Nothing to See Here: G.O.P. Abruptly Terminates Russia Probe, Claiming No Collusion
Just months after the House Intelligence Committee launched its probe into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, Chairman __ Devin Nunes__ recused himself from the investigation over charges that he shared sensitive information with the White House. At the time, Nunes dismissed suggestions that he violated ethics laws, but the dramatic turn of events set the stage for bitter partisan infighting to engulf the probe, which lawmakers announced on Monday night had come to a conclusion. After a year-long investigation, lawmakers found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin—news that spurred an ecstatic response from the president, but which may ultimately clear the way for special counsel Robert Mueller to go in for the kill.
In their 150-page report, G.O.P. lawmakers wrote that, in contrast to the U.S. intelligence community’s January 2017 findings, they did not uncover evidence that the Kremlin boosted Donald Trump’s campaign. “We don’t think that’s supported by the underlying data,” said Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, the Republican who led the probe after Nunes stepped aside. “Only Tom Clancy or Vince Flynn or someone else like that could take this series of inadvertent contacts with each other, or meetings or whatever, and weave that into some sort of a fiction-page-turner spy thriller.” (The official Twitter account for the Russian Embassy in the U.S. cited Conaway approvingly.) He added that there may have been “perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment at taking meetings,” but that overall they had uncovered nothing that suggested collusion. (A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence told CNN that “the Intelligence Community stands by its January 2017 assessment.”)
Committee Democrats, who had not seen the report prior to its release, were incensed. “By ending its oversight role in the only authorized investigation in the House, the Majority has placed the interests of protecting the President over protecting the country, and history will judge its actions harshly,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the committee’s leading Democrat who has long expressed his alarm at the probe’s partisan nature. “On a whole host of investigative threads, our work is fundamentally incomplete, some issues partially investigated, others, like that involving credible allegations of Russian money laundering, remain barely touched. If the Russians do have leverage over the President of the United States, the Majority has simply decided it would rather not know.”
Schiff and other Democrats have said they’ll continue to conduct independent research, particularly given that their requests to subpoena information on the president’s finances, along with information into his foreign business ties, were routinely ignored. But in reality, expectations for the House probe had always been low, with even lawmakers conceding that Mueller’s probe would be the most likely source of any presidential leveling. “I think that proof will likely come with Mr. Mueller’s investigation,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of the collusion question last year. “He’s got the ability to use a grand jury. He’s got the ability to use the power of subpoena without question. And he’s got the ability to do a criminal investigation.” Trump was quick to issue a celebratory tweet, writing in all caps that “THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS . . . FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.” But as Mueller deepens his probe, the House Intelligence Committee’s findings look more like a red herring. With Trump and his allies seemingly distracted by the reprieve, Mueller—the only one leading an investigation who could potentially bring charges against the president—can carry on without the looming threat of a meaningless series of memos designed to undercut him.
