3/5/2019

2016 ELECTION/GOP/INVESTIGATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “President Donald Trump may have committed crimes over a scheme to pay off women alleging extramarital affairs — but Senate Republicans say they have no reason to look into it. GOP leaders and key committee chairmen are making clear that they believe there is no reason to probe whether the President broke the law in engaging in a scheme to hide payments made to two women to keep their stories quiet in the days running up to the 2016 elections. Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and investigated Hillary Clinton’s email controversy in the last Congress, says he wants to wait until special counsel Robert Mueller finishes his investigation first. Told that the investigation into the hush-money scheme was being led by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Johnson said: ‘We’ll let the justice system work its way. … I want to see the definitive information as opposed to show-trial type testimony at congressional hearings.’ Trump met Tuesday [3-5-19] with Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, to discuss border security and immigration ahead of a Wednesday [3-6-19] Senate hearing. But Trump also discussed ‘harassment stuff’ with the lawmakers, Graham told CNN.”

Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb, “Republicans reject calls to probe Trump role in hush-money payments,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, March 5, 2019 8:01 pm