House panel OKs report finding no collusion
WASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to approve a Republicanauthored report stating there is no evidence that President Trump or his affiliates colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 U.S. election.
“It went through,” Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who has led the panel’s Russia investigation, said while exiting the committee’s secure facilities on Capitol Hill.
While the vote ends the Russia probe for the panel’s GOP majority, it only stoked the fury of Democrats, who have denounced their colleagues’ findings. The document, whose public release probably remains weeks away, also criticizes the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia sought to help Trump win the presidency.
The committee’s Republicans released a list of the 44 findings and 26 recommendations outlined in their report, which Conaway estimated to be 250 pages with annexes. It will be sent to the intelligence community for redactions on Monday at the earliest, Conaway he added — that being the deadline for Democrats to submit a statement of the minority’s view, which will be included in the final product.
The findings “show a pattern of Russian active measures in the United States, both through cyber attacks and their use of social media to sow discord,” Conaway said in a written statement, characterizing the threat to future U.S. elections as “serious.” The document also maintains that the intelligence community “did not employ proper analytic tradecraft” in assessing that the Russian government intended to help Trump’s campaign.
There was “no evidence that meetings between Trump associates — including Jeff Sessions — and official representatives of the Russian government — including Ambassador (Sergey) Kislyak — reflected collusion, coordination, or conspiracy,” the findings state, referring to the attorney general, an adviser to Trump during the campaign.
The report acknowledges that some Trump affiliates had contact with outfits such as WikiLeaks that were “illadvised,” and that campaign officials such as George Papadopoulos and Carter Page had attempted to make contacts with Russian officials. But the findings put some blame on “the Republican national security establishment’s opposition to candidate Trump” for “creat(ing) opportunities for two less-experienced individuals with pro-Russia views” to join the campaign.
The committee also recommended that Congress “consider repealing the Logan Act,” a law that states it is a crime for anyone without authorization to negotiate on behalf of the United States.
Democrats, who opposed adoption of the report, have accused Republicans of prematurely shuttering the committee’s year-long Russia investigation and willfully disregarding evidence, they argue, that demonstrates there was collusion.