The ranking member on the House oversight committee said Monday that the FBI has not been responsive to congressional inquiries about potential ties between Donald Trump and the Russian government, saying a “double standard” might be at play amid the new reports about Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“There has been a lot of information out there about Mr. Trump, Mr. [Paul] Manafort and the Russian government, and alleged efforts to take over our election,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat, said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“Members of Congress, including myself, have asked for months for the FBI to provide us with information as to whether Mr. Trump, Mr. Manafort, other associates and the Russian government have any coordination or connection with each other,” he said.
“So the question is … do we have a double standard here?” he said.
“We have not gotten one shred — not one syllable — about what’s going on with regard to Mr. Trump. Give me a break,” he said.
Mr. Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, resigned in August amid reports of connections he had to pro-Russia political efforts in Ukraine. Intelligence officials have also pointed in the direction of Russia in the wake of recent hacks involving Democratic party officials.
“You can’t have a double standard on one end where you come after Hillary Clinton and … basically put her in a position where she can’t even defend herself, but on the other hand, you’ve got Mr. Trump out here making all these accusations and no information coming out about him,” Mr. Cummings said.
FBI Director James B. Comey on Friday told Congress the bureau came across emails in a separate case that could be relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email set-up.
Mr. Cummings said there isn’t much information yet, and that it’s unclear how many of those emails are duplicates.
“It doesn’t surprise me, in a way, that he did this, because I don’t think the American people have a clue as to how hard the Republicans, particularly on my committee, have been on the FBI,” Mr. Cummings said.
“I have a lot of respect for Director Comey, but I think what has happened is that he knows that the Republicans — if he makes any misstep — the Republicans are going to be all over him and they are going to try to bring harm to him,” he said.
Mr. Cummings also urged people out there who haven’t voted yet to get to the polls.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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