Missouri Senator John Hawley gets to the heart of the coup attempt

Red States:

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Senator Hawley next launched into an impassioned segment, where he addressed the position of Peter Strzok specifically to illustrate the underlying and troublesome nature of this whole investigatory process.

Speaking of particular individuals who were involved, I have to say I’ve listened to this testimony all day today, and to me, maybe the most shocking thing I’ve heard is this. The chairman read it earlier. August 26, 2016 — this is a text message from Peter Strzok, a top counterintelligence investigator, who we now know started this counter-spy investigation against the president of the United States.

Peter Strzok says, “Just went to a southern Virginia Wal-Mart. I could Smell the Trump support.” Smell is capitalized. “Just went to a southern Virginia Wal-Mart. I could Smell the Trump support.”

Many are very familiar with the venomous stance this FBI agent harbored for President Trump. That such an individual was in a position of significant power to exert agency actions and could exact his influence on the investigation is of deep concern.

In my view, do you want to know what’s really going on here? Do you want to know why the counterintelligence investigation really happened? Do you want to know why we’re all really sitting here today? That’s why, right there, is because an unelected bureaucrat, an unelected official in this government who clearly has open disdain, if not outright hatred for Trump voters like the people of my state, for instance. I could “Smell” the Trump support? Then tried to overturn the results of a democratic election. That’s what’s really going on here. That’s the story. That’s why we’re here today.

I cannot believe that a top official of this government with the kind of power that these people had would try to exercise their own prejudices, and that’s what this is, it’s open, blatant prejudice, would try to use that in order to overturn a democratic election. And to my mind, that’s the real crisis here, and it is a crisis. If there is not accountability, if this can go on in the United States of America, then my goodness gracious, we don’t have a democracy anymore.

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Hawley is the former Missouri Attorney General.  He made an impressive debut at this hearing.  I think he also implicates Muller for running a less than honorable investigation.  Muller knew early own there was no evidence to support the Russian collusion hoax but he extended the investigation by bringing unrelated cases against Trump associates in an attempt to extort testimony against the President.  That was not an ethical approach to his assignment.