House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Tuesday he doesn’t believe reports that Russians were actively trying to elect Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
“Look, I don’t believe that to be the case,” Nunes told reporters when asked if he believes the Russians helped to elect Trump. “I don’t think the evidence exists for that. But we are going to do our investigation and we will figure out if there’s any intelligence or evidence that suggests that that is in fact the case.”
When asked if he believes the public assessment of the intelligence community that the Russians helped Trump, he said part of his committee’s work is to answer those questions.
While his remarks are a point in favor of Trump, Nunes also told reporters his committee so far has no evidence to back up his claim that President Obama authorized officials to tap Trump’s phone.
“At this point, we don’t have any evidence of that,” he told reporters.
His committee will start examining Russia’s alleged influence over the 2016 election in a March 20 public hearing.
