“Congress has to get to the bottom of whether anybody is interfering or obstructing any investigation in any way," Rep. Adam Schiff said on Thursday. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Schiff wants obstruction to be part of House Russia probe

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is negotiating with his Republican counterpart about whether to investigate President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice as part of the panel’s Russia investigation.

“I think it needs to be part of the investigation,” Schiff said in an interview Thursday. “Congress has to get to the bottom of whether anybody is interfering or obstructing any investigation in any way.”


The California congressman said he is discussing the issue with Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who’s been the Republican leader of the investigation since House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) stepped away from the probe in April.

Their negotiations follow a report in The Washington Post that Trump is now a target of the Justice Department special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election. Investigators are interviewing senior intelligence officials to determine whether Trump tried to obstruct justice, the Post reported.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Russian election meddling, told CNN on Thursday that obstruction of justice would not be part of their probe.

"The criminal piece of the investigation will be handled by the special counsel, but if we find facts, we can turn this over to the special counsel," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the Senate panel’s top Democrat.