Top Democrat ‘Increasingly Worried’ GOP Will Shut Down House Intelligence Investigation at End of the Month
‘Republicans Have Scheduled No Witnesses After Next Friday and None in 2017’
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is warning Republicans appear poised to shut down the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, collusion or cooperation between members of the Trump team and Russia, and any other possible illegal acts.
“I’m increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House Intelligence Committee investigation at the end of the month,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Friday afternoon via Twitter.
President Trump and many Republicans have been engaging in a false and dangerous campaign to try to discredit the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The attacks include the invasive reveal of text messages of an FBI agent who called candidate Trump and “idiot.” But even the Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal exposed that attacks s unfair – the FBI agent also made similar remarks about other presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, and former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder.
Remember that the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is Rep. Devin Nunes, who destroyed his credibility earlier this year with his fraudulent “unmasking” claims designed to divert attention and protect the White House, via information fed to him by the White House. His actions were so egregious he was forced to recuse himself from all things Russia, something he slowly rescinded.Â
The California Democrat explains that “Republicans have scheduled no witnesses after next Friday and none in 2017. We have dozens of outstanding witnesses on key aspects of our investigation that they refuse to contact and many document requests they continue to sit on.”
Suggesting GOP lawmakers are aiding the Trump administration, Rep. Schiff says Republicans have “declined to issue subpoenas in numerous avenues of the investigation, where there’s simply no other way to get the information.”
And he points to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan as the one who is ultimately responsible for ensuring the Committee does its job.
Thursday night MSNBC discussed Schiff’s concerns (video above,) and Schiff appeared on CNN to share his warning (below).
(Please see update below.)
Here’s Schiff’s entire Twitter thread:
Since March, our investigation has made important progress. We’ve interviewed numerous key witnesses behind closed doors, held public hearings, reviewed thousands of documents, identified new leads — all to understand and expose Russia’s meddling and protect our democracy.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
It appears Republicans want to conduct just enough interviews to give the impression of a serious investigation.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
Despite our repeated urging, Majority has declined to issue subpoenas in numerous avenues of the investigation, where there’s simply no other way to get the information. Some refusals we’ve made public, like witnesses hiding behind nonexistent privileges, many others we haven’t.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
Beyond our investigation, here’s what has me really concerned: The attacks on Mueller, DOJ and FBI this week make it clear they plan to go after Mueller’s investigation.
Aggressively and soon.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
By shutting down the congressional investigations when they continue to discover new and important evidence, the White House can exert tremendous pressure to end or curtail Mueller’s investigation or cast doubt on it. We cannot let that happen.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
UPDATE: 3:33 PM ET –
Very disturbing tweet from the Congressional correspondent for Bloomberg News:
FBI Deputy Director McCabe sscheduled to testify Tuesday to House Intelligence — but will he? “If McCabe is still there,” says one panel Republican. And another, Gowdy, tells FoxNews he’d a”be a little bit surprised if he is still an employee of the FBI this time next week.”
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) December 15, 2017
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