FBI/GOP/PAUL RYAN/RUSSIA/SPYGATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Speaker Paul D. Ryan agreed on Wednesday [6-6-18] that the F.B.I. did nothing wrong by using a confidential informant to contact members of the Trump campaign as it investigated its ties to Russia, contradicting President Trump’s assertions of a broad conspiracy by federal law enforcement. And he warned that Mr. Trump should not try to pardon himself, despite Mr. Trump’s assertion two days earlier that the president has the power to take such a step…Mr. Ryan’s warning is another sign that the president is starting to face trouble on Capitol Hill with members of his own party. From international trade and China to immigration and the conduct of his cabinet, at least some Republicans are beginning to dissent. Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania are vowing to attach legislation to a must-pass defense policy bill that would roll back tariffs on steel and aluminum produced in Canada, Mexico and Europe…Some Republicans are furious about the president’s efforts to lift sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. In the House, two dozen Republicans are demanding votes on legislation that would help young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, but are balking at the president’s get-tough demands on other immigration matters.”
-Nicholas Fandos, “Paul Ryan Dismisses Trump’s Charges of a Spy in His Campaign,” The New York Times online, June 6, 2018