Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 15 June 2017
Senate panel meets with special counsel in Russia probe

By JAKE PEARSON day after lawmakers
MARY CLARE JALONICK questioned Justice De-
Associated Press partment officials about
WASHINGTON (AP) — the probe and Mueller’s
The special counsel ap- independence, and af-
pointed to investigate ter a friend of President
Russian influence in the Donald Trump said the
2016 presidential cam- White House was consid-
paign has met with the ering firing Mueller.
leaders of the Senate In- Deputy Attorney Gener-
telligence Committee in al Rod Rosenstein, who
an effort to ensure their appointed Mueller last
investigations don’t con- month, testified Tues-
flict. day he has seen no evi-
The leaders of the Sen- dence of good cause to
ate intelligence commit- fire Mueller.
tee say In a statement Also Wednesday, Sen-
issued Wednesday that ate Judiciary Chairman
they “look forward to fu- Charles Grassley said his
ture engagements” with panel will investigate the
Robert Mueller. removal of former FBI
Senate Intelligence Director James Comey
Committee Chairman and “any alleged im-
Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, and Committee proper partisan interfer-
Sen. Mark Warner of Vir- Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., listen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, as ence in law enforce-
ginia, the panel’s top Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified about his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey and ment investigations.”
Democrat, didn’t pro- the investigation into contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia. Grassley announced the
vide any other details (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) investigation in a letter
regarding the meeting. held to discuss the inves- don’t interfere with one ity because the meeting to California Sen. Dianne
An aide familiar with tigations, including ways another. The aide spoke was private. Feinstein, the panel’s
the meeting said it was that the parallel inquiries on condition of anonym- The meeting comes a top Democrat. q
Trump labeling House health care bill ‘mean’ frustrates GOP

By ALAN FRAM beling of a House-passed to back it, even as Sen- “In terms of strategery, I Wednesday, employing
Associated Press health care bill as “mean” ate attempts to reshape hope he’s just trying to mo- a mangled word used by
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- is aggravating some of the the measure increasingly tivate the Senate,” Rep. former President George
dent Donald Trump’s la- conservatives he pressed threaten to spill into July. Dave Brat, R-Va., said W. Bush. “Because he put
all sorts of pressure on us to
move the bill we passed.”
Congressional sources
said Trump described the
House bill as mean at a
closed-door White House
lunch Tuesday with 15 Re-
publican senators. It was
an extraordinary slap at a
bill Speaker Paul Ryan, R-
Wis., guided through the
House and that Trump him-
self had championed and
praised. At a Rose Garden
ceremony minutes after
the bill’s 217-213 House
passage on May 4, Trump
called it “a great plan.”
“To call a bill that he
pushed ‘mean’ leaves us
scratching our heads,” Brat
said.
The president’s criticism
also came as Senate Re-
publican leaders’ attempts
to write their own health
care package have been
slowed by disagreements
between their party’s con-
servatives and moderates.
Trump said he wants the
Senate version to be “more
generous,” the sources
said.q