MaddowBlog-On Comey, Republicans in Congress are already flunking an important test

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Pressed on Donald Trump’s case against the former FBI director, GOP lawmakers are pushing the wrong talking points for the wrong reasons.

There have been plenty of foolish reactions from congressional Republicans to Trump corrupting the Justice Department, but Sen. Mike Rounds’ argument — this is none of Congress’ business and lawmakers should stay in their “lane” — stands out as uniquely ridiculous. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-26T18:49:09.221Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/comey-republicans-congress-are-already-flunking-important-test-rcna233966

Some of his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill did not exactly rise to the occasion. NBC News rounded up a sampling of congressional GOP reactions:

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, posted: ‘Good to see the DOJ treating lying to Congress as a serious matter. I guess Comey’s ‘Higher Calling’ wasn’t to the Constitution or the laws of the United States.’ Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said, ‘James Comey wrongly wielded weaponized bureaucracy and lawfare to derail a duly elected President.’ ‘Russiagate was a complete hoax, and those that perpetrated this should face justice. No one is above the law,’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote in a post.

It’s tempting to remind congressional Republicans that nearly every prosecutor who evaluated the case against Comey — including a Trump-nominated U.S. attorney and a Trump-appointed special counsel — agreed that there was no point in pursuing this case. Similarly, I’d love to explain once again that Trump’s Russia scandal was not a “hoax,” no matter how many times he and his allies pretend otherwise......

Asked on CNN about the president weaponizing the Justice Department to target his political enemies, Rounds said he was content to “let the courts sort this out.” He similarly suggested that the public probably doesn’t much care about Trump shattering the country’s democratic norms.

RAJU: Are you personally okay with Trump telling the AG to go after his political opponents?


MIKE ROUNDS: We need to stay in our lane, and our lane is doing our job


(That's a yes)

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-09-26T16:46:51.567Z

.....If Rounds doesn’t want to bother with Trump’s scandals because he and the president are Republicans, he can say so. But to pretend that presidential abuses are none of Congress’ business is ridiculous.