GOP senators question 'unusual' message Susan Rice sent herself on Inauguration Day
By Olivia Beavers - 02/12/18 05:39 PM EST
Two top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are questioning former national security adviser Susan Rice about an "unusual" message she sent to herself on Jan 20, 2017 — President Trump's Inauguration Day.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) questioned Rice about why she sent a note detailing a conversation she observed on Jan. 5 between then-FBI Director James Comey and then-President Obama.
"It strikes us as odd that, among your activities in the final moments on the final day of the Obama administration, you would feel the need to send yourself such an unusual email purporting to document a conversation involving President Obama and his interactions with the FBI regarding the Trump/Russia investigation," they wrote in a letter to Rice.
They said that in the message, Rice noted how Obama repeatedly emphasized during the meeting on Russia's election hacking with Comey that he wants every aspect of the issue handled "by the book."
"The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book," Rice wrote, according to an excerpt included in the senators' letter. "From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming [Trump] team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia."
Grassley and Graham said despite her repeated mention of Obama stressing the need for a proper investigation, "substantial questions have arisen about whether officials at the FBI, as well as at the Justice Department and the State Department, actually did proceed 'by the book.' "
They asked Rice to address roughly a dozen questions related to her note and what she knew at the time about the Russia investigation, like whether she has "any reason to dispute the timestamp of the email" as well as other surrounding circumstances of her note.
More:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/373508-gop-senators-question-unusual-letter-susan-rice-sent-herself-on-trump