Senate, FBI still probing Russia
As turmoil engulfs House panel, other inquiries advance
The House Intelligence Committee’s inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections may be stalled, but two other parallel investigations are churning on as part of wide-ranging reviews to include whether associates of President Trump colluded with Russian officials during the contentious campaign.
With much of the spotlight on the turmoil engulfing the House panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the Senate Intelligence Committee has been gathering information and seeking testimony from prospective witnesses, including Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser.
At the same time, federal investigators are in the midst of a complex counterintelligence investigation, which FBI Director James Comey acknowledged for the first time last week during an appearance before Nunes’ committee.
Comey said that inquiry, ongoing since July, will seek to determine the extent of Russia’s interference and assess whether members of the Trump campaign coordinated their efforts with Russian officials.
“As with any counterintelligence investigation,” Comey told the House panel, “this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.”
The House panel’s inquiry has largely stalled because of disclosures about Nunes’ secret meet- ing last week at the White House complex. Nunes said he met with a source, whom he has refused to identify, to view dozens of intelligence reports in which communications referencing Trump transition members, and possibly Trump himself, were swept up in surveillance after the election.
Nunes has declined to share that information and the source of it with fellow committee members, prompting Democrats to calls for the chairman’s recusal, while some Republicans have questioned Nunes’ leadership.
The storm surrounding Nunes’ leadership intensified Tuesday when it was disclosed that former acting attorney general Sally Yates was warned last week that her expected testimony before the House panel about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak could contain privileged communication involving the White House and might be barred.
Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper were scheduled to testify in an open House hearing Tuesday, but Nunes canceled the session when the White House was notified by Yates’ lawyer about her intention to testify. No other hearings have been scheduled.
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said Tuesday that it was now up to the Senate “to lead this discussion” about Russian interference.
Kushner is of interest to investigators because of his meetings with Kislyak and a Russian bank executive during the transition.