As the investigation into the Russia scandal intensified, and evidence emerged that Team Trump sought, embraced, capitalized on, and lied about assistance from their benefactors in Moscow, many Republicans arrived at a bizarre point: The problem with the scandal isn’t what the investigation uncovered, they said; the problem is the investigation into the scandal itself.
It was this odd approach that led then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to appoint John Durham to conduct his own examination of the examination. (That hasn’t turned out well.)
Three years later, as the scrutiny of the Jan. 6 attack intensifies, and evidence emerges that this is arguably the biggest scandal in American history, some Republicans have arrived at a familiar point: The problem with the scandal isn’t what the investigation has uncovered, they’re arguing; the problem is the investigation into the scandal itself.
It’s against this backdrop that Axios reported this morning:
Key House Republicans are threatening to subpoena records of the Jan. 6 committee if the GOP retakes the majority next year — an escalation of the party’s effort to undercut the investigation’s findings…. Fresh talk of 2023 subpoenas, following last week’s vivid testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, means the committee’s “final report” expected this fall may be far from the last word on the Capitol attack.
In other words, a House Republican majority would go after Hunter Biden with wildly unnecessary vigor, but the Jan. 6 committee is just as likely to be targeted in a GOP-led chamber.
To be sure, this sounds familiar for a reason. A month ago, Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the committee that oversees Capitol security and election reforms, announced plans for “a full investigation” into the Jan. 6 committee and its efforts, just as soon as he becomes the panel’s chairman.
Davis soon after lost in an Illinois congressional primary — Donald Trump deemed the congressman as insufficiently radical — throwing a wrench into the plan.
Axios’ report suggests, however, that Davis’ colleagues intend to pursue the House select panel anyway. “When Republicans retake the majority, we will exercise our oversight responsibilities including subpoena authority to review all transcripts and information that the committee has access to in order to identify the truth,” a senior GOP staffer on the House Administration Committee told the outlet. Some of the details surrounding a story like this remain unresolved. I don’t know, for example, why a House Republican majority would feel the need to subpoena a congressional committee’s records: In a GOP-led chamber, Republicans would have access to anything they want. There’d be no need for members to subpoena themselves. Nevertheless, it’s the bigger picture that rankles: Too many congressional GOP leaders don’t want to investigate the attack, but they’re only too pleased to investigate the investigation into the attack.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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