Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the resignation of Michael Flynn as White House national security adviser is “a beginning of a much longer story.” | AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Democrats demand independent Russia probe

Top House and Senate Democrats are ratcheting up their calls for an independent investigation into communications between President Donald Trump’s associates and Russian intelligence agents — but Republicans show no sign of acquiescing.

“If an investigation is not independent, nonpartisan, and most of all, transparent, there is no guarantee this administration will take the decisive and immediate actions necessary to keep our country safe,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday.


"They’re stonewalling this," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday of GOP leaders’ refusal to back an independent probe. “The American people deserve better.”

So far Republicans have resisted the calls a for new inquiry. But the dramatic allegations about Trump team-Russia talks during the 2016 campaign, first reported by the New York Times — after the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his own Russian connections — has created a crisis atmosphere on Capitol Hill.

Democrats also laid down markers for what they’d consider a “complete” investigation by the House intelligence committee into the Trump administration's Russia connections.

Schumer urged the creation of two independent investigations: one by Congress and the other by the executive branch, where he urged newly sworn-in Attorney General Jeff Session to appoint an independent investigator.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, any investigation would have to look at Flynn's actions, the transcripts of his phone calls and his testimony as a witness. He also expressed concern that the Senate intelligence committee’s investigation has a broader scope than the House counterpart. "I don’t think the House investigation can be cabined in a way the Senate investigation is not," he said. "We have to follow the facts wherever they may lead."

Schiff said he’s meeting with House intelligence committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes later Thursday to discuss the committee’s investigation. He also dismissed the Republican emphasis on seeking the source of leaked intelligence, which Trump decried earlier Wednesday. Schiff said he shares GOP concerns about leaks but that “there are far bigger fish to fry.”

“I would hate to see us go on a tangent,” he said.

Republicans have taken a scattershot approach on how to respond to the latest revelations. And Democrats have attempted to fill that vacuum by raising up pressure on the Republicans leading existing investigations — and to launch a new, independent investigation. Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for an independent counsel to probe the matter Wednesday morning.

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said in a brief interview Wednesday that committee staff began reviewing documents for its Russia probe last week, declining to offer a timetable for its first public hearing on Russia. The committee has yet to reach out to Flynn, Burr added, but said it's "very likely" Flynn will be invited to testify.

Nunes reacted angrily in an interview with POLITICO about calls for a new probe. He vowed to continue his panel’s ongoing probe of Russia and accused Democrats of politicizing the issue.

Asked about the possibility of a select committee, Nunes said, “There is not going to be one; I can tell you there is absolutely not going to be one. And I am not going to be lectured by people who are speaking out of both sides of their mouths."

Senate Democrats held an emergency caucus meeting Wednesday morning called by Schumer to discuss the reports as well as the fallout from the resignation of Michael Flynn as White House national security adviser. Flynn’s resignation, Schumer said on the floor, is “a beginning of a much longer story.”

Democrats came out of the meeting unified in asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russia and to continue a public pressure campaign on Republicans.

"There's a clear conflict of interest when it comes to the Department of Justice guidelines," said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin. He said Democrats are calling on the White House to present evidence and not destroy emails or communications. Asked how they get that result he said: "We're using public appeals and we hope the attorney general will respond in a positive way."

Before the meeting began, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin — the only Democrat who backed Sessions' confirmation — told reporters that the attorney general had a potential conflict and should consider stepping aside from any Russia investigation.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) dismissed calls for Sessions to recuse himself on the matter. "I would think he would have the independence to do it," he said. "We shouldn't assume that he can't."

Sen. John McCain said in an interview Wednesday that he will send a list of questions to the White House to find out how Pence was "lied to" by Flynn.

"First we need to ask questions and get answers and then decide" what to do, the Arizona Republican said. "We will be doing that."

Two senior House Democrats also aimed a new line of inquiry Wednesday at White House counsel Don McGahn, seeking answers about why Flynn continued to sit in on sensitive briefings and meetings even after White House officials learned he had given misleading answers about his contacts with Russian officials.

“These reports raise more than ‘trust’ issues — they also raise significant national security concerns,” wrote Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the ranking members of the House oversight and judiciary committees, respectively. “[E]ven in the face of strong warnings and evidence that he was vulnerable to being blackmailed, the White House appears to have considered General Flynn fit to continue serving as the National Security Advisor.”

The Democrats asked McGahn to respond to 15 questions, including whether the White House took any steps to curb Flynn’s access to classified information, whether White House officials have been interviewed by the FBI on the matter and who approved Flynn’s security clearance.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who brushed off calls for an expanded investigation after Flynn’s departure on Tuesday, took a slightly harder line on Wednesday, saying that he could support McCain's bipartisan effort to convert Obama-era sanctions against Russia into law if the Trump administration attempted to roll them back.

"If those sanctions were to be watered down, I would for sure support codifying them," Ryan told MSNBC.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), whom Trump once considered for secretary of state, outlined the president's problems in stark terms on Wednesday. "Is the White House going to have the ability to stabilize itself?" Corker asked on MSNBC.

The controversy over the Trump team's Russia connections "affects us, not just with international issues that are brewing all around the world," Corker added, "but the domestic agenda here.”

John Bresnahan, Rachael Bade, Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle contributed to this report.

