Arizona's Andy Biggs Tried to Stop Mueller: How's That Working Out?

Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs wants Robert Mueller to go. But on Friday, the special counsel's investigation netted another guilty plea: President Trump's embattled former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.

In federal court in Washington, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators during the presidential transition about contacts with Russia.

This probably doesn't sit well with Biggs, who represents Arizona's Fifth Congressional District. On November 3, Biggs co-sponsored a resolution that called for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to resign.

Biggs' rationale? A convoluted "scandal" involving a 2010 sale of a Canadian uranium company to Russia's nuclear power agency — a story that recently became grist for the right-wing news mill.

The Arizona congressman also described Mueller's investigative tactics as akin to the KGB. (Why Biggs felt the need to reach for a Russia comparison, only he can say.)

If you want an example of the hellish parallel universes we now occupy, the resolution from Biggs and his very conservative House colleagues is picture-perfect. Lawmakers on the right like Biggs — to say nothing of the president — have gone out of their way to discredit or derail Mueller's investigation into Trump-Russia collusion, even as the special counsel plows ahead, bringing charges against Flynn and others.

[image-2]How did the Arizona congressman react to the guilty plea? We don't know. Biggs' office did not respond to a request for comment.

In court documents, Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, acknowledged that he had misled federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December 2016 during the presidential transition. The conversations with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak were related to escalated sanctions from Russia, as well as a United Nations Security Council Resolution.

Flynn also admitted to making false statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act pertaining to his lobbying group's work for the government of Turkey.

In a statement, Flynn said that he's weathered "many months of false accusations of 'treason' and other outrageous acts."

"Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for," Flynn said in the statement. "But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right."

All told, it's not a great look for a Trump adviser who joined in a "lock her up" chant at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

On October 30, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates were indicted. On the same day, Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pled guilty.

Yet in a statement two days later, Biggs decried Mueller's "unlimited reach" as special counsel.

"Is Mueller a representative of our constitutional republic, or would he rather be a KGB agent under the old Soviet Union?" Biggs said. "The way he has conducted and unilaterally expanded his investigation; the subordinates he has hired; the persistent leaks from his office; and his abuse of attorney-client privilege – would all suggest his preference for authoritarian tactics."