PHILADELPHIA — Republicans are jumping on board with most President Trump’s agenda, but Trump’s claim of massive voter fraud and his support for using torture as an interrogation device are two rabbit holes they are not willing to explore.
“Torture’s not legal,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters during the GOP’s annual retreat here this week. “And we agree with it not being legal.”
CIA Mike Pompeo “has made it clear he’s going to follow the law,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added. “And I believe virtually all of my members are comfortable with the state of the law on that issue now.”
After it became clear that the CIA used “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the hunt for terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Congress specifically banned torture.
“The policy, the deep-seated policy in American culture, is not to torture — that is not going to happen,” Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, told reporters. “We passed a law that prohibited torture.”
Trump said he would listen to his generals and Cabinet and Congress and “that advice is coming back pretty much unanimously — this is not the American way,” added Risch, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Risch’s Democratic colleagues advised Trump to agree with the panel’s controversial 2014 report on torture in a letter dated Friday.
“To avoid making the mistakes of the past, it is of the utmost importance that you familiarize yourself with, and ensure that any executive branch officials involved in the formation of detention and interrogation policy review, the full committee study,” they wrote.
Trump received numerous standing ovations when he addressed the Republican lawmakers on Thursday, and even obliged lawmakers such as Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., who asked him to autograph their ties. But when he reiterated his plans to launch a federal investigation into his voter fraud beliefs, he received scant applause.
“I think any time you get away form our message, which is jobs, manufacturing and the economy… I think you derail the message,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
Appearing on CNN Friday, Kinzinger went further by saying Trump’s claims about voter fraud damage democracy.
“This basically undermines the idea of an election; this undermines the Constitution,” he said. “You have to show proof of that, you have to show why you’re undermining the Constitution of the United States.”
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said there were instances of fraud in his congressional district but that he would have to study the issue before being able to say he believes it is widespread.
“Is that on the top 10 of priorities for me?” Meadows asked in response to reporters’ questions about Trump’s claims. “No. It is up to the administration to figure out if it’s the top 10 for the American people.”
Meadows added that he does not think the issue cracks the public’s top 10 list.
“Is it on the top 10 list of things I think that most Americans are focused on?” he asked. “Probably not. I think it’s something that we put on the list, but that we don’t move it up as a top agenda item.”
Like House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Meadows, a fiscal hawk, wouldn’t answer if he thought a Trump-initiated investigation would waste taxpayer money.
Earlier this week Chaffetz said his committee will not probe the issue of widespread voter fraud.
“I don’t see any evidence,” Chaffetz told reporters. “The Oversight Committee is not planning to do anything with it.”
“I’m kinda giving you my position on it,” Chaffetz said in declining to categorize an inquiry as a waste of money. “I’m not planning on spending resources on it.”
