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Social Media Reacts To Today's HotMessAPalooza In Politics

Justin Ray
May 18, 2017, 12:30 AM
Three political bombshells lit up social media Wednesday evening.
The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to investigate potential collusion between President Trump’s associates and Russian officials ahead of the 2016 election, the department announced.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped former FBI Director Bob Mueller to direct the prosecutors and FBI agents conducting the investigation. Mueller, 72, served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013.
Trump responded in a statement: “As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know – there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.”
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As if that wasn’t enough, The Washington Post also reported House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with other GOP leaders that Trump was being paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: [California congressman Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, according to a recording obtained by the Post. House Speaker Paul Ryan immediately ended further discussion and asked that they keep the conversation private.
“No leaks...This is how we know we’re a real family here,” Ryan said, according to the Post.
When first asked about the exchange, a spokesman for Ryan said, “That never happened.” After being informed that there was a recording of the discussion, the spokesman said: “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians.”
Then, The New York Times reported Wednesday night that former general Michael Flynn told Trump’s transition team weeks before he entered the White House that he was under investigation for working as a lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign. Despite the disclosure, he became the National Security Adviser, meaning he had access to “nearly every secret held by intelligence agencies.”
The news events created a firestorm on social media:
As NBC News notes, a special counsel is not fully independent of the Justice Department. The attorney general — which in this case is Rosenstein, since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself — has to be notified of any actions the counsel wants to take and can revoke requests to perform those proposed actions.
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