GOP Leaders On House Intelligence Committee Say Russia Investigation Wrapping Up Soon

What’s the story?

NBC News reports that senior Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee expect to wrap up their investigation into Russian election meddling in the coming weeks. They maintain they have largely completed all interviews relevant to the scope of inquiry Democrats had agreed to last spring.

Democrats, led by top Democrat Adam Schiff (CA), say they have requested interviews with up to 30 additional witnesses, but no interviews have been scheduled after the new year.

Schiff posted a thread to Twitter on Friday, detailing his concerns that GOP leaders are going to end the investigation prematurely, providing justification for the administration pushing to end the special counsel investigation headed by Robert Mueller.

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

Next week, they scheduled critical witness interviews out of state, when we are voting on the tax bill and vital government funding bills and no Members will be able to ask questions, in an effort to squeeze them in before end of year.

These witnesses are willing to come to DC.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017

Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) maintains that the special counsel probe is the crucial one that will make any determinations, so it’s time to wrap things up. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL), who has been helping to run the probe agreed that the committee had covered all the key witnesses and Democrats were needlessly reaching beyond the original scope of the investigation:

"We’re not a criminal investigation. If I honestly thought that there was fire somewhere we have an obligation constitutionally to look further into, I would have no problem doing that. But when you don’t and you’ve got to the point where you’re getting into the fifth and sixth level of people coming in here, then you’re spinning your wheels.“

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX), who heads the investigation, says he has no timeframe to wrap things up, but says the committee is working hard to finish.

What do you think?

Is it time for the House Intelligence Committee to wrap up their investigation? Are the congressional committee investigations into Russian election meddling less important than the Special Counsel investigation? Has the process become too politicized for you to know who to trust, or do you feel confident that the process will conclude as it should?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Flickr / Creative Commons)