Ryan: We’re ‘very disturbed’ that Lisa Page has defied a congressional subpoena

Listen. I’m glad Paul Ryan is “very disturbed” that disgraced FBI attorney Lisa Page has defied a congressional subpoena. He should be. Page was supposed to appear this morning and, apparently, decided she had better things to do than comply with the law.

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So, yes, this should be “disturbing.” Honestly, it should be “infuriating” that someone tasked with enforcing the law is now ignoring it. Sadly, Ryan’s comments this morning were “measured,” which is nice way of saying “essentially toothless.” As you watch him address the media, you can’t help but feel like this is a kick-the-can statement made by a guy with one foot out the door. First, here’s the backstory, via the Washington Examiner:

A former FBI attorney known for her anti-Trump bias and who the president said recently was getting “cold feet” about testifying on Capitol Hill, will not comply with a subpoena from the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. Lisa Page, who was having an extramarital affair with FBI agent Peter Strzok, announced via her attorney Tuesday evening that she will not appear before the joint committees Wednesday morning — 24 hours before Strzok is slated to testify publicly before the same two panels. Strzok sat for closed door interviews — lasting nearly 11 hours — with the committees last month.

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And the following video contains Ryan’s reaction to the situation. Mealy-mouthed lines like “congressional subpoenas for testimony are not optional” and “we will do what we need to do to protect this branch of government” are about as close as he gets to suggesting there might be actual repercussions for ignoring the order… I’ll admit; once upon a time I had high hopes for Ryan. It feels like a lifetime ago, but there was an era when he genuinely felt like a legitimate conservative up-and-comer. These days? He’s a guy running out the clock. Call it “the swamp,” call it the “deep state,” or call it “DC business as usual.” There was an opportunity here to lower the boom on the very big-government corruption that Ryan claims to despise. …It’s sad, if not surprising, that he didn’t take it.

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