Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 51 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 5/21/17

Paul Ryan tries to deflect on leak that implicates him in a Russia cover-up

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   4 comments
Message Daily Kos

Reprinted from www.dailykos.com by Joan McCarter

Speaker Paul Ryan is trying out the Trump regime's favorite defense against damning news--focus on the leaker rather than on the content. In this case, it's the release of a transcript with a slip of the tongue from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy about Donald Trump being on Vladimir Putin's payroll, a "joke" that Ryan immediately threatened all of those present to forget ever happened. Ryan is in full deflection mode trying to cover up what he and others in Republican leadership--we're looking at you, Mitch McConnell--knew about Russia's interference in the election on behalf of Trump and when they knew it.

Friday morning, Ryan told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the recording was "a cause of concern" for him and other Republicans.

"I've never seen anything like this," the speaker said. "There was somebody who taped a meeting a year ago where our majority leader cracked a joke and then they released the tape of that joke out just a few days ago and that's a pretty bizarre thing to happen. So obviously that's a cause of concern of ours."

He's never seen anything like this? How about watching the Russians hacking the DNC, getting a briefing from the Ukrainian prime minister which detailed the attacks and the sophisticated propaganda Russia was conducting against it and other European nations, and then brushing off the suggestion that Putin was controlling the possible Republican presidential nominee? That's pretty bizarre and unimaginable. And that's exactly what happened.

But let's not let Ryan and McConnell off that easy, because that private June meeting the transcript is from isn't the first time Ryan heard about any of this stuff.

  • A full year before this meeting, in the summer of 2015, congressional leaders including McConnell and Ryan's predecessor John Boehner were briefed on Russian hacking attempts on the DNC. It strains credulity to believe Ryan wasn't read into these details when he took over as speaker.

Click Here to Read Whole Article

Must Read 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Daily Kos Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in


Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Fox News Turns Against Donald Trump for the Worst Imaginable Reason

Roger Stone Breaks Gag Order, Tells Vice News Cohen Testimony "Entirely Untrue" UPDATE2

Impeachment is NOT the best punishment for Trump. This is.

A Major Surge in Atmospheric Warming Is Probably Coming in the Next Five Years

The Awesome Response to Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Fox News Suffers Worst Ratings In Thirteen Years -- And That's Not Their Big Problem

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend