The full Grassley?

Chuck Grassley is famous for many things: his tweets about UNI volleyball and dead deer, his folksy down-home Butler County mannerisms, his annual 99-county tour and, until the last year or so, his rogue independent streak in Congress. But the senator’s recent actions and brazen hypocrisy lend credence to Harvey Dent’s old adage that you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
           
During an interview on Monday, January 15, at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital, I asked Mr. Grassley about his investigation into the Steele dossier and the possibility that its creator, Christopher Steele, lied to federal authorities. Genuinely curious as to what the situation was, I didn’t enter the exchange with any preconceived notions on the matter.
           
“We have a suspicion of (dishonesty). We turn that information over to the FBI, and we ask for an investigation,” Grassley said. “Now, I’m being accused of doing that to divert attention from Russia and Trump, but it’s just where the facts lead you.”
           
The senator accurately noted that Fusion GPS and the Democratic National Committee had helped to finance the salacious report—although he failed to mention its origin as a creation of one of Trump’s Republican primary competitors. Intrigued, I pressed on, seeking specific details on what Steele lied about and whether or not the information was classified.
           
“Maybe I could answer that question, but since I don’t know, I’d better not answer,” he said. “We want to release as much information as we can without violating classified law… I want to get an answer so that we can tell you more that I’m comfortable telling you right now.”
           
Fair enough. I’d had pleasant interactions with the senator before, so I took his word for it. Shortly thereafter, he assured me that a hearing with White House advisor (and Donald Trump’s son-in-law) Jared Kushner regarding a 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower would be forthcoming, and that investigation was clicking along at a steady pace.
 
As a side note, for reasons unbeknownst to most, the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee—in stark contrast with ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein—had argued against releasing the testimony of Steele and Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson while claiming to demand transparency. Weird, I thought to myself. These two ideas seem to be at odds with each other.
 
I’d been invited on to a media conference call with Grassley the next day before realizing he’d be visiting Grundy Center, so just over 24 hours later, we crossed paths again. This time, I put my chips on the table: is there any evidence of criminal behavior by Christopher Steele at this point?
 
“We’re going to have to wait for the FBI to tell us that, and they’re probably going to take a while to make that judgment,” he said. “There’s nothing new that I can give you. If I could, I don’t think it’d be secured if he were charged with lying to the FBI. I think it’d be a public record.”
 
At this point, it became quite evident that I was never going to get a straight answer or anything more than empty lip service. Just for kicks and giggles, I wrapped up the call with a tangentially related question that arose from a town hall meeting he held in Logan, a rural and conservative western Iowa community about the size of Reinbeck: Senator, you’ve served under four GOP Presidents—Reagan, Bush I, Bush II and now Trump. Have you ever been forced to answer for the conduct and demeanor of a president the way you have with the current one?
 
Before even attempting to offer an actual response, Grassley went on a rant lamenting the unfair treatment of GOP candidates and presidents, from Barry Goldwater in 1964 to Reagan in the 80’s to George W. Bush to his beloved leader today. He and his colleagues were nothing but civil, kind and reasonable to Obama, and this is how they’re repaid?
 
“How come it’s only the Republicans that have to answer these questions and never Democrats?” he asked.
 
I could speculate on that, though I probably shouldn’t, I thought.
 
And despite the Senator’s full throated, sycophantic defense of the Huckster-in-Chief, that portion of our conversation missed the final cut of the audio recording released to the public on his website, conspicuously absent from an otherwise inconsequential exchange. Hmm, it must’ve been one of those weird editing “accidents.” As Chuck has taught us over the years, technology can be difficult.
 
Then, eight days later, I received one of his typical e-mail blasts titled “Hiding From Tough Questions is No Way to Reassure the Public” and nearly fell off my chair. Pot, kettle, you get the drill.
 
Adding insult to injury, I was alerted that the chances of the Judiciary Committee securing a voluntary meeting with Kushner were “shot” because Feinstein unilaterally released Simpson’s transcript and “spooked other potential witnesses.” It’s almost as if he never wanted an open hearing with Kushner in the first place.
 
None of this is to say that Senator Grassley lacks any redeeming qualities: he’s fought hard to prevent elder abuse, he’s a voice for farmers in Congress, and he usually sticks up for the rights of whistleblowers. Still, for a career politician who loves to call Washington “an island surrounded by reality” and tout his accountability efforts but is suddenly joined at the hip (a la Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in “Stuck on You”) with an ethically compromised chief executive, he’s either guilty of buying into the myth that he’s irreplaceable or, worse yet, he just likes the salary.
 
Self-inflicted presidential scandals—from Marilyn Monroe and Watergate to Iran Contra, Lewinsky, Fast and Furious and now Russia—are nothing new, but the never-ending “whataboutism” that Grassley and Co. are perpetuating is sad, desperate and frankly, pathetic. As long as this aimless witch hunt drags on, we’ll all be worse off for it, and we’ll be left wondering what exactly we pay our government officials to do in the first place. It surely isn’t to find the truth.
 
“Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe.”- Chief Bromden, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest