The head of the House Intelligence Committee said Monday that federal intelligence officials have provided no information that points to a connection between Russian officials and anyone who worked for President Trump’s campaign, and warned against a “witch hunt,” against private citizens.
“There’s nothing there,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told reporters at a press conference he called to update the media on the probe. “As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls. The way it sounds to me is that it’s been looked into, and there is no evidence of anything there.”
Nunes said his panel will continue to probe who leaked highly classified information about calls between incoming national security adviser Mike Flynn and the Russian ambassador, which eventually lead to Flynn’s ouster.
Much of the press conference focused on leaks to the media about Russian contacts with Trump associates, which have led to calls by the Democrats and a few Republicans that an independent probe should be established.
But Nunes disagreed and said the panel had recently expanded a long-established congressional probe into Russian hacking to include whether there has been questionable contacts between Trump, his campaign team or his current administration, and members of the Russian government.
The probe of the Trump administration, however, has been limited by a lack of evidence provided by the Intelligence Community, Nunes said, because it has not turned up any evidence.
“We are absolutely looking into it and we want the information,” Nunes said. “But I just can’t call in American citizens without any information.”
Nunes warned of a “witch hunt” against Trump associates who are private citizens but were named by anonymous sources in news stories for allegedly being in contact with the Russian government during the campaign, among them former campaign director Paul Manafort.
“At this point, we still don’t have any evidence of them talking to Russia,” Nunes said, warning against “chasing down American citizens and hauling them before the Congress as if they are secret Russian agents.”
Manafort has denied talking to the Russians and called the report in the New York Times earlier this month, “absurd.”
