WASHINGTON When Richard J.

Durbin joined the Senate in 1997, his junior status r

elegated him to an unenviable task: serving in the minority on the Governmental
Affairs Committee as the Republican-led panel exhaustively examined claims of an
insidious Chinese plot to help President Bill Clinton in the 1996 elections.
We went on for months in public hearing, said Mr. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, wh
o does not remember the highly partisan sessions very fondly. Months and months.
Republicans abruptly abandoned the inquiry when polls suggested the public was t
urning against it, and the investigation was generally regarded as a bust.
But the ability of Republicans to convene a summerlong media spectacle unfavorab
le to the White House underscores a fundamental truth as relevant today as it wa
s then: Being in the majority matters, both in starting an investigation and, so
metimes as important, in stopping one.
Continue reading the main story
The Trump White House
Stories about President Trumps administration.
Melania Trump Reads Dr. Seuss to Children in First Solo Outing as First Lady
MAR 2
McMaster Was Rebuked in 2015 Over Handling of 2 Officers Accused of Sexual Assau
lt
MAR 2
Military Expects More Shopping Money, if Not All Trump Seeks
MAR 2
G.O.P. Accused of Playing Hide-and-Seek With Obamacare Replacement Bill
MAR 2
Under Trump, an Already Depleted I.R.S. Could Face Deep Cuts
MAR 2
See More
Despite new questions about contacts between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and
a top Russian diplomat, House and Senate Republicans remain unwilling to budge f
rom their opposition to a special bipartisan inquiry into the extent of Russian
meddling in the 2016 election, and into any connections to President Trump or th
ose close to him. Changing their mind would probably require significant revelat
ions of the sort that would make their current stance politically untenable.
Even as Mr. Sessions recused himself on Thursday from any such investigation by
the Justice Department, his former Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill were ad
amant that any improper conduct and they remain very skeptical that there was an
y was best investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has already
begun its work.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is the best place to determine the facts regard
ing Russian involvement in our elections, said Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who
sits on the panel and has been more aggressive than other Republicans in callin
g for a thorough inquiry.
In my opinion, it would take at least six months for any new investigation to get
to where the Intelligence Committee is today, and the ability to work with the
intelligence community would never equal the daily communications of our biparti
san committee, said Mr. Blunt, who added that he intended to visit C.I.A. headqua
rters in the next week to personally review relevant documents.
Democrats say there is another reason Republicans favor the Intelligence Committ
ee: Its work is conducted mainly behind closed doors, sparing Mr. Trump and his
allies on Capitol Hill from a regular parade of witnesses swearing to tell the t
ruth before sober-faced senators all of it televised live on cable news and C-Sp
an.