The Russia investigation is getting closer to the Oval Office with each day, and Donald Trump is incredibly worried.
But while most of the headlines involve Trump, his family, and members of the 2016 Trump for president campaign, plenty of other Republicans in Washington are also very nervous that their names might be on one of the federal indictments that have yet to be unsealed.
Let’s take a minute and go down the list of who has already been indicted or agreed to plead guilty as part of the investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller:
- Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort
- Manafort’s chief deputy and business partner, Rick Gates
- Foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos
- Disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
- California businessman Richard Pinedo
- Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan
- 13 Russian nationals and Russian companies
- 12 members of the Russian intelligence agency known as the GRU.
- Donald Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen.
While this is an impressive list, there are many names missing from it, including Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and the president himself.
But what about others in the GOP who knew about the conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia but said nothing to federal investigators? Aren’t they also part of the larger criminal conspiracy and therefore culpable? Yes, they are, and in some cases, they’re among the most powerful politicians in the United States.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan: Why is Ryan so eager to provide cover for Trump after saying when the Access Hollywood tape came out that he could no longer support Trump?
California GOP Congressman Devin Nunes: Nunes has been eager and willing to protect the White House with lies and by sabotaging the investigation conducted by the House Intelligence Committee he chairs.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: A Super PAC controlled by McConnell took at least $2.5 million from a pro-Putin businessman in Ukraine.
Former Utah GOP Congressman Jason Chaffetz: Chaffetz beat a hasty retreat out of Washington and quickly took a gig at Fox News, acting as if he’d just been caught with a dead body in the trunk of his car. Turns out he may also have connections to Russia.
In the months ahead, don’t be surprised when new indictments are unsealed with these four names — and others — on them, or listing them as unindicted co-conspirators.
There’s a tremendous cloud hanging over the Republican party, and it emanates from Moscow. Expect Robert Mueller to flush out all the GOP rats and make them pay for their crimes.