Two top Senate Republicans said they are fed up with the CIA dragging its feet in responding to their request for records relevant to their joint investigation into the Trump-Russia investigators.
A letter sent by Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa to CIA Director Gina Haspel was made public Wednesday after Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe revealed that he handed over nearly 1,000 pages of documents to assist U.S. Attorney John Durham with his criminal inquiry into misconduct by law enforcement and intelligence officials who looked into ties between President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
“The American people have a right to know the full extent of official action taken by federal officials during the 2016 campaign, the presidential transition, and into the Trump administration,” the senators wrote. “The information that has already been made public reveals what might be the most outrageous abuse of power in U.S. history against a presidential candidate and sitting president. Unfortunately, many of the puzzle pieces remain hidden, and some of that information rests within your agency. We are concerned that your agency has thus far failed to respond in full to our oversight requests.”
Johnson and Grassley referenced a July 28 letter to Haspel, where they had provided “a list of outstanding oversight requests pertaining to our review of Crossfire Hurricane” and lamented that “more than two months later, we still have not received any of the requested records that we detailed.”
The Senate duo asked for a host of documents, including all of the CIA’s records on British ex-spy Christopher Steele, as well as details on whether foreign governments such as Australia, Israel, or the United Kingdom provided any assistance during the Trump-Russia investigation. The senators also asked for records tied to former CIA Director John Brennan’s involvement during the investigation, any CIA contacts with Perkins Coie lawyers Michael Sussman or Marc Elias, and any CIA records on Cambridge professor and FBI informant Stefan Halper, former Trump campaign associate Carter Page, former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, or mysterious Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud. In addition, the pair requested access to the then-Republican-led House Intelligence Committee’s investigative referral to the CIA based on its review of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In their Wednesday letter, the senators pointed to Haspel’s May 2018 Senate Intelligence Committee testimony during her confirmation hearing to lead the CIA. “I am a strong believer in the importance of oversight,” she said, adding, “if confirmed as director, I will uphold the agency’s obligations to Congress and ensure that oversight works on behalf of the American people.”
Johnson and Grassley said Haspel’s “apparent unwillingness to speak with us on this matter contradicts your testimony,” noting that her “staff met only once with our staff to discuss these requests, and CIA has not produced a single document in response” and “your agency has ignored multiple requests to schedule a phone call to discuss our oversight letter.”
The senators’ letter and Ratcliffe’s statement on responding to Durham’s documents request were preceded by Trump tweeting Tuesday night that he had “fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”
Trump’s tweets Tuesday evening came hours after Ratcliffe declassified two heavily redacted Russia-related documents, including handwritten notes from Brennan showing he briefed then-President Barack Obama in 2016 on an unverified Russian intelligence report claiming former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton planned in July 2016 on tying then-candidate Trump to Russia’s hack of the Democratic National Committee to distract from her improper use of a private email server. Newly declassified records also include a September 2016 CIA counterintelligence referral on the allegations to former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Operations Peter Strzok.
Brennan responded to Ratcliffe’s declassification move on CNN on Tuesday, saying, “It is appalling, his selective declassification of information that clearly is designed to advance the political interests of Donald Trump and Republicans who are aligned with him.”
“Although we have requested all intelligence reporting provided or made available to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team, we have not received any responsive documents. Yet we know that such information exists and recent revelations from them are disturbing,” Johnson and Grassley told Haspel on Wednesday. “This cannot continue – the American public has a right to know about the rampant mistakes and biased decisions that occurred during the Obama administration that undermined a peaceful transition of power.”
Johnson and Grassley said they expect “full compliance” with their July letter by Friday, saying that “if the material is classified, it can be produced in an appropriate setting,” but “further delay is unacceptable.”
Nicole de Haay, a spokeswoman for the CIA, told the Washington Examiner: “We’ve received the letter, and of course, we intend on responding as quickly as possible.”
