By Brooke Singman , Chad Pergram, Catherine Herridge | Fox News
Rep.
Mike Conaway, right, with Rep. Adam Schiff.
(AP, File)
President Donald Trump trumpeted the House Intelligence
Committee's report that it found "no evidence of collusion, coordination
or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians" in an all-caps
Twitter post Monday night.
______________
THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE
OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE
THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
_______________
“We didn't find
any evidence of collusion and I don't think [special counsel Robert Mueller]
will either,” Texas Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, who led the bipartisan
investigation, said on
“Special Report.”
The committee's investigation was based on four topics: Russian active
measures against the 2016 U.S. election, the U.S. government's response to the
attack, links between Russians and the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and purported
leaks of classified information.
“We believe we've got the information necessary to answer
those for the American people,” Conaway said.
The report also noted that based on its investigation
which lasted more than a year, the committee disagreed with the intelligence
community’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “supposed
preference” for then-candidate Donald Trump.
“We disagree with the Intelligence Community’s position
that Putin favored Trump,” Conaway told Fox News. He said he had “no contact”
with the White House during the probe.
The majority staff on the committee is expected to send
the draft report to the minority staff, led by ranking member Adam Schiff,
D-Calif., on Tuesday. Once the draft report is adopted by committee Democrats,
the report will be submitted to the intelligence community for a
declassification review, and following that process, it will be released to the
public, officials said, though the timeline at this point is unknown.
“The report’s completion will signify the closure of one
chapter in the Committee’s robust oversight of the threat posed by Moscow—which
began well before the investigation and will continue thereafter,” Conaway
said.
....
The report also included more than 25 recommendations for
Congress and the executive branch to improve election security, U.S. government
response to cyberattacks, campaign finance transparency, and
counterintelligence practices related to political campaigns and unauthorized
disclosures.
“Campaign finance disclosures ought to be a little more
wholesome,” Conaway said on “Special Report” referring to the Clinton campaign
and the Democratic National Committee's filing of payments for “opposition
research” leading to the anti-Trump dossier as legal matters.
The report's recommendations on handling leaks are
serious, according to Conaway.
“Leaks of classified information are criminal," he
said. “Leaks can get people killed."
A committee source told Fox News that the “investigation”
portion of the probe was complete, meaning the committee would not interview
any additional witnesses as part of its effort.
“I’m sure [committee Democrats] will disagree with
bringing the interview phase to a close,” Conaway told Fox News. “I’m sure they
will have specific folks they wanted to interview.”
Conaway said that the Republicans on the committee wanted
to interview former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, but said Schiff
“wanted to delay us.” Once Manafort was indicted in Special Counsel Robert
Mueller's investigation, the committee decided not to call him for an
interview.
Conaway also said that he did not “anticipate” pursuing
contempt proceedings against former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon or any
other witnesses who did not respond favorably to the committee's questioning.
...
“After more than a year, the Committee has finished its
Russia investigation and will now work on completing our report,” Nunes said in
a statement Monday. “I’d like to thank Congressmen Trey Gowdy, Tom Rooney, and
especially Mike Conaway for the excellent job they’ve done leading this
investigation. I’d also like to recognize the hard work undertaken by our other
Committee members as well as our staff. Once the Committee’s final report is
issued, we hope our findings and recommendations will be useful for improving
security and integrity for the 2018 midterm elections.”
“When we began our investigation into what
occurred leading up to the 2016 elections, our ultimate goal was
to make timely recommendations for Congress, the executive
branch and for states to improve election security in advance of the 2018
election. The clock is ticking,” committee member Tom Rooney, R-Fla.,
said. “We’re now nine months out, and the threat of Russian interference
has not diminished. Make no mistake: this is a close to just one
chapter in the threat posed by Moscow – which began well before the
investigation – but our work does not stop here, and this
Committee’s oversight over Russian threats to the U.S. will
continue.”
Republicans on the committee, though, have expanded
their investigation of the Trump dossier, seeking answers from Obama
administration officials, including a former staffer for Vice President Joe
Biden.
Nunes sent a questionnaire to the former Biden staffer, whose husband
worked for Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier, seeking answers to when the
administration was made aware of the dossier.
Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain contributed to
this report.
