Sticking With Trump, Republicans Resist Call for Broader Russian Inquiry -
By MATT FLEGENHEIMERMARCH 2, 2017
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans, straining to defend the Trump administration amid investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, resisted growing calls
on Thursday for a special prosecutor or select congressional committee to review the matter, even as Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any inquiry.
Leaders have said that any investigation of ties between Mr. Trump’s team
and Russian officials should be conducted through normal channels — placing one vocal Trump campaign supporter in charge of the primary Senate inquiry and, until this week, another at the head of any Justice Department review.
Initially, the fallout seemed to spawn fissures among Republicans: Several, including Senators Rob Portman of Ohio
and Susan Collins of Maine, were quick to call for Mr. Sessions’s recusal, defying party leaders — including President Trump — who had said earlier on Thursday that they saw no reason for it.
The result, though, is that the controversy has focused attention once again on an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee,
led by its Republican chairman, Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, an often outspoken Trump supporter during the campaign.