Thread by @FranncescaRobi1

Richard Painter chief ethics counsel for George W. Bush &psychologist Leanne Watt argue that using political & psychological insights as well as Occam's razor you can make an evidence-based case against some of the foremost Republican members of Congress.

expo.oregonlive.com/news/g66l-2019…

Here are the U.S. reps & senators who Painter & Watt fear are compromised:
Lindsey Graham
The South Carolina senator had a long public track record as a principled, independent conservative & a Trump critic calling him a "kook," "crazy" & a "race-baiting xenophobic bigot."

Then suddenly in 2017, Graham's attitude and statements about Trump flipped. Painter and Watt write that "Graham began to contradict himself in a way that was totally out of character for him." Indeed, he became arguably Trump's biggest supporter and defender.

What happened? “We know that Sen. Graham's emails were stolen by the Russians, based upon his own admission in a December of 2016 interview. ..."Most of Graham's hacked emails have not been released, so it is reasonable to consider that many of his emails are still in play."

Mitch McConnell
Since 2016, the authors allege, McConnell "has exhibited a host of disturbing behaviors in relationship to Trump and Russia that are at odds with reasonable conduct." In the fall of 2016 McConnell refused to go along with President Barack Obama's request for a...

bipartisan leadership announcement that warned, based on the intelligence community's assessment, of Russian attempts to interfere with the election. They also worry about why he has refused to bring forward proposed bipartisan legislation that would protect Mueller investigation

"Does McConnell doubt the Mueller investigation & intelligence community's findings?" They add that between 2015 and 2017, McConnell's Super-PAC received $3.5 million from "a Russian-American oligarch with close ties to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."
I say follow the money!

Devin Nunes
As chairman of the House intelligence committee, he began to block the House's investigation into the alleged Trump-Russia conspiracy & muddy the evidence that already had been put forward. This included an impromptu 2017 White House visit -- undertaken without....

...the knowledge of his fellow intelligence committee members -- to inform Trump that the president had been "caught up in surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies." Nunes was forced to recuse himself from the House investigation but he allegedly did so in name only.

Write Painter and Watt: "There is no logical reason for Nunes to go so far in trying to obstruct the Russian investigation unless he has something personal at stake."

If it looks like a russian mole, talks like a russian mole & acts like a russian mole, it’s a russian mole!

Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Steve Scalise
Ryan supported trump during the fall campaign DESPITE the various scandals & controversies that swirled around the campaign. This suggests Ryan found himself caught up in Russian financial & propaganda support for the Republican Party.

Over the next two years Ryan occasionally expressed dismay when Trump made particularly outlandish comments on Twitter but, like his House colleagues McCarthy & Scalise, he consistently supported the trump. Also, Ryan, McCarthy & Scalise continued to back Nunes despite concerns.

"Ryan was instrumental in stalling and weakening the Russia sanctions bill ... doing a solid for Putin, rather than doling out the appropriate consequences and protecting the United States' interests against an enemy combatant."

Painter and Watt acknowledge the country is going to have to wait for the special counsel's report to know the actual, nailed-down facts -- and that even then, the role of congressional Republicans might not be addressed.

“On the surface ushering in a President Pence would appear to be both a brilliant & logical move for the Republicans. Congressional Republicans' failure to create this change suggests that something outside the realm of normal politics cements Republican leaders to Donald Trump."

Egads!! President Pence??!! Say it ain’t so!