Susan Rice just announced she won’t testify before the Senate on the Russian hacking.
Senator Lyndsey Graham said he’s “very disappointed” but said, “we’ll deal with her later.”
She gave a very flimsy excuse for not testifying via her lawyer:
Rice considered the invitation a “diversionary play” to distract attention from the investigation into Russian election interference, including contacts between Trump allies and Russians during the campaign, the source said.
That’s ridiculous! Could it REALLY be that she doesn’t want to testify under oath? Ya think!
According to CNN, Barack Obama’s national security adviser turned down a request from Sen. Lindsey Graham to participate in the hearing.
“Senator Whitehouse has informed us by letter (SEE BELOW) that he did not agree to Chairman Graham’s invitation to Ambassador Rice, a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses,” Rice’s lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler wrote in a letter to Graham. “Under these circumstances, Ambassador Rice respectfully declines Senator Graham’s invitation to testify.”
Rice was the administration official who made the dozens of requests seeking to unmask the identities of Trump associates, which she said were for national security reasons and not politically motivated Read more: Daily Caller
THE LETTER FROM RICE’S LAWYER:
Dear Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Whitehouse:
I write on behalf of my client, Ambassador Susan E. Rice, in response to Senator Graham’s invitation to Ambassador Rice to testify at a May 8, 2017 hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism entitled “Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Election.”
While Ambassador Rice commends the Subcommittee’s efforts to examine this matter of extraordinary national significance, it is extremely rare for the Congress to request the testimony of a former senior advisor to the President given the longstanding and well-recognized separation of powers concerns at issue. Moreover, Chairman Graham’s invitation was extended only after the hearing was noticed, less than two weeks before the hearing was scheduled to occur, and without consultation with Ambassador Rice, a professional courtesy that would customarily be extended to any witness. Notwithstanding the significance of these concerns, Ambassador Rice is prepared to assist Congressional inquiries into Russian election interference because of the important national interests at stake, provided they are conducted in a bipartisan manner, and as appropriate, in classified session.
In this case, however, Senator Whitehouse has informed us by letter that he did not agree to Chairman Graham’s invitation to Ambassador Rice, a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses. Under these circumstances, Ambassador Rice respectfully declines Senator Graham’s invitation to testify.
Again, and as Ambassador Rice has stated publicly, she supports and is committed to assisting the bipartisan Congressional inquiries into Russian interference in the 2016 election, given the utmost importance of this matter to our national security.
Please contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely,
Kathryn H. Ruemmler
of LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
SUSAN RICE HAS LIED NUMEROUS TIMES OVER THE YEARS…
Who could forget after Benghazi when Rice went on 5 morning shows and lied about the cause of the attack:
