• House panel’s chair seen as putting Russia probe on hold,
The House Intelligence Committee’s probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, including potential ties between the Trump team and the Kremlin, is seen as effectively on hold, after its chairman said the panel would not interview more witnesses until two spy chiefs return to Capitol Hill for a still-unscheduled private briefing.
Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ declaration Tuesday that “until [FBI Director James] Comey comes forward, it’s hard for us to move forward with interviews and depositions” comes as an indefinite stop order on a roster of expected interviews and testimony, from top Trump campaign surrogates to top intelligence and law enforcement officials serving during the election and transition period.
Late last week, Mr. Nunes, R-Calif., canceled an open hearing scheduled for Tuesday that would have featured testimony from former director of national intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, and former acting attorney general Sally Yates. He did so, he said, “in order to make time available” for Mr. Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers to brief the panel on “additional information” that came up during an open hearing with the same spy chiefs last Monday.
But the closed-door meeting was never scheduled.
According to several Democrats on the committee, Mr. Nunes also canceled two regular panel meetings this week, without giving them a reason. Such “hot spots meetings,” which normally take place on Mondays and Thursdays, are not solely dedicated to the Russia investigation, but any matters that come under the panel’s purview.
“Effectively what has happened is the committee’s oversight, oversight of our national intelligence apparatus, has come to a halt because of this particular issue,” said committee member Jim Himes, D-Conn.
“In my three years here, I’ve never seen us have a full week without a hearing,” committee member Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said. “We’ve made no progress since last Monday’s open hearing, and that is intentional.”
A spokesman for Mr. Nunes said the “hot spots” meetings were never scheduled, and will resume next week.
Meanwhile, a Washington Post report Tuesday said that the Trump administration tried to block Ms. Yates from testifying this month. The administration denied Tuesday that it had tried to block Ms. Yates’ testimony.
The apparent freeze in the committee’s Russia investigation comes as Democrats are calling for Mr. Nunes, who was part of President Donald Trump’s transition team, to recuse himself from the probe. Their demand was inspired by Mr. Nunes’ announcement that he went to the White House last week to meet a secret source who provided him with information suggesting identities of either Mr. Trump or his transition team surrogates may have been improperly revealed after being picked up in surveillance of foreign targets. The next day, Mr. Nunes briefed the news media, then the president and then the news media again before taking that information to his colleagues on the intelligence committee, enraging Democrats, who have accused him of coordinating with the White House to draw attention away from the investigation.
Mr. Nunes has since apologized for what he said was a “judgment call,” but not admitted to any wrongdoing and refused calls for him to step down.
In related news, aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska — a Russian billionaire close to President Vladimir Putin — said Tuesday he is willing to take part in U.S. congressional hearings to discuss his past business relationship with Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.