Call Grows for 'Total Shutdown' Over Alleged Trump-Russia Collusion

As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) continues to cast doubt about his ability to lead a credible probe into the Trump campaign’s alleged connections with Russia, a Democratic congressman has called for “a total and complete shutdown” of the president’s agenda until the FBI finishes its investigation into the matter.

In his statement issued Thursday, the same day CNN reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials, that the FBI has information showing associates of President Donald Trump communicated with “suspected Russian operatives,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also questions the legitimacy of the president and calls for a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged collusion.

Referring to the CNN reporting, which came the same week as FBI Director James Comey confirmed to the House Intelligence Committee that there is an “open and ongoing” investigation into possible links, Lieu states: “The bombshell revelation that U.S. officials have information that suggests Trump associates may have colluded withe the Russians means we must pause the entire Trump agenda. We may have an illegitimate President of the United States currently occupying the White House.”

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“Other than allowing routine governmental functions, there must be a total and complete shutdown of any agenda item being pushed by the Trump Administration. Congress cannot continue regular order and must stop voting on any Trump-backed agenda item until the FBI completes its Trump-Russia collusion investigation,” he continues.

“Congress must immediately form an independent commission and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the collusion allegations with impartiality and independence. Congress also needs to pass the Resolution of Inquiry, authored by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and I, to compel the Trump Administration to publicly disclose information on its Russian ties to the American people. At this point in our nation’s history, there is nothing more important than finding out whether or not high crimes were committed by associates of Donald Trump or possibly by Trump himself,” the statement concludes.

Lieu is far from alone in his call.

In a message posted this week to his Instagram account, filmmaker and activist Michael Moore said that the Trump “has no legitimacy until the FBI—and an independent investigative committee” complete probes into possible Russian connections. He added: “The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate needs to bring a halt to all business being done in the name of this potential felony suspect, Donald J. Trump. No bill he supports, no Supreme Court nominee he has named, can be decided while he is under a criminal investigation.”

And a petition hosted by MoveOn.org asks: “How can Congress, in good conscience, agree to further Trump’s agenda amid such serious allegations regarding possible illegal collusion with Russia? The answer is simple: It can’t.”