Eyes on Russia probe leaves Washington’s to-do list undone
WASHINGTON — The rapid-fire revelations about the Trump campaign and its Russia connections that are heating up this city are having a chilling effect in plenty of other ways.
“It reminds me very much of the Monica Lewinsky days, when things just slowed to a crawl,” says Rich Galen, a Republican strategist who worked for then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich when President Bill Clinton was under investigation for his affair with an intern in the late 1990s.
By contrast, the organization’s schedule for June 2016, when reporters were out covering campaigns and then-President Barack Obama was almost out the door, still featured plenty of press conferences, breakfasts, luncheons and newsmaker events.
Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, would like to see the nation more focused on voter suppression laws she says are being adopted around the country, but “attention spans for these critical issues are short” with so much interest focused on the Russia matter.
On Capitol Hill, senators are writing their version of legislation to replace the Obama administration’s health care law.