Republican senators are keeping a close watch on Sen. Mark Warner’s moves as the top Democrat helps to steer an investigation into would-be Russian ties to the Trump administration and campaign.
The high-profile job is fraught with pitfalls that could make or break the former Virginia governor’s standing with fellow Democrats and could either fuel his longtime presidential ambitions or forever sideline them.
“The only way he could ever realize those ambitions is to [engage] with the left wing of the Democratic Party,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla, who noted that helping to direct the probe could provide him “a forum he doesn’t have right now where he could have a better shot” at running for president or being tapped to share a ticket as a vice presidential candidate.
“We have to wait and see how he’s going to handle it — if he handles it properly,” Inhofe told the Washington Examiner. “But if he lets that interfere and it becomes obvious he wants to be president, then it’s bad” and Republicans will call him on it.
Asked about a potential presidential run causing a conflict of interest for him in the probe, Warner said: “I have one job and that job is to be a senator, and we need to do this in a bipartisan way, and we need to get it done quickly – thank you.” He cut off further questions by jumping into an elevator outside the Senate chamber last week.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill privately argue that Democrats are engaged in a double standard when it comes to pointing out Republican conflicts of interest that could compromise the Congressional probe into Trump’s ties to Russia.
One Senate GOP aide told the Examiner he believes Warner is clearly keeping his presidential campaign options open to run against Trump, and with Democrats so laser-focused on tying Trump to Russia, that could easily politicize how he approaches the role.
“It’s certainly concerning that he may view keeping all the innuendo in the headlines as not just politically advantageous, but necessary,” the aide said. “At this point, his party is so deeply invested in substantiating their conspiracies about why they lost the election, that failing to find any real evidence to support their wild claims is not an outcome Democrats will accept.”
Democrats for months have been calling for an independent probe of Trump’s Russian links, arguing that Republicans are too conflicted in their support for Trump to follow exactly where the facts lead.
Warner himself has voiced “grave concerns” about the probe’s ability to remain objective and pledged to call for an expansion of the probe if he believed at any time that it wasn’t being run right.
Other Democrats and progressive groups have argued that Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, is conflicted when it comes to leading the Russia investigation because of his willingness to use his access to classified information to work with the White House to try to dispute Russia-related news stories to reporters.
Sen. John Cornyn, who serves as the GOP whip — the No. 2 spot in his party’s leadership — as well as on the Intelligence Committee, was reluctant to speak directly about whether Warner’s presidential hopes could impact how he helps run the investigation.
But as a member of the panel, the Texas Republican is keeping close tabs on the probe and particularly whether Schumer will jump in to push it in a more partisan direction.
“I don’t know about Sen. Warner’s ambitions,” Cornyn said. “I think so far, he’s conducted himself well. Of course, my concern would be that Sen. Schumer decides he needs to call the shots and this becomes partisan rather than bipartisan.”
“Some of the things that you’re seeing being said and written, people need to keep that in mind, because I think it could very well play a role if this devolves into a partisan effort,” Cornyn told the Examiner, referring to any influence from Schumer on the probe.
Democrats and other Trump critics’ feverish comparisons of the alleged Russia-Trump link to Watergate have put a bright spotlight on Warner and his role as the top Democrat investigating the ties.
The headline of a lengthy New York Times profile of Warner, 62, last week said he faces a “stand-and-deliver moment.” The piece, which drew GOP scrutiny, also called the Southern centrist a “former rising star” in the party who has been “frozen in the ascent for years now.”
Most of his GOP Senate colleagues are quick to point out that they respect Warner, who they’ve grown to trust over the years working with him on a number of bipartisan bills.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., for instance, is quick to praise Warner for his ability to work across the aisle, saying he has always been “real fair and very open.”
Warner has worked to cultivate an image as a moderate leader of his deeply politically divided state, but Republicans privately argue those efforts mask presidential ambitions and more liberal voting tendencies that could impact how he handles more sensitive and subjective aspects of the Russia probe.
