Senate committee to start Russia inquiry next week
WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee will begin as soon as Monday privately interviewing 20 people in its ongoing investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election as well as potential ties to the Trump campaign, its leaders said Wednesday.
Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said that “if there’s relevance” to those and other interviews that he and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., anticipate scheduling, “they will eventually be part of a public hearing.”
The two leaders stood side by side to update reporters about their investigation in a rare joint news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill, called just as the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation appeared to be grinding to a halt.
Burr and Warner refused to comment on the political discord that has stymied the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation since its chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, went to the White House grounds last week without telling his committee colleagues to meet with a secret source. He said he viewed documents that may show that President Donald Trump or members of his transition team were improperly identified in reports regarding surveillance of foreign targets.
Democrats have accused Nunes of coordinating with the White House to distract attention from the investigation into potential ties between the Trump team and Russian officials, and they called for him to recuse himself from the Russia investigation or step down.
“We’re not asking the House to play any role in our investigation. We don’t plan to play any role in their investigation,” Burr said.
While much of the House Intelligence Committee’s political infighting has taken place in public, the Senate so far has conducted the entirety of its Russia investigation behind closed doors — except for a public hearing in January with FBI Director James Comey, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan.
But the main difference between the House and Senate processes lies in how united the two Senate leaders are.
“Over the last month we’ve seen some progress,” Warner said. Later, with a hand on Burr’s shoulder, he added: “I have confidence in Richard Burr that we together, with the members of our committee, are going to get to the bottom of this.”
The difference is drawing notice on both sides of the Capitol.
On Wednesday, a Republican congressman said the Senate should take the lead on Congress’ Russia investigation.
“The House is paralyzed on this thing,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said in an interview. “The Senate is moving forward. I think that’s the only committee that’s going to be able to bring us a report at this point.”
Dent is one of the first Republican voices to openly advocate taking the Russia investigation out of the House Intelligence Committee’s hands.
Last week, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that “no longer does the Congress have credibility to handle this alone,” calling for a select committee or independent commission to take over the investigation.
“The bottom line is, it seems like the Senate is moving in a good way,” Dent said. “They have a much greater likelihood of providing a report than the House does at this point.”