Sen. Grassley's Questions Will Help Drain DC Swamp

In the past I have had my differences with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, but he is so busy pursuing justice and fairness in the U.S. Senate that I have to take my hat off, hold it in my hand and humbly ask his forgiveness.

Sen. Grassley serves as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. And right now, he is asking the most important questions about what happened in 2016.

After the political circus paraded through the Senate and dominated cable television, Grassley began to poke around for details.

Much of his work should have been done by an objective media but it was not. Some could have been resolved by the Trump White House but it was hard for them to defend themselves, so Grassley raised issues that no one else would mention.

For example, Grassley recently asked the FBI if they actually warned Donald Trump that Paul Manafort, whom he had brought into his campaign as chairman in 2016, was being watched by the agency because of his dealings with pro-Kremlin figures. Good point. Obvious question. No one but Grassley has even thought to ask it.

And if there was no such FBI warning, Grassley said he wanted to know why.

Weren’t there past warnings to other campaigns? The implication was that the Obama Justice Department was trying to entrap the Republican nominee.

Obviously, the Obama administration and their lap dog Justice Department didn’t expect Hillary Clinton to lose the election, and they were not ready to discuss such points.

A few days later Grassley threatened to subpoena two FBI officials to answer questions about Russia, Hillary Clinton’s e-mail case, the firing of James B. Comey and more. Grassley wanted to know if there was improper political influence or a bias in the Justice Department.

The FBI balked. The Justice Department was obviously nervous. Stephen Boyd, the assistant attorney general, wrote Grassley on Sept. 11, 2017, saying that the FBI officials he wanted to talk to could not be interviewed; the claim was that it would interfere with the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Grassley countered that he could conduct the interview behind closed doors. The answer was still no.

For the moment, journalism in America is dead. Some of the most important questions about Russia and 2016 and Clinton and Trump are in the hands of one man. Senator Chuck Grassley. No one else has the mental acuity and ethical courage to pursue them. His questions, and there will be more of them, should become America’s questions.

Grassley is not the bully that was Lyndon Johnson, nor is he the mesmerizing performer with the baritone voice, that was Everett Dirksen, but Grassley is every bit as important for this moment. He is an icon of the Senate and we need him.

If Washington, DC is indeed a swamp, there are some lights flickering along its banks. Chuck Grassley is one of them.

Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush. He is the author of "Game of Thorns: Inside the Clinton-Trump Campaign of 2016," which is due to be released on Feb. 28, 2017. Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.

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