Republicans intend to release 53 transcripts of witness interviews in the now-defunct Russia investigation in bulk after an intelligence community review to screen for classified information. | AP Photo/Cliff Owen Congress House intel panel to release transcripts of now-defunct Russia probe

The House Intelligence Committee voted Friday to publicly release transcripts of 53 witness interviews — amounting to thousands of pages — in the panel’s now-defunct Russia investigation.

The measure passed unanimously, though not until Republicans swatted down efforts by Democrats to release a handful of additional transcripts — including those of Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).


Republicans intend to release the transcripts in bulk after an intelligence community review to screen for classified information. Democrats sought to release many of the transcripts immediately, noting that the bulk of witnesses hold no security clearances and would not have discussed classified intelligence. The transcripts will include the testimony of prominent associates of President Donald Trump, from his son Donald Trump Jr. to former aides Hope Hicks, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

It also includes input from attendees of the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting that has been a focus of special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as members of former President Barack Obama's Justice Department and FBI, like Sally Yates, Loretta Lynch and Andrew McCabe.

Democrats had sought the release of the transcripts months ago, and after they joined Republicans in supporting their release raised questions about whether the decision was made in coordination with the White House or President Donald Trump's legal team, a suggestion they said went unanswered by committee chairman Devin Nunes.

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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, noted that the decision to release the transcripts was announced shortly after Trump proposed declassifying key documents related to the ongoing special counsel investigation into his campaign's ties to Russian — an effort he has said would expose corruption in the Justice Department and FBI but that Democrats say is part of an effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's work.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) told POLITICO that the Rohrabacher and Wasserman Schultz transcripts weren't marked for release because of "speech-and-debate" issues inherent with lawmakers testifying. He also said Republicans intended to release all the transcripts at once so they couldn't be accused of selectively releasing information to push a particular narrative.

But Democrats said Wasserman Schultz had indicated her willingness to have her transcript released — and Rohrabacher told reporters Friday that he had made no objection to the committee to keep his transcript private. Asked if he'd favor its release, he said "I'll think about it."

Democrats said additional efforts to release transcripts of intelligence community leaders — as well as of internal committee debates in which Republicans previously opposed releasing witness transcripts — were defeated as well.

Schiff said Democrats would also release transcripts of the interviews they conducted without Republicans present — including of Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Chris Wylie and Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, whose husband George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last year about his interactions with a Russia-linked professor.

