House panel ends inquiry

No collusion between Trump and Russians, Republicans conclude.

WASHINGTON – Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee called an end on Monday to their year-long investigation of Russian meddling in the

2016 election, concluding there was “no evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians.”

The inquiry was ended over the objections of Democrats, who charged that key documents and testimony still have not been obtained.

Republicans said they agreed with the U.S. intelligence community’s report in January that Russia tried to interfere in the presidential election but did not agree that the Russians were trying to help Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The GOP majority on the House panel will show its draft report to Democrats on Tuesday before seeking approval from the full committee to release it. Democrats plan to write a separate report that will likely conclude there is strong evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

The investigation’s abrupt end underscores the bitter partisan divide that has plagued the committee’s work. And it increases pressure on the collegial Senate Intelligence Committee to come out with a credible bipartisan report from its own Russia investigation.

“The House Majority has announced it is terminating the Russia investigation, leaving to others the important work of determining the full extent of Russian interference in our election, the role of U.S. persons connected to the Trump campaign in that intervention, possible efforts to obstruct the investigation by the President and most important, what needs to be done to protect the country going forward,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House panel, said in a statement Monday night.

Ending the investigation at this time is “another tragic milestone for this Congress, and represents yet another capitulation to the executive branch,” Schiff said.

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who led the investigation for the House Republicans, said the panel conducted

73 witness interviews, held nine hearings and briefings, and reviewed more than 300,000 documents. “We are confident that we have thoroughly investigated the agreed-upon parameters and developed reliable initial findings and recommendations,” he said.

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