San Juan Islander: Larsen Calls on Congress, FBI to Investigate Trump Ties to Russia

Congressman also demands Department of Justice release any information related to Trump’s financial conflicts of interest, emoluments clause violations

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee, is calling for a full investigation into ties between the Russian government and President Trump and demanding the Department of Justice release any information related to Trump’s financial conflicts of interest or emoluments clause violations.

Following the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Larsen said “the American people need to know more information about what President Trump knew and when he knew it.”

Accordingly, today Larsen sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey, in which he wrote: “Flynn’s resignation…raises important questions about the extent of collaboration between the Trump campaign and the Russian government…To give peace of mind to the American people, I request that the investigation be prompt and thorough in resolving whether Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak were known to or authorized by persons in the Trump campaign. In addition, I ask you to include in the investigation a full assessment of the scope of contact between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.”

Larsen has cosponsored the bipartisan Protecting Our Democracy Act which would create an independent commission to investigate the full extent of Russian actions to influence the 2016 U.S. elections. Additionally, Larsen has cosponsored H.Res.111, a Resolution of Inquiry directing the Department of Justice to provide the House of Representatives with all information related to President Trump and his associates’ financial conflicts of interest, ethics violations and violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits elected officials from receiving payments from foreign governments.

Earlier this month, Larsen introduced the Ensuring Sound Military and Intelligence Advice Act of 2017, a bill that aims to preserve the role of professional military and intelligence advice in America’s most important national security decisions. This legislation followed a move by President Trump to remove the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the President’s principal military advisor) and the Director of National Intelligence (the President’s chief intelligence advisor) from the influential Principals Committee of the National Security Council. In their place, President Trump added White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Full text of the letter is available HERE.