Trump campaign used 'poor judgment' in dealing with the Russians, House Intel report says

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption House Intelligence Committee releases redacted Russia report House Intelligence Committee Republicans have releasing a redacted final report on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the details.

WASHINGTON – The House Intelligence Committee released a final report on its Russia investigation Friday that criticized Donald Trump's presidential campaign for "poor judgment and ill-conceived actions" in dealing with the Russians but concluded that there is no evidence it colluded with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election.

The Republican majority announced its "no collusion" finding last month. It released the actual 243-page report detailing its conclusions Friday.

The report cites as "poor judgment" the meeting in June 2016 at the Trump Tower in New York between members of the campaign — including Donald Trump Jr.; Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law; and campaign chairman Paul Manafort — and a Russian attorney "who falsely purported to have damaging information on the Clinton campaign."

"The Committee also found the Trump campaign's periodic praise for and communications with WikiLeaks — a hostile foreign organization — to be highly objectionable and inconsistent with U.S. national security interests," the report said.

WikiLeaks published emails stolen by Russian hackers from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee before the election in November.

The GOP committee members found that "when asked directly, none of the interviewed witnesses provided evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government." The report found "no evidence that President Trump's pre-campaign business dealings formed the basis for collusion during the campaign."

The Republican majority criticized Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee for trying to obscure their role in paying for opposition research on Trump. That research resulted in the "Steele dossier," which contained salacious and unsubstantiated allegations that Trump met with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room.

Trump tweeted that the "witch hunt" of the Russia investigation "must end now!"

Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018

Though the report released Friday officially ends the House Intelligence Committee's bitterly partisan investigation, inquiries continue in the Senate Intelligence Committee and, to a lesser extent, in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Special counsel Robert Mueller continues his Russia investigation on behalf of the Department of Justice.

Trump said Friday he was "very honored by the (House) report," which he praised as "totally conclusive — strong, powerful.”

"What we really should do is get on with our lives," Trump said while posing for photos with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a meeting with her.

Democrats on the Intelligence Committee charged that their Republican colleagues ignored evidence of collusion because they wanted to protect Trump.

"Throughout the investigation, Committee Republicans chose not to seriously investigate — or even see, when in plain sight — evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, instead adopting the role of defense counsel for key investigation witnesses," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee's senior Democrat.

"In fact," Schiff said, "we found evidence of collusion in the abundant secret meetings and communications between Trump campaign officials and associates such as Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, Donald Trump Jr., Michael Flynn, Carter Page, and others, with emissaries and officials from, or linked to the Russian government. The Trump campaign and Administration’s efforts to deny, conceal and, when discovered, misrepresent what took place in these interactions with the Russians is powerful evidence of a consciousness of wrongdoing."

Schiff said Americans must rely on Mueller to do the job the polarized committee could not do.

"Regardless, there is no denying the abundant evidence that the Trump campaign sought, and was eager to accept, the assistance of a hostile foreign power bent on interfering in our election," he said.

The committee's Republicans said U.S. intelligence agencies failed to prove their conclusion — detailed in a report in January 2017 — that Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to help Trump beat Clinton. Clinton questioned the legitimacy of Russian elections while she was secretary of State.

The report charges the intelligence agencies with "significant intelligence tradecraft failings" and concludes that the Kremlin's main goal was not to help Trump but to sow discord among American voters.

Some GOP committee members publicly disagreed last month with that conclusion. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said Russia was motivated by a desire to hurt Clinton.

Gowdy said in a statement that it was "clear, based on the evidence, Russia had disdain for Secretary Clinton and was motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm her candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed."

Schiff said the Republicans "watered down" their criticism of the intelligence agencies on the issue in the final report because they "could no longer defend this claim."

One of the report's recommendations is for Congress to consider repealing the Logan Act, which makes it a felony for private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments. The intent of the federal law is to stop individuals from undermining the U.S. government's policies by conducting separate, unauthorized negotiations.

No American has been successfully prosecuted under the law. Michael Flynn, a former Trump campaign adviser who briefly served as the president's national security adviser, was suspected by the Obama administration of violating the law by negotiating with the Russian ambassador while Obama was president.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period between the time Trump was elected president and inaugurated.

Prosecutors charged that Flynn lied to agents about a conversation with Kislyak on Dec. 29 about how Russia might respond to sanctions the U.S. government levied over suspected election meddling.

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who led the committee's Russia investigation, and Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., complained about the extensive redactions of their report by intelligence agencies that reviewed the document. Large chunks of the report were blacked out.

"I am extremely disappointed with the overzealous redactions made by the IC (intelligence community)," Conaway said in a statement. "Many of the redactions include information that is publicly available, such as witness names and information previously declassified."

Conaway said the committee hopes to release a report with fewer redactions in the coming months.

Though Republicans completed their investigation, Democrats continued their own Russia inquiry. Thursday, House Democrats interviewed Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie about how the firm used Facebook users' data on behalf of the Trump campaign.

Republicans turned their focus to investigating what they allege is bias by the FBI and Department of Justice in favor of Clinton, including how the agencies handled their investigation of her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

Contributing: John Fritze, David Jackson