The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is asking special counsel Robert Mueller to consider whether perjury charges should be brought against witnesses who testified to the panel during its Russia investigation.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., did not ask Mueller directly, but instead made the suggestion in a letter to Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., obtained by the Washington Examiner on Thursday.
In the letter, Schiff asks Nunes to give transcripts of all the interviews — nearly all were private — that were conducted by the House Intelligence Committee.
“These materials may be important to Mr. Mueller’s investigation, and shed additional light on the issues of collusion and obstruction of justice,” Schiff wrote on May 23. “I also have concerns that certain witnesses may have testified untruthfully before our committee, and believe that Mr. Mueller should consider whether perjury charges are warranted in light of the additional evidence in his possession.”
Schiff also notes that Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and other committee members have promised that at the end of the investigation the transcripts would be made public.
But, GOP lawmakers on the panel have “abandoned this pledge under the unsupported pretext of protecting the Special Counsel’s investigation,” wrote Schiff.
“Until the Majority lives up to its commitment to make the transcripts public, they must be shared with Special Counsel to assist his investigation and, as appropriate, to allow him to assess whether witnesses violated federal law by providing false testimony,” he wrote.
The GOP-led House Intelligence Committee shut down its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election in March and released a 250-page report in April — with redactions — on what it found from its yearlong probe.
The report concluded that there was no “collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.”
In March, the GOP released a 21-page summary of their findings, which also cleared the Trump campaign of collusion, which President Trump took as vindication.
Democrats responded to the March report by calling it a “terrible disservice to the country and the American people.”
“The decision to shut down the investigation before key witnesses could be interviewed and vital documentary evidence obtained will prevent us from fully discharging our duty to the House and to the American people,” the report from the Democrats said.
Nunes’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Schiff letter to Nunes, 5/23/18 by Washington Examiner on Scribd
