Devin Nunes says House Intel will release Russia investigation interviews

“If you look at a lot of the facts that are now out it’s the facts that are now out, it’s what we found on the House Intelligence Committee,” Nunes said on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “So we believe that the depositions that we took I think for nearly about 70 people, those need to be published and they need to be published, I think before the election … put out for the American people to review, so that they can see the work that we did and they can see all of the people that were interviewed by us and their answers to those questions.”

He added that the American public can expect to see what witnesses testified in “the next few weeks.”

Nunes did concede, however, that approximately a quarter of the interviews might be classified and would need to be approved for release by the director of national intelligence to declassify them. He expressed hope that this process would only take “a matter of days and they don’t do their normal foot dragging where they slow roll and we don’t get these before the election.”

His pledge to release witness transcripts — the panel had 73 witnesses according to the Daily Caller — comes days after Rep. Trey Gowdy, a member of the panel and chair of the Oversight Committee, told the Hill that all of them should be publicized.

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, took over the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia inquiry last April after Nunes stepped aside amid concerns that he mishandled classified information. Nunes was cleared by the Ethics Committee in December.

The intelligence panel released their final report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in April, concluding that there was no “collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.” Democrats on the panel accused Republicans of conducting an incomplete and misleading investigation. They have repeatedly called for the release of the transcripts, claiming they would show the majority asked only halfheartedly questioned witnesses.

“Now, the Chairman is again promising to release the transcripts,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is the ranking member of the committee, said in a statement Sunday. “We hope this time he will follow through on his commitment by scheduling a business meeting immediately and allowing a new vote to release all the transcripts. A few will need classification review by the Intelligence Community, but most will not.”

Schiff also said the public release of the transcripts will “facilitate the work of the Special Counsel, who will have access to the evidence contained in the testimony and may consider who may have committed perjury before Congress.”

Some Republicans have expressed concern that releasing the transcripts would create a hindrance to having potential witnesses testify in the future, according to Fox News.

During the interview Sunday with host Maria Bartiromo, Nunes lamented the “mainstream media,” who he claimed is ignoring this story and instead are instead “drinking the Russian Kool-Aid” by focusing on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which has dozens of indictments for federal crimes, but not showing collusion.

Nunes also said President Trump “doesn’t have any choice” but to declassify documents related to the origins of the Russia investigation and the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails before the midterm elections.

Allies close to the president told Axios last week that Trump is expected to declassify some documents soon.