Tensions escalate between Democrats and Republicans on congressional intelligence committees, with claims that the inquiry amounts to a ‘witch hunt’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A dispute erupted on Monday between top US lawmakers on the intelligence committees in Congress, as Democrats suggested Republicans were incapable of conducting an independent investigation into alleged contacts between Donald Trump and Russian intelligence sources.



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Tensions between the two parties escalated when Devin Nunes, the Republican who chairs the House intelligence panel, claimed he had not seen any evidence that associates of Trump had communicated with Russian officials and said calls for a special committee to investigate the issue would amount to a “witch hunt”.

“As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls,” Nunes, who served on Trump’s transition team, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but I don’t have that. And what I’ve been told by many folks is that there’s nothing there.”

He added: “At this time, I want to be very careful that we can’t just go on a witch-hunt against Americans because they appear in news stories.”

Within hours, Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, held a dueling press conference to rebuke Nunes’s characterization of the investigation. He also criticized his Republican counterpart for disclosing information on the investigation that only just began.



“When you begin an investigation, you don’t begin by stating what you believe to be the conclusion,” Schiff said.



“I don’t think that anybody should prejudge at this point whether there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, either directly or indirectly, through cutouts with business-people or any other way.”



“We as an intelligence committee doing an investigation don’t know,” he added. “We don’t know the answer.”

The spat comes amid an aggressive attempt by the White House to rebut reports that associates of Trump communicated frequently with Russian intelligence officials in the year leading up to November’s election.

The links, which are being investigated by the FBI, have drawn renewed scrutiny after the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser, over allegations that he discussed sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the US in December and subsequently misled the vice-president, Mike Pence.

The House and Senate intelligence committees are running separate investigations into efforts by Russia to interfere in the presidential race. Democrats have demanded an independent, outside commission to fully investigate the nature of Russia’s potential influence over Trump and his administration.

According to a report by the Washington Post, the White House enlisted Nunes and his Republican counterpart on the Senate intelligence committee, Richard Burr, to help counter news reports about the Russia links.



Nunes framed his subsequent conversations with reporters as a bid to be “transparent”. But Democrats sharply condemned Republicans for taking steps that help to support the administration’s narrative around the Russia controversy, which Trump has dismissed as the product of “fake news”.



The House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, questioned how Nunes could know at this stage whether or not aides to Trump were in touch with the Russians.



“If he knew that from classified information, he shouldn’t be saying that,” she told reporters on Monday.



“If he won’t investigate, then he can’t possibly know. This is called stonewalling.”

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said the coordinated effort between the White House and Republican intelligence chiefs in Congress “certainly gives the appearance if not the reality of a lack of impartiality”.

“Senator Burr is on notice because what he did was wrong,” Schumer said. “This is not the way to conduct a fair, impartial investigation that goes where the facts lead.”

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Addressing reporters on Monday, Nunes echoed Trump administration tactics by emphasizing the nature of anonymous leaks to reporters – and suggesting his focus would be on who revealed Flynn’s contact with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, to the media, as opposed to the substance of their talks.



“There’s been major crimes committed,” Nunes said. “What I’m concerned about is no one is focusing on major leaks that have occurred here. We can’t run a government like this. A government can’t function with massive leaks at the highest level.”

Trump and his administration have also zeroed in on the leaks, the president himself calling himself for an investigation into who is behind them.

“They can’t even find the leakers within the FBI itself,” Trump wrote on Twitter last week. “Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on US. FIND NOW.”

Nunes also rejected calls to subpoena Trump’s tax returns, which the president refused to disclose as a candidate, in a break from a 40-year precedent. Democrats have renewed their push to make Trump’s filings public, arguing they could contain information on his business dealings with Russia.



“No, we’re not going to do that,” Nunes said.

Lauren Gambino contributed reporting from Washington.