Grassley doesn’t see how Judiciary ‘can avoid’ obstruction probe

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told CNN on Wednesday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will likely investigate whether President Trump obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey.

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if the obstruction probe was one of the areas that the committee could investigate without conflicting with other Senate and House committees, Grassley replied, “I think that everything’s on the table.”

Grassley also hinted in an earlier interview with Politico that obstruction of justice would be one of the areas his committee would pursue.

“I don’t want to say for sure. But I don’t know how you can avoid it,” Grassley told Politico regarding the possibility of an obstruction probe. “Because the FBI was investigating it before there was a special counsel.”

{mosads}Grassley and fellow Judiciary Committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) met with special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday to ensure that their investigations weren’t conflicting with the special counsel’s investigation.

Last week, Grassley said the investigation into Comey’s firing was a perfect fit for the Judiciary Committee.

“It fits in with the way we do oversight,” he said. “I can’t look at whether the president is a Republican or a Democrat. My constitutional responsibility of oversight stays the same.”

Other Senate Republicans disagree. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, seemed to push back at Grassley on Friday.

“I’m sure it’s being pushed rather hard by Democrats, because I don’t know one Republican pushing that,” Hatch said of an investigation into Comey’s firing. “It’s not that they don’t want to have an investigation; they don’t see a need for it.”