Senate Dem: ‘Comity has fallen apart’ on Judiciary Committee

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday defended Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for unilaterally releasing the transcript of an interview with a co-founder of Fusion GPS, which produced a controversial dossier that accused President Trump’s campaign of colluding with Russia. 

“Unfortunately comity has fallen apart on that committee for the time being,” Murphy told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” 

“I think it’s just another reminder that if we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened with respect to the 2016 election, it’s going to come through Robert Mueller’s investigation,” he continued. 

“I’ve always been skeptical that the Judiciary Committee or the Intelligence Committee was going to keep Republicans and Democrats together on their own investigations.” 

The Judiciary Committee interviewed Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson behind closed doors last August as part of its wider investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Feinstein, the committee’s ranking Democrat, went against the wishes of the panel’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who wanted to wait before releasing the transcript. 

“It’s totally confounding that Sen. Feinstein would unilaterally release a transcript of a witness interview in the middle of an ongoing investigation — a witness that Feinstein herself subpoenaed last year for lack of cooperation,” Grassley’s press secretary said in a statement. 

Murphy on Wednesday said he thinks Feinstein made the right decision. 

“Remember, the Republicans on that committee didn’t consult with her with respect to their referral to the Department of Justice on Fusion GPS,” Murphy said, referring to Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) decision to ask Justice to look into criminal charges against the dossier’s author.