Looking back on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, it is remarkable to see its similarities with the other story that has dominated our national conversation for the last two years: the investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in the 2016 election.
The narrative arcs of the Kavanaugh confirmation and the Russia collusion investigation are stunningly similar.
1. Democrats experience a catastrophic political setback.
2. Democrats’ reaction builds to a hysterical crescendo.
3. Democrats demand and receive investigations into alleged Republican malfeasance.
4. The investigations produce no evidence to support Democrats’ allegations.
5. Continued investigations reveal Democratic skullduggery and abuse of process.
Democrats have complained since Donald Trump was elected that Republicans demonstrate no respect for facts and the truth. In fact, Congressional Republicans’ search for the truth of the Russia collusion and Kavanaugh confirmation allegations has in many ways been their finest hour.
Rather than succumb to Democrats’ hysteria, congressional Republicans investigating these matters calmly and doggedly pursued the truth. As a result, they uncovered facts providing Americans dramatic insight into extremely troubling behavior of the Justice Department, the intelligence community, and the Democratic Party in the 2016 election, and of elected senators in the Kavanaugh confirmation process.
Congressional Republicans weren’t cowed by the Democrats and their allies in the media in exercising their oversight duties. Republicans haven’t allowed Democrats to limit investigations only to the things Democrats want investigated. When Democrats complained, Congressional Republicans didn’t back down. Republicans instead went wherever investigative leads took them. And oh, where these leads have taken them.
Democrats demanded an investigation into Russia collusion. Republican Rep. Devin Nunes instead launched a comprehensive investigation into the entirety of the Russia allegations.
Thanks to Nunes, we know about the Christopher Steele dossier. We know that Democrats paid for the Steele dossier through their law firm, Perkins Coie. We know about Fusion GPS and its close relationships with Democrats in the Justice Department. We know about Bruce and Nellie Ohr. About Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. And we are starting to learn about back-channel communications between FBI general counsel James Baker and the Democrats’ attorneys at Perkins Coie.
Most critically for American justice, we know about the Obama Administration’s potentially serious abuse of the FISA process. We’ve learned the FISA court may have issued wiretap authorizations solely based on the Steele dossier. We’ve learned the FISA court did not know the Steele dossier was opposition research paid for by the Democrats.
It’s almost amusing to watch Democrats, who demanded transparency throughout the Russia investigation, suddenly start yelping about “protecting sources and methods” and Republican attacks on the hallowed DOJ and FBI as soon as Republicans got closer to the truth about what was going on behind the scenes during the 2016 election.