U.S. HOUSE PANEL: NO PROOF OF COLLUSION BY RUSSIA

The House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election has found no evidence of collusion by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Republicans leading the panel announced.

Declaring their year-long probe essentially over, they conceded that Moscow did interfere in the election, but rejected the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that it had aimed to help Donald Trump win the election. And they blamed Barack Obama’s government for not stopping the meddling, which Trump has been reluctant to acknowledge ever took place.

“We have found no evidence of collusion, coordination or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians,” the committee’s majority Republicans said in a summary report on their investigation.

They said they concurred with the judgment of US spy chiefs from January 2017 on the Russian interference, except with respect to President Vladimir Putin’s alleged preference for candidate Trump.

“After more than a year, the committee has finished its Russia investigation and will now work on completing our report,” said panel chair Devin Nunes.

The announcement outraged Democrats on the committee, who had continued to fight to interview more witnesses and pursue more of the well-established links that Trump and his advisors have to Russia.