Texan Taking Over House Russia Probe Must Find the Truth — and Make Sure Jaded Americans Believe It

There is now no doubt that Russia worked overtime to help Donald Trump become this nation's president. The U.S. intelligence community confirmed this in December. In a joint appearance before Congress in March, the directors of the FBI and NSA said it was true. Investigative journalists have provided proof. Two congressional committees are looking into how Russia accomplished this, what if any impact it had on the election, and how it can be stopped in the future. That's good. But there is a larger, grimmer question that must drive those inquiries. Most of all, America deserves to know whether the Trump campaign somehow knew of, welcomed or even coordinated those efforts to sway the election.Answering those questions — and doing so in a way that persuades all fair-minded Americans to trust the answers — must be the urgent first priority of U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, who has assumed leadership of the House Intelligence Committee's inquiry, which resumes May 2 with another hearing.  Continue reading...