There's Only One Way to Settle the Russia Question

"The criminal conduct at issue, carried out and otherwise facilitated by officers from an FSB unit that serves as the FBI's point of contact in Moscow on cyber crime matters, is beyond the pale," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord. McCord said the hacking campaign was waged by the FSB to collect intelligence but that the two hackers used the collected information as an opportunity to "line their pockets." The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but McCord said she was hopeful Russian authorities would cooperate in bringing criminals to justice. The United States often charges cyber criminals with the intent of deterring future state-sponsored activity. The administration of former President Barack Obama brought similar charges against Chinese and Iranian hackers who have not been extradited. The 47-count indictment includes conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identify theft.

"To date, I've seen no evidence that supports the claim that President Trump made that his predecessor had wiretapped he and his associates at Trump Tower," the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff said. "Thus far, we have seen no basis for that whatsoever." Schiff said he will ask FBI Director James Comey directly about the claims when he testifies March 20 as part of the committee's investigation into Russian interference in last year's presidential election. Trump tweeted earlier this month "Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory." The claim, presented without evidence, was met with immediate skepticism from lawmakers questioning what the Republican meant. A spokesman for Obama called the claim "simply false." "Are you going to take the tweets literally? And if you are, then clearly the president was wrong," Chairman Devin Nunes told reporters.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he had no reason to believe a judge ever issued a warrant, which would have reflected there was probable cause that the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians. If it is not true, he said, the FBI should confirm that. "The longer it takes to answer that question, the more suspicious I get," Graham said on MSNBC. Graham and Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, both Judiciary Committee members, asked Comey two weeks ago to provide information on Russian activities and the wiretapping by Wednesday. Graham said he was prepared to issue subpoenas for that information. "Congress is going to flex its muscles," Graham said on CNN.

This set off McCain, who railed against Paul: "I note the senator from Kentucky leaving the floor without justification or any rationale for the action he has just taken. That is really remarkable, that a senator blocking a treaty that is supported by the overwhelming number, perhaps 98-at least-of his colleagues would come to the floor and object and walk away." He then directly connected Paul to the Russians: "The only conclusion you can draw when he walks away is he has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO that is under assault from the Russians. So I repeat again, the senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin."