The House Intelligence Committee intends to interview John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman whose hacked email account became central to Russian interference in the U.S. election last year, according to multiple sources.
Clinton’s campaign chairman will be one of the committee’s first major witnesses to meet with the panel behind closed doors as it tries to determine the extent of the Russian involvement in last year’s campaign and whether any of President Donald Trump’s associates coordinated with the Russians.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the intel panel submitted requests to interview six witnesses this week, with Podesta expected to be interrogated next week in a classified session.
Moreover, the committee is expected to question Podesta about the leak of thousands of his emails, which became a political headache and embarrassment for Clinton in the heat of the campaign season.
Podesta’s appearance comes days after the panel’s leaders met behind closed doors this week with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is trying to ensure that the multiple investigations on Capitol Hill do not conflict with his ongoing probe into Russia meddling and whether there was any criminal activity by Trump associates.
A spokeswoman for Representative Mike Conaway, the Republican now running the investigation, declined to comment. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the panel, also would not comment. However, Podesta could not be reached by CNN for comment.
The panel also has set a deadline for Friday to obtain memos from fired FBI Director James Comey about his interactions with Trump, including over Comey’s allegations that the President urged him to drop the investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The President has repeatedly denied the charge.
Speaking to Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room,” Schiff declined to say if Comey or Mueller would provide the memos by Friday, but said the panel was having productive conversations to obtain them and that “the committee continues to be interested in obtaining the memos.”
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