House Intelligence Committee's Russian Federation probe may be nearing its end, report says
- by Thibaud Popelin
- in Monde
- — Mar 13, 2018
Members of Congress, Trump's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, have been pushing the administration to punish Russian Federation for what House Speaker Paul Ryan described as a "sinister and systematic attack" on the 2016 US campaign, and prevent potential foreign interference in this November's mid-term elections.
Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, a Republican who is overseeing the House probe, is expected to issue a statement announcing the end of the investigation on Monday, according to CNN.
It also contradicts the preliminary findings of committee Democrats like ranking member Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), who told reporters last month that based on what he had seen, there was "ample evidence" of collusion between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign. "Republicans and Democrats on the House committee have said they would like to produce a bipartisan report, but relations on the panel have deteriorated to the point where such a task may be hard".
"At the outset of the Russian Federation probe, both parties committed to a thorough investigation that would follow the facts wherever they lead", Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee's senior Democrat and a former federal prosecutor, said in a recent statement. The Ethics Committee closed its investigation of Nunes in December.
A spokesperson for Conaway declined to comment to the news outlet.
Even while he had stepped aside, Nunes upset Democrats by continuing to issue subpoenas for documents and witnesses.
Schiff said Republicans have also refused Democrats' requests to subpoena vital documents, including financial and communications records that could verify or refute witness testimony.
Conaway said that the Republicans on the committee wanted to interview former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, but said Schiff "wanted to delay us".
"You use subpoenas when you think you can actually get something from them, and we're not particularly confident that the subpoena process will get us any more information that we had", Conaway said Monday. "I'm sure they will have specific folks they wanted to interview". Those interviewed over the course of the investigation include prominent members of the Trump campaign: former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, son Donald Trump, Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former senior strategist Steve Bannon.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to put out recommendations and hold a hearing on election security this month.
Two other congressional committees, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committee, are conducting their own investigations into Russian meddling.
