House intel Republicans end Russia probe
Panel finds cyber meddling, no collusion
WASHINGTON – Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee called an end on Monday to their yearlong investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, concluding that there was “no evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians.”
The probe was ended over the objections of Democrats, who charged that key documents and testimony still have not been obtained.
Republicans said they agreed with the U. S. intelligence community’s January report that Russia tried to interfere in the U. S. presidential election, but did not agree that the Russians were trying to help Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The GOP majority on the House panel will show its draft report to Democrats on Tuesday before seeking approval from the full committee to release it. Democrats plan to write a separate report that likely will conclude there is strong evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
The investigation’s abrupt end underscores the bitter partisan divide that has plagued the committee’s work. Andit increases pressure on the collegial Senate Intelligence Committee to come out with a credible bipartisan report from its own Russia probe.
“The House Majority has announced it is terminating the Russia investigation, leaving to others the important work of determining the full extent of Russian interference in our election, the role of U. S. persons connected to the Trump campaign in that intervention, possible efforts to obstruct the investigation by the President and most important, what needs to be done to protect the country going forward,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House panel, said in a statement Monday night.
Ending the investigation at this time is “another tragic milestone for this Congress, and represents yet another capitulation to the executive branch,” Schiff said.
Rep. Mike Conaway, R- Texas, who led the Russia investigation for House Republicans, said the panel conducted 73 witness interviews, held nine hearings and briefings, and reviewed more than 300,000 documents.
“We are confident that we have thoroughly investigated the agreedupon parameters, and developed reliable initial findings and recommendations,” he said.
While Republicans found no evidence of collusion, an outline of their draft report says that they found Russian cyber attacks on U. S. political institutions in 2015- 16, the use of social media by Russians to sow discord in American, a pattern of Russian attacks on America’s European allies, and a “lackluster” pre- election response by the U. S. government to Russian active measures.
“We will now be moving into the next phase of this investigation, working with the minority on a report to give the American people answers to the questions they’ve been asking for over a year,” Conaway said. “With the 2018 primary elections already underway and just 238 days until the mid- term elections in November, it’s important that we give the American people the information they need to arm themselves against Russian attempts to influence our elections.”
Republican members of the House committee, including Reps. Tom Rooney of Florida and Peter King of New York, began signaling recently that they were eager to wrap things up, saying they had explored all the key evidence.
Democrats, meanwhile, have been warning that Republicans were going to end the investigation prematurely, without calling dozens of important witnesses to testify and without forcing many of those who testified to answer crucial questions.
“At the outset of the Russia probe, both parties committed to a thorough investigation that would follow the facts wherever they lead,” Schiff said in a recent statement.
Instead, he said, Republicans declined to subpoena witnesses to compel them to answer key questions after witnesses refused to do so in voluntary, closed- door appearances before the committee. Among the witnesses who refused to answer crucial questions: Donald Trump Jr., Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and former White House communications director Hope Hicks.
When former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon refused to answer questions even after being subpoenaed, Republicans would not take action to hold him in contempt of Congress, Democrats said.
Schiff said Republicans have refused Democrats’ requests to subpoena documents that could verify or refute witness testimony.
In addition to investigations by the House and Senate intelligence committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee has conducted a more limited probe and is not expected to issue a final report.