Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is slamming Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the GOP chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, for contradicting direct orders from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Russia investigation and issuing a subpoena of Donald Trump, Jr., despite McConnell’s statement that the case is closed.
Apparently the Republican chair of the Senate Intel Committee didn’t get the memo from the Majority Leader that this case was closed… https://t.co/jvV5PIX266
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 8, 2019
Burr, as Breitbart News and other outlets reported late Wednesday, has issued a subpoena of Trump, Jr., which the president’s eldest son is electing to rebuff despite Trump, Jr.’s history of open cooperation on the Russia investigation. Trump, Jr., has been repeatedly cleared, as has the president himself.
But Burr has been trying to keep the case alive, in contravention of McConnell’s stated orders, and is now facing fierce backlash not just against himself but all Senate Republicans. Paul is the first Senate Republican to stand up against this, but others are expected to join him quickly.
McConnell, who is the ex officio chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and from whom Burr derives his authority as chairman, has not replied to requests for comment from Breitbart News on this matter.
But a top McConnell donor, who is also close with the Trump White House, told Breitbart News that McConnell must intervene to end Burr’s decision to go rogue.
“What Burr’s doing isn’t just a slap in the face to the President and his family, its a slap in the face to Americans across the country,” the top McConnell donor said. “It’s incumbent that Leader McConnell steps up to the plate and strips Senator Burr’s Chairmanship of the Intel Committee. If he refuses to do that, then he shoulders just as much blame for this travesty of justice as the Senator from North Carolina.”
McConnell’s office has not answered when asked by Breitbart News what the Senate GOP leader thinks of the subpoena and whether he will allow Burr to remain as committee chairman in the wake of this move.
It’s notable that Paul is the first of many expected Republicans to speak out against this, as he also represents Kentucky in the United States Senate. McConnell, who is Kentucky’s other senator, is up for re-election in 2020.
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