House panel rekindles hearings on Russia

Three top ex-Obama administration aides will give testimony

WASHINGTON — A previously canceled House Intelligence Committee hearing to receive testimony from three former top Obama administration officials about Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election is back on for next month.

The panel said Friday it had invited Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general fired by President Donald Trump, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, to testify sometime after May 2 in an open hearing after their original testimony was abruptly canceled in March by Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

Conaway in charge

The announcement indicates the panel’s Russia investigation, which was thrown into turmoil last month after Nunes stepped aside as head of the probe following allegations he might have improperly disclosed classified information, is getting back on track.

Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, took over as head of the investigation after Nunes’ decision.

A committee news release Thursday also said FBI Director James Comey and Adm. Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, would testify in a closed session May 2.

Nunes’ decision to call off the original hearing with Yates, Brennan and Clapper came only days after the committee’s first public hearing in which Comey confirmed the bureau was investigating Russia’s ties to Trump’s associates.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the cancellation of the hearing a “dodge” by Nunes to aid the White House and raised insurmountable public doubts about whether the committee could credibly investigate the president’s campaign associates.

Yates, who was fired in January after she refused to defend the Trump administration’s proposed travel ban, was expected to be questioned about her role in the firing of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Yates has key role in probe

Yates alerted the White House in January that Flynn had misled the White House about whether he had discussed sanctions in a December phone call with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn was not ousted from the White House until the discrepancies were made public.

Nunes came under fierce criticism from Democrats for making public information provided to him last month by White House aides concerning classified intelligence reports that apparently referred to Trump associates — information Nunes did not provide to members of his committee.

He stepped aside as head of the Russia investigation after the leaders of the House Ethics Committee said it is investigating whether Nunes improperly disclosed classified information, apparently when he held a news conference last month to claim that Trump associates’ names had been revealed in intelligence reports.

Nunes has denied wrongdoing.