Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare covers the latest meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee, looking for evidence of support for Trump’s position on Russia – and not finding it:
But this strikes me as a political fight he is unlikely to win.
The evidence of this reality in yesterday’s hearing had a few distinct elements. First off was the particularly warm body language between committee members, the leaders in particular, and Clapper. While John McCain, the committee chairman, was unspairing [sic]in his criticism of the Obama administration for not developing a cyber deterrence strategy, his demeanor towards the DNI was one of profound respect and cordiality. Others too made a point of thanking Clapper for his long service in various intelligence capacities and across administrations. …
Indeed, the whole hearing had an unusually bipartisan tone given the generally polarized political atmosphere of this particular moment. Democrats went out of their way to praise Sen. McCain. And there was, for the most part, relatively little difference between the tone of Republican and Democratic questions.
I think this all augurs quite badly for Trump if he is really hell-bent on a major confrontation with the intelligence community over its Russia conclusions. The New York Times reports today that Trump has described the hacking focus as “a political witch hunt.” The merits of that ridiculous claim aside, if it is a witch hunt, it’s one to which some Republicans and all seemingly all Democrats on this committee are fiercely committed and against which no Republicans appear eager to defend the president-elect’s position. That means that a presidential war against the intelligence community on behalf of the innocent virtue of Vladimir Putin will likely also mean a battle with Congress.
While the Presidency certainly has levers of power it can wield, a fight with an obdurate Senate Armed Services Committee could have horrific consequences for Trump. I suspect it would all depend on which side could rally public support – the Trump lovers, or the Russia-worriers, so to speak. While Trump can only claim to have information that he only knows about, making the Committee to be a bunch of worry-warts, they can call down accusations ranging from amateurism all the way to selling-out and even betrayal.
But will Trump and his advisors, who are mostly zealots rather than experienced hands, understand this?
Might be time to invest in popcorn stocks.
