The Cowardice Of Kushner, Trump Jr., And Manafort

(This caricature of Jared Kushner is by DonkeyHotey.)

Shortly before the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton appeared before a congressional committee to answer questions about Benghazi and her e-mails. She faced 11 hours of questioning and stoically answered every question -- and she did it on national television in front of the entire nation. She did that because she had done nothing wrong, had nothing to hide, and believed the American people deserved to see her appearance before the committee.

A few weeks ago, former head of the FBI James Comes also appeared before a congressional committee to answer questions. He also did it on national television in front of the entire nation. And like Clinton, he did that because he had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide.

Compare those open and honest performances to congressional appearances by members of the Trump administration. Yesterday, Jared Kushner appeared before Senate staffers to answer questions about his possible collusion with Russian officials. He did it in secret and behind closed doors. Today, he will appear before a House committee -- again, it will be in secret and behind closed doors.

Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort are also scheduled to testify before congressional committees -- and guess what. . . . they will also testify in secret and behind closed doors.

None of these three has the guts to testify in public with the TV cameras rolling. My question is why? Do they have something to hide? Are they afraid they won't look good when trying to answer the tough question some members of the committees will ask? Are they ashamed of the actions they took during the campaign -- and too cowardly to have the American people see?

The excuse for testifying in secret was to protect sensitive intelligence. That's bullshit. They are to testify about their actions during the election -- before Trump was elected. At that time, they were not privy to any government secrets.

They are testifying in secret because they are cowards. They don't want the American people to witness their incompetence and very possible illegal activities, which could be exposed by the tough questioning -- and they are afraid they will not stand up well under that questioning.

Until they appear in public and on television to answer tough questions, I will call them what they are -- cowards.