House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz might not be going out Samson-style, but his impending retirement has freed him to admit that the Trump administration is shady as hell. After reviewing disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s security clearance paperwork, Chaffetz told reporters, “I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law,” suggesting Flynn did not disclose payments from the Russian government he received before joining the Trump administration.
Flynn has offered to testify before congressional committees investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia’s election subversion in exchange for immunity, but so far no committees have accepted. Congress doesn’t investigate crimes, though, and Chaffetz’ declaration that Flynn likely broke the law suggests he may have serious legal trouble and/or be cooperating with the FBI’s criminal- and counter-intelligence probe of the same subversion campaign.
Trump is, simultaneously, not complying with Chaffetz’s request for documents related to this matter, which is a risky way to treat a congressional investigator of your own party who is on his way out the door and seemingly feels a bit liberated to start putting the squeeze on your administration. This will get fun.