The Senate just issued its first stunning criminal referral in the Trump-Russia investigation

The investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has yielded a string of shocking revelations, including the indictment of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a plea deal struck by disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Those who sought to defend Donald Trump by calling the probe a witch hunt have been proven wrong, and more bombshells certainly loom on the horizon. Each day provides new information and evidence that seems to point to a coverup by the Trump team of borderline treasonous cooperation with Putin’s cryptocriminal nation.

Thus far, it seems that most of the heavy lifting has been done by special counsel Robert Mueller and his team, with the Congressional inquiries so far producing less obvious results. That may be about to change, and not for the better.

The New York Times reports that two Republican Senators have issued their first criminal referrals in the Trump-Russia investigation. Shockingly, they haven’t chosen any of the numerous suspicious members of the Trump team, but instead a political target: Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled the now-infamous dossier on Donald Trump. The veracity of the dossier itself is still unclear, though some elements have been confirmed.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a senior member of the Committee, sent word to the Department of Justice that the suspected Steele lied to federal authorities. They believe he gave untruthful testimony about his interactions with reporters. 

Zoe Tillman of Buzzfeed News shared the official referral:

Just in: Sens. Grassley and Graham are referring Christopher Steele to DOJ "for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, for statements the Committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained in the dossier." pic.twitter.com/VltWm70pVr

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 5, 2018

This move is one of the clearest indications yet that the Republicans are more concerned with providing political cover for their party’s leader than getting to the truth of what actually happened during the 2016 election. They’ve repeatedly chosen party over country, and have completely abdicated their responsibilities to the American people. They must be voted out at the first opportunity.