Washington - 5 March 2019

++STARTS ON A SOUNDBITE++

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Tim Kaine, (D) Virginia:

"The House essentially stopped their investigation long ago, while the Senate investigation under a Republican majority has continued in Intel. I'm not surprised that the House has restarted the investigation that it, frankly, should have been ongoing when there was a Republican majority of the House."

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. John Cornyn, (R) Texas:

"You know this is their plan all along. It's basically going to preclude our ability to pass any kind of bipartisan legislation because they're just sucking up all the oxygen. The Mueller investigation needs to be completed. We've got investigations in both houses and the intelligence committee, still working on the intelligence committee investigation in the Senate and, so far, there's been really not much to show for it, no evidence of collusion, and our Democratic colleagues can't stand it. This is all about setting up the stage for impeachment proceedings. That's pretty clear."

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut:

"Donald Trump, Jr. and Michael Cohen belong back in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We need to continue our investigation, which was unfortunately short-circuited, stopped. (Reporter: Do you think that Michael Cohen is a credible witness?) Michael Cohen is highly credible. In fact, more credible by the day as additional documents are discovered and he may be a convicted felon for having lied to Congress, but he has everything to lose by continuing to lie and nothing to gain. That's why I think everything he knows ought to be before our Senate Judiciary Committee."

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. John Kennedy, (R) Louisiana:

"There are too many people in Washington, D.C. on both sides of the aisle who really think they're smarter and more virtuous than the American people and they condescend to the American people while drinking their goat's milk lattes. And they sell the American people short. I guess where I'm leading with this is, I think most Americans whether they agree or disagree with what, for example the house judiciary committee is doing, recognize it for what it is. It's politics and it's not fact-finding. It's politics."

++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

Senators are debating the merits of a sweeping House probe of President Donald Trump and his administration, which was launched by House Democrats.

Republicans say the investigation is setting the stage for an impeachment effort and it's preventing Congress from getting any other work done.

"You know this is their plan all along. It's basically going to preclude our ability to pass any kind of bipartisan legislation because they're just sucking up all the oxygen," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

Yet Senate Democrats say they should be continuing their own investigations that wrapped up earlier. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would like to see former Trump attorney Michael Cohen speak with the Senate Judiciary committee. He said Cohen is a "highly credible" witness, despite having lied to Congress.

"He may be a convicted felon for having lied to Congress, but he has everything to lose by continuing to lie and nothing to gain. That's why I think everything he knows ought to be before our Senate Judiciary Committee," said Sen. Blumenthal.