Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised to recuse himself from any Justice Department investigations into the Trump presidential campaign. His blanket recusal likely will not satisfy his most ardent opponents, who wanted to see the Alabama Republican resign after it was revealed Sessions had falsely stated in his confirmation hearing he did not meet with the Russian ambassador during the campaign. And the move may disappoint supporters, who rightly noted that as a U.S. senator, Sessions would have had legitimate reasons to meet with foreign ambassadors.
But the decision to recuse himself was the right one—if for no other reason than to remove the appearance of conflict. But the questions about Trump connections to the Russian government will continue to nag. Just a couple hours after Sessions’s Thursday afternoon press conference, the New York Times reported that Jared Kushner and Mike Flynn had a meeting with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December at Trump Tower. And USA Today reports that two national-security aides to the Trump campaign met with Kislyak in Cleveland in July during the Republican National Convention.
There may have been legitimate reasons for these meetings. The media may be overly eager to link any contact between any pro-Trump Republican and a Russian official as nefarious. But we won’t know the full truth about Russian attempts to interfere with our elections—and the involvement or lack thereof by the Trump campaign—until there is a proper and independent investigation
An Unfair Attack on Trump’s NSA
The Washington Post ran a story Thursday afternoon with an explosive headline: “McMaster rebuked by Army in 2015 for his handling of sexual assault case.” The actual story, however, was far less damning—and even unfair in its treatment of H.R. McMaster, the new national security advisor.
“McMaster violated Army regulations by permitting the two lieutenants to attend the service’s elite Ranger School even though they were under criminal investigation, according to a report by the Army inspector general,” writes the Post‘s Craig Whitlock. “The case against them was dropped months later after the Army determined the alleged victim was not a credible witness.”
In 2013, when he was the commanding general at Fort Benning, McMaster handled a case of two young officers who had recently graduated from West Point and were awarded with spots at the Army’s Ranger School. But the officers had been accused of sexually assaulting a female cadet while at West Point and had thus been “flagged as subjects for law-enforcement action.” That meant they would be prohibited from attending Ranger School without a waiver from the Pentagon. But McMaster did not seek a waiver and had allowed the officers to enroll. Within months, the sexual-assault case against them was dropped.
A congressional office inquiry, however, prompted an investigation by the Army’s inspector general into McMaster’s decision to allow the officers to proceed. The IG report determined there was no evidence McMaster had “knowingly” violated procedure by not seeking the waiver, and he had told the investigators he did not know he needed to get one. Defense sources say the particular waiver would not have been difficult to obtain.
Nevertheless, the violation prompted the Army to deliver a “memorandum of concern” to McMaster. “As a senior leader in the United States Army, you are expected and required to understand and comply with all laws and regulations,” wrote Gen. Daniel Allyn, the Army’s vice chief of staff, in 2015.
It was, as the Post described it, a light rebuke. But the political environment surrounding the incident could not have been worse. The military had been sharply criticized in the media and by members of Congress for its internal handling of sexual assault. McMaster’s oversight, the Post article seems to imply, could be considered a symptom of the broader culture that looks the other way at sexual assault.
But Pentagon sources say that’s an unfair characterization of McMaster’s mistake.
“It was solely a technical violation of the regulation by General McMaster,” a defense official with knowledge of the investigation told me.
“It was an administrative oversight,” said another defense official, not an attempt by McMaster to downplay the seriousness of assault. “His failure in this regard was adjudicated and he was reprimanded accordingly.”
Officially, the Army tells me there’s no outstanding issue with McMaster’s conduct. “The Army investigated and took appropriate action and we consider this matter closed,” said Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, the Army’s chief of public affairs.
Meet Gary Cohn, the Adult in Trump’s Room
In the brand new print issue, I have a profile of Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council and an emerging leader in the Trump White House. Here’s an excerpt:
Song of the Day
“Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” Cage the Elephant
