John McCain on Supporting Rex Tillerson: When Pigs Fly

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Gabrielle Levy

1/5/2017

McCain is joining Democrats in calling for a special select committee to investigate Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Speaking Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” McCain said a select committee is needed “to find out exactly what was done and what the implications of the attacks were, especially if they had an effect on our election.” Trump calls reports of Russian hacking “ridiculous.”: Sen. John McCain has expressed concerns over Rex Tillerson’s relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Sen. John McCain has expressed concerns over Rex Tillerson’s relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state will reportedly not have the support of one of the Senate’s top Republicans.

As Rex Tillerson, formerly the CEO of ExxonMobil, made the rounds on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain made it clear he would not be supporting Tillerson’s nomination to become the nation’s top diplomat.

Reporters asked the Arizona Republican if there was a “realistic scenario” in which he could support Tillerson’s nomination.

“Sure,” McCain replied. “There’s also a realistic scenario that pigs fly.”

McCain is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee and an outspoken Russia hawk. He has led the charge on Capitol Hill for a congressional investigation into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election and has criticized Trump for repeatedly questioning the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was behind the hacks of Democratic Party emails.

His objections to Tillerson lie in the business executive’s ties to Russian interests. Over more than four decades at ExxonMobil, Tillerson built a close relationship with Russia by managing their account, and he has questioned the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions in general, some of which came at a heavy personal cost to Exxon’s bottom line.

On Tuesday, ExxonMobil announced an agreement to cash out Tillerson’s millions of dollars in shares of company stock and place the value in a trust, a move meant to alleviate concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

Trump’s nominees face a narrow path for confirmation. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate. Without McCain’s support, Tillerson can only afford to lose the support of one other member – unless he can gain the support of at least one Democrat – or his nomination will fail.

Fellow Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of McCain’s, and Marco Rubio of Florida have been similarly skeptical of Tillerson’s nomination because of his relationship with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

“Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for” in a secretary of state, Rubio said last month, referring to an honor the Russian autocrat bestowed on Tillerson in 2013 after ExxonMobil inked a major deal with Russian oil company Rosneft.

It remains to be seen if Graham and Rubio will follow McCain’s lead.

What are Graham and McCain afraid of that they won’t be able to make deals with Rebel fighters as they have done in the Obama administration?  These three know that Tillerson is a professional businessman and not hacks like they are.

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