Tag: House intelligence committee

House Intel committee blocked subpoenas

~ susie

On CNN Tuesday night, Don Lemon had Rep. Mike Quigley, Democrat on the House Select Intelligence committee, as a guest.

“Let’s talk now about Mariia Butina, the Russian agent indicted on those charges including acting as a foreign agent and conspiracy,” Lemon said.

“A Russian official told her via Twitter it’s not about winning today’s fight. This is a battle for the future, it cannot be lost. To which Butina replied ‘true.’ And she wrote this, ‘I am ready for further orders.’ What do you think was going on here?”

“Let me tell you, she was high on our list on the Democratic side to interview on the House Select Committee intelligence investigation.

“The Republicans refused to allow her to come testify. They refused multiple — I would say there’s probably 30 other key witnesses like her that they refused to bring before the committee.”

Lemon asked why he thought Republicans blocked it.

“Well, for the same reason they shut the investigation down: They didn’t like where it was going,” Quigley said.

“Thank God the Mueller investigation continues so the American public can get a glimmer through the indictments last week and this indictment today of just what took place. It is a path towards the White House.

“More and more communications, more and more ties with the Russians involving politics and finance and personal dealings. The fact that we were shut down, they refused to allow subpoenas to go forward involving the gun rights group she formed in Russia and its connection to the NRA, the fact there were so many other documents they refused to subpoena.

“They refused to subpoena anyone and make them answer questions. They went along with the White House insisting no one had to answer our questions. That sounds like they wanted to work with the White House to protect it politically and legally not get to the truth.

“In 2017 this woman reportedly demanded 15 seats in a personal invitation from Trump. Putin didn’t end up going but Butina did. There’s some video on her at the (National Prayer) breakfast on-screen now.

“The more documents we read and started to untangle this, I guess, tangled web they wove when they first attempted to deceive. The connection with the NRA as a potential conduit didn’t make sense to me. But, again, the fact is we weren’t able to get to the bottom of it because they refused to bring her before us or subpoena the documents that would have helped us understand the whole matter.”

Let that sink in.

By the time this mess is over, I expect some very prominent Republicans will be rolled up in the Mueller probe. Because as we saw with his Mafia prosecutions, you have to clean out the nest.

Imagine how low you have to go to upset Trey Gowdy

~ susie

Rep. Trey Gowdy not seeking re-election

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) on Sunday blasted Donald Trump’s lawyer for calling for an end to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. In a statement over the weekend, Trump attorney John Dowd said that Mueller should end his investigation. “I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office… Continue reading “Imagine how low you have to go to upset Trey Gowdy” →

GOP House Intelligence Committee: What collusion?

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

The committee’s statement on Monday, however, went beyond just absolving the Trump campaign of any suspected collusion with Moscow, even going so far as to dispute the U.S. Intelligence Community’s findings that Russia had preferred a Trump presidency to that of Hillary Clinton. The statement also added that the Clinton campaign had obtained “anti-Trump research” from Russian sources, an apparent nod to the disputed Steele memo.

The draft report will now likely go to the minority staff on the committee, currently led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). However, it remains possible — or likely — that the Democrats will push to release a second, competing report. Democrats have complained that a number of key witnesses still have not been interviewed by the committee, and that Republicans on the committee didn’t bother to use subpoenas in order to obtain pertinent information.

Mueller’s new indictment of Manafort and Gates debunks White House talking points
Further, Republicans cut short the witness interview portion of the investigation — something Schiff only learned of on Monday afternoon. Among the witnesses who were reportedly not called before the committee were Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair, and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser. Both Manafort and Flynn have been targeted by the special counsel’s office for dissembling about their ties to pro-Russian operatives, as has former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos — another individual the committee didn’t interview.

What are the Repugs trying to hide?

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

REP DEVIN NUNES (R-CA) The PROUD FACE of the GOP, attacking the DOJ and FBI

WTF?

In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall – a physical partition – separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee’s secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It’s expected to happen this spring.

For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while strongly suggesting the division is the brainchild of the committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes, R-California.

“I’m not part of that decision,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. “You’ve got to talk to Devin. I don’t know what they’re trying to do one way or the other.”

“I swear to God I didn’t know that,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee’s work, he said, “The level of trust and the level of everything down there is – it’s poison. It’s absolute poison down there.”

Rooney said one reason for the tension is an erosion of trust, exacerbated by an ongoing ethics investigation into the “entire Republican staff,” including “the woman up front that answers the phone” for alleged leaks. He later added that the matter was being handled by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Bipartisanship, he said, “is gone. It’s gone from that committee.”

“We have heard reports that the chairman may seek to erect a ‘wall’ to divide the staff of the intelligence committee on a partisan basis — this would be a terrible mistake,” the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, told CBS News. “While we have more than our share of difficulties, the important oversight work of the committee continues with our staff working together irrespective of party. This would be a very destructive decision.”

Bannon to testify

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Twitter Users Gleefully Troll Steve Bannon Over Breitbart Exit http://ift.tt/2CZDBiG

Washington Post:

Former White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon has hired prominent Washington attorney William Burck to represent him as he prepares to testify to the House Intelligence Committee about his role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.

Bannon had previously insisted that he did not need a lawyer because he had not been drawn into the multiple investigations into whether Trump’s team coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign. But in recent weeks, the House intelligence panel made a request that Bannon testify before the committee.

Bannon’s hiring of Burck was first reported by the Daily Beast.

Burck, co-managing partner at the firm Quinn Emanuel, is also representing other key members of Trump’s campaign and White House staff, including former chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

The person familiar with the arrangement said Burck’s representation is limited to congressional testimony and does not include preparing Bannon to speak to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. It also covers only Bannon’s role on Trump’s campaign, as opposed to events that occurred during the presidential transition or while Bannon served as a top aide to Trump in the White House.