorted. “I had the president on yesterday, and he says it goes far beyond the FBI into the intelligence community … Documents don’t matter. Videotape and witnesses matter.”
Both former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates recently testified before Graham’s committee that they would never have signed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant applications against Trump campaign associate Carter Page if they knew then what they know now. Recent revelations about the FBI’s early 2017 interviews with Steele’s primary subsource, revealed to be Russian-trained lawyer Igor Danchenko, show that the bureau was aware of severe doubts cast on the credibility of Steele’s allegations, but it continued to rely upon it anyway, and that Steele’s dossier may have been compromised by Russian disinformation.
Johnson said he didn’t want a “show trial” in which “people just duck questions.” Hewitt later said Johnson and Graham were “failing the American people” because “we don’t have answers.”
“I share your frustration, which is why I subpoenaed Director Wray. I understand that time is running out,” Johnson said, pointing to the criminal investigations, the special counsel inquiry, the impeachment, and the coronavirus pandemic as reasons for his committee being slowed down.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s lengthy report, released in December, criticized the DOJ and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA warrants against Page and for the bureau’s reliance on Steele’s discredited, Democratic-funded dossier.
Johnson said he did not know if there is a grand jury and that he hadn’t discussed it with Attorney General William Barr. He also repeatedly declined Hewitt’s request to predict whether U.S. Attorney John Durham would hand down any indictments.
“I’m not involved with Durham’s investigation, but he should be indicting people, and he should’ve indicted people earlier,” Johnson said. “Andrew McCabe should’ve been indicted a year ago for lying to the FBI.”
Hewitt closed by claiming that Democrats “play hardball in the House” while Republicans “play underhand softball in the Senate. And we are going to lose this election. If we lose it in the Senate … it’s because you and Lindsey let them do this. You let them slow-walk you into a corner.”
Johnson said, “I’m doing everything I believe I possibly can on this thing.”
