House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes defended the conclusion his panel reached earlier in the week about Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
“There’s no reason to continue this [investigation] because we have no evidence of collusion; we’ve turned up nothing,” the California Republican said on Fox News Thursday evening.
.@DevinNunes: “There’s no reason to continue this [investigation] because we have no evidence of collusion; we’ve turned up nothing.” @foxnewsnight pic.twitter.com/YuPI0a1lp9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 16, 2018
The committee interviewed more than 70 witnesses as part of its nearly yearlong investigation, the last one being Trump former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski last week.
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who has spearheaded the investigation, told reporters Monday afternoon there were examples of bad judgment, but no collusion. Conaway also said Republicans on the panel believe Russians meddled in the 2016 election, but disagree with a 2017 U.S. intelligence report that claimed Russian interference favored Trump.
However, not all have supported this assessment, including Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who said 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.”
Gowdy’s assessment aligns with that of the intel community report, which determined with “high confidence” Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an “influence campaign” during the 2016 election that would assist Trump and hurt Clinton.
James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence at the time of the intel assessment, has also disputed the GOP panel’s conclusion that Russia was trying to damage Clinton. “The credibility of the committee is basically about zero,” Clapper told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, adding, “because they are so partisan.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have condemned their Republican counterparts on the panel for ending the probe “prematurely.”
All the while, special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe appears to be gaining more steam as his team issued subpoenas to the Trump organization Thursday requesting business documents.
Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee are still investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
