Are There Republicans On The House Intelligence Committee

Gop Delay In Naming House Intelligence Committee Members May Have Cost Mueller

WASHINGTON House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formally named the nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday, ending a weekslong delay that may have cost special counsel Robert Mueller valuable time to act on potential leads the panel could offer just as he appears close to wrapping his investigation.

Democrats now in the majority on the Intelligence Committee had vowed that one of their first acts would be to authorize the release of more than 50 witness interview transcripts to Mueller to aid in his probe. At the least, members have said they had reason to believe some witnesses lied to the panel, something that has already led Mueller to bring charges against Trump allies.

It is likely that Mueller and his team of investigators have had access to the committees transcripts, two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News. But while the committee voted unanimously last September to authorize the release of redacted transcripts of most of their Russia-related interviews, the then-GOP majority rejected a Democratic motion to provide all transcripts, including classified materials, directly to Mueller.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the committee, told NBC Wednesday that even if Muellers team has seen the transcripts, they have been limited in what they could do with that information.

Schiff said that Republicans had done own party a disservice in waiting so long to name members.

House Intel Republicans Plan To Wall Off Their Aides From Democratic Staffers

In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall — a physical partition — separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee’s secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It’s expected to happen this spring.

For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while strongly suggesting the division is the brainchild of the committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes, R-California.

“I’m not part of that decision,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. “You’ve got to talk to Devin. I don’t know what they’re trying to do one way or the other.”

“I swear to God I didn’t know that,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee’s work, he said, “The level of trust and the level of everything down there is — it’s poison. It’s absolute poison down there.”

Rooney said one reason for the tension is an erosion of trust, exacerbated by an ongoing ethics investigation into the “entire Republican staff,” including “the woman up front that answers the phone” for alleged leaks. He later added that the matter was being handled by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Bipartisanship, he said, “is gone. It’s gone from that committee.”

The ranking member of the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, does not want to see a partition built.

United States House Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence

The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence , also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committee in the U.S. House of Representatives charged with the oversight of the United States Intelligence Community, though it does share some jurisdiction with other committees in the House, including the Armed Services Committee for some matters dealing with the Department of Defense and the various branches of the U.S. military.

The committee was preceded by the Select Committee on Intelligence between 1975 and 1977. House Resolution 658 established the permanent select committee, which gave it status equal to a standing committee on July 14, 1977.

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Devin Nunes Republican Of California The Ranking Member

Mr. Nunes, 46, who led the committee until Democrats reclaimed the House this year, came under pressure and stepped aside from the panels inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election after the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating accusations that he had disclosed classified intelligence reports. His home newspaper, The Fresno Bee, called him Trumps stooge after he sought to release a secret Republican memo that suggested the F.B.I. and the Justice Department abused their authority to obtain a warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser. Mr. Trump calls Mr. Nunes an American hero. A former dairy farmer, Mr. Nunes has also made headlines for , .

Cowardly Clarification: Adam Schiff Says The Essence Of Muellers Testimony Is That Trump Is Unpatriotic

Rep. Adam Schiff weighed-in on Robert Muellers disastrous testimony Thursday afternoon; saying the essence of the former special counsels testimony is that the President is unpatriotic.

Rep. Adam Schiff: “Even though was reluctant, as you can imagine, to provide the soundbite ‘the President is immoral, the President is unpatriotic,’ that is the essence of what he had to say.”

The Hill

He was a reluctant witness Even though was reluctant, as you can imagine, to provide the soundbite the President is immoral, the President is unpatriotic, that is the essence of what he had to say, clarified Rep. Schiff.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi doubled-down on her Obstruction of Justice accusations against President Trump Wednesday evening; saying the American public must understand what President Trump is trying to cover up.

As we legislate for the good of the American people, we are also investigating to make sure that Americans have the truth and understand the gravity of the threat to our democracy. They must understand what is trying to cover up, posted Pelosi on social media.

As we legislate for the good of the American people, we are also investigating to make sure that Americans have the truth and understand the gravity of the threat to our democracy. They must understand what is trying to cover up.

Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The American people now realize more fully the crimes that were committed against our Constitution.”

The Hill

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Mccarthy Sought Democrats Removal Following Axios Report About Suspected Chinese Spy

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., walks inside the Capitol on Feb. 10.

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WASHINGTON The House has dismissed a Republican attempt to remove California Rep. Eric Swalwell from the House intelligence panel over his contact more than six years ago with a suspected Chinese spy who targeted politicians in the United States.

Democrats scuttled the effort from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, 218-200, after he forced a vote. His resolution against Swalwell cited information, first reported by;Axios,;that the suspected spy, Christine Fang, came into contact with Swalwells campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said.

Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. Authorities have not charged him with any wrongdoing.

McCarthy requested his own briefing about Swalwell after the Axios report in December. After the briefing, which was also attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy said he thought Swalwell should be removed.

Swalwell has been one of Trumps sharpest critics, and served as a House impeachment manager during the former presidents second impeachment trial last month. He briefly ran for president in 2019.

Republicans argued then that Democrats shouldnt decide who Republicans appoint to committees.

Eric Swalwell Democrat Of California

Mr. Swalwells short-lived presidential campaign has raised his profile, and he is a frequent guest on cable news shows. A staunch critic of Mr. Trumps foreign and immigration policy, Mr. Swalwell, 38, also serves on the House Judiciary Committee, which means that after hearing evidence against Mr. Trump, he will also participate in drafting impeachment articles. Donald Trump is going to be impeached whether it is by the ballot box or Congress, Mr. Swalwell said this year. It will just be a matter of which one comes first.

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Russian Lawyer At Trump Tower Meeting Had Closer Ties To Kremlin Than Previously Disclosed

Democrats contend a more rigorous investigation would have shown otherwise. In their Minority Views report that was also released Friday, they point to a strong possibility that then-candidate Donald Trump himself was communicating with his son as he worked to schedule the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016 with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer.

Their report also details how George Papadopoulos, dismissed by Trump advisors as a low-level coffee boy, was regularly in touch with Kremlin-linked individuals and top Trump officials during both the campaign and transition. Papadopoulos was informed in April 2016 that the Kremlin had dirt on Clinton in the form of emails, well before the Clinton campaign or DNC officials were aware of hacking.

And the Democrats findings include efforts by the Kremlin to establish a first contact with the Trump campaign through an intermediary at the National Rifle Association. In May 2015, the NRA member reached out to Rick Dearborn, a longtime aide to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., now the attorney general, to inform him of Russias interest in connecting with the campaign.

For reasons that we can discuss in person or on the phone, the Kremlin believes that the only possibility of a true re-set in this relationship would be with a new Republican White House, the NRA member wrote in an email turned over to the committee. Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump.

Top Gop Lawmakers Call For Swalwell To Be Removed From Intelligence Committee

Top Republicans in the House are calling for Rep. Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellOvernight Defense & National Security Milley becomes lightning rodThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by National Industries for the Blind – Schumer: Dem unity will happen eventually; Newsom prevailsHow lawmakers aided the Afghan evacuationMORE to be removed from the Intelligence Committee following reports that he was allegedly targeted by a woman believed to be a Chinese spy.;

In a letter sent Tuesday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Because of Rep. Swalwells position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, his;close;interactions with Chinese intelligence services, however unintentional they may be, are an unacceptable national security risk, they wrote.;

It said the panel handles some of the most sensitive information our government possesses,” and that as a result Swalwell should be removed from his position.;

Axios first reported that Swalwell had been targeted by an alleged Chinese Ministry of State Security operative named Christine Fang, who also goes by Fang Fang. The woman, according to the report,;helped Swalwells fundraising during his 2014 reelection campaign and she also helped place an unpaid intern inside his office.;

The lawmakers said that Swalwell should be held to the same standard as Sessions, arguing that his interactions with the Chinese agent were more dangerous.

Fang left the country in 2015 during the FBI investigation into her activities.;

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Officers Give Harrowing Testimony On Their Experience Defending The Capitol On Jan 6

Pelosi previously rejected two of the five Republican members originally selected for the panel by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio citing “statements and actions” made by the pair that she felt would “impact the integrity of the committee.” Both Banks and Jordan had publicly expressed concerns over the panel itself.

“The unprecedented nature of Jan. 6 demands this unprecedented decision,” Pelosi said.

McCarthy called Pelosi’s move “an egregious abuse of power” and pulled all of his five picks from the panel, announcing that Republicans will conduct their own separate investigation into the Capitol attack.

Here’s a closer look at the panel’s nine members.

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Val Demings Democrat Of Florida

Ms. Demings, 62, is the no-nonsense former chief of the Orlando, Florida police department, the first woman to hold the position. The youngest of seven children, she likes to tell the story of how she was born in a two-room wood-frame house in Jacksonville to parents of very modest means; her mother worked as a maid and her father was a janitor. Like Mr. Swalwell, she is also on the Judiciary Committee, which means she will both listen to evidence and help draft any impeachment articles. In questioning witnesses, she often draws on her law enforcement experience.

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House Intelligence Committee Releases Full Report On Russia Investigation

WASHINGTON The House Intelligence Committee on Friday released the final full report on its controversial investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, detailing work that led Republicans to conclude there was no evidence of collusion with the Trump campaign.

Democrats on the committee said the final 250-page document only shows the lengths to which GOP leaders went to shield President Donald Trump and his top allies from scrutiny, and used their own rebuttal to introduce to the public new information about repeated Russian efforts to establish contact with key Trump campaign officials and Trump himself.

And they say Republicans refused to press key witnesses for further testimony or documentation that might have further established the Trump campaigns complicity in an effort to tilt the election against Hillary Clinton.

Mccarthy Tasks House Intelligence Republicans To Investigate Nsa

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy directed Republicans on the Intelligence Committee to investigate the National Security Agency over concerns of “politicization.”

There has been a “disturbing trend” at the agency, the California Republican said Wednesday, following the Biden administration’s move to sideline Michael Ellis, a top NSA lawyer picked by former President Donald Trump, extending to this week when Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed he was being spied on by the NSA.

“Earlier this year, I sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Austin expressing concern over the politicization of the Agency through the sidelining of Michael Ellis as NSA General Counsel,” McCarthy said in a statement. “I asked that Mr. Ellis be reinstated and expressed my concern regarding undue political influence in NSA placing Mr. Ellis on administrative leave.”

MATT GAETZ CALLS FOR INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATION INTO TUCKER CARLSON NSA ALLEGATIONS

“The NSA cannot be used as a political instrument, and House Republicans will ensure accountability and transparency,” he added.

McCarthy also insisted the agency has “refused to deliver information requested by the Republican Members on the House Intelligence Committee.”

The latest incident outlined by McCarthy broke into the public eye on Monday when Carlson said a government whistleblower told his team the NSA is “spying” on their electronic communications and is “planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.”

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House Shoots Down Gop Leaders Effort To Eject Eric Swalwell From Intelligence Panel

The House shot down a bid from the Republican leader Thursday to kick Rep. Eric Swalwell from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence over allegations that a Chinese spy raised funds for his congressional campaign years ago.

Democrats rejected the resolution from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on a party-line vote of 218 to 200, in which three Republicans voted present refusing to take a stand for or against McCarthys measure. Those Republicans were Reps. Kelly Armstrong , Michael Guest and David Joyce .

McCarthys resolution sought to oust Swalwell from the intelligence panel over the fact that he has not denied public reporting that a suspected Chinese intelligence operative helped raise money for his campaign and helped interns seek potential positions in his congressional office.

The resolution marks an escalation in McCarthys campaign to see Swalwell removed from the panel, which began in earnest late last year when the allegations about Swalwells ties to a suspected Chinese operative known as Fang Fang, or Christine Fang, first emerged in a story in Axios.

The speaker and minority leader appoint members to serve on the Intelligence Committee without the formal input of other members.

Leading Democrats again defended Swalwell on Thursday in the face of McCarthys latest move.

Every Democrat is now on the record, he . They chose politics over national security.