Sen. Ron Johnson says declassified Susan Rice email points to corruption of the transition process
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joins Martha MacCallum on 'The Story.'
Senate Homeland Security Committee chair Ron Johnson, R-Wis., joined "The Story" Tuesday to discuss a newly declassified email written on Jan. 20, 2017 by former National Security Adviser Susan Rice regarding the investigation into Michael Flynn.
"The first thought when I read that declassified e-mail was, 'Why in the world was that ever classified?'" Johnson said. "We didn't witness what America's become so famous for, a peaceful, cooperative well-wishing transition of power. Instead, we saw a corruption of that transition. A transition really designed to sabotage and really upend the new administration.
READ: DECLASSIFIED SUSAN RICE EMAIL ABOUT JAN. 5, 2017 OVAL OFFICE MEETING WITH OBAMA
"It's shameful is what it is. So this this needs to be dug into further. We need to do further investigation," Johnson added. "You know, my own committee working with others has been really focused on that whole corruption of the transition process."
According to the email, then-FBI Director James Comey suggested to President Barack Obama in a Jan. 5, 2017 meeting that the National Security Council (NSC) might not want to pass "sensitive information related to Russia" to Flynn, then Rice's designated successor.
The note was fully declassified by Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and transmitted to the Justice Department. Fox News obtained a copy Tuesday from Johnson's office, which had sought access to the document.
Johnson defended Flynn's contacts with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, which became the focus of the Obama administration's suspicions.
"You would expect the incoming administration to be making a lot of phone calls, preparing for an enormous task. What you don't expect is a previous administration spying on them. You don't expect the previous administration sabotaging the incoming administration," Johnson said. "There's some odd things about that e-mail that was written 15 days later. She said she just didn't have time. It sounds like somebody in the White House counsel's office came to her and asked her to write that e-mail outside."
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"So, again, there's an awful lot of questions we need to answer," Johnson said.
Johnson also criticized FBI director Christopher Wray for his inaction in the matter.
"Where has Christopher Wray been in all this? He should have gone to the FBI. He should clean house. He should have made all this available. But he hasn't done that," Johnson said. "We need to restore the integrity and credibility to these agencies. And this is not the way to do it by by keeping this stuff covered up for over three years."