House Intelligence Committee leaders tasked with handling the probe into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 elections said Tuesday, that their “aggressive” investigation is ongoing.
Republican representative Mike Conaway and Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, Democratic representative Adam Schiff stated that they plan to invite former Obama Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to testify before the committee, both in a closed and open session, NRP reports.
Committee leaders expect that Johsnon could hopefully provide more detailed insight into the intelligence community’s conclusion on October 7, 2016.
Furthermore, they said they were “confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of emails from U.S. persons and institutions, including from U.S. political organizations”.
Conaway and Schiff said the committee plans additional open hearings soon. Their investigation is just one of at least three ongoing into Russian interference and potential ties between the Trump associates and Russia. The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding its own concurrent investigation, where former FBI Director James Comey, fired last month by President Donald Trump, is set to testify on Thursday.
Former FBI Director Robert Muller was also appointed last month as a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s growing probe.
Conaway took over the GOP side’s lead on the House investigation when Committee Chairman Devin Nunes stepped aside, after the House Ethics Committee opened an inquiry into whether he improperly disclosed classified information.
Earlier, Nunes held a controversial press conference in March where he claimed he had learned that then-President-elect Trump and some staffers had been caught up in surveillance of foreign targets overseas just after the election. He then went to the White House to brief Trump on the information, before sharing it with Schiff or his colleagues on the Intelligence Committee, NPR writes.
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