On February 6, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement following the Committee\u2019s organizational meeting:<\/p>\n
\u201cConsistent with its jurisdiction, investigative responsibilities, and building on substantial work undertaken during the last Congress, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (\u201cCommittee\u201d) will conduct a rigorous investigation into efforts by Russia and other foreign entities to influence the U.S. political process during and since the 2016 U.S. election.\u00a0 In addition, the Committee will investigate the counterintelligence threat arising from any links or coordination between U.S. persons and the Russian government and\/or other foreign entities, including any financial or other leverage such foreign actors may possess.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the more than two years since the Intelligence Community released its assessment of Russia\u2019s malign influence operation targeting the 2016 U.S. elections, much has been learned about the scope and scale of Russia\u2019s attack on our democracy, including how covert and overt Russian activities intersected with individuals associated with Donald Trump\u2019s presidential campaign, transition, administration, and business interests, including the Trump Organization. \u00a0It is now known that, from late 2015 through early 2017, individuals close to Donald Trump engaged in a significant number of contacts with an array of individuals connected to, or working on behalf of, the Russian government, and that several of these contacts involved efforts to acquire and disseminate damaging information about Hillary Clinton and her campaign, or related to Russia\u2019s desired relief from U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Special Counsel\u00a0Robert\u00a0Mueller continues his investigation into whether there were \u201cany links and\/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the [Trump] campaign,\u201d and whether any crimes were committed in connection with, or arising from, that investigation, the Committee must fulfill its responsibility to provide the American people with a comprehensive accounting of what happened, and what the United States must do to protect itself from future interference and malign influence operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the prior Congress, the Committee began to pursue credible reports of money laundering and financial compromise related to the business interests of President Trump, his family, and his associates. The President\u2019s actions and posture towards Russia during the campaign, transition, and administration have only heightened fears of foreign financial or other leverage over President Trump and underscore the need to determine whether he\u00a0or those in his Administration have\u00a0acted in service of foreign interests since taking office.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, these and numerous other avenues of inquiry were not completed during the last Congress. \u00a0Now, in the 116th Congress, the Committee\u2019s investigation will focus principally on five interconnected lines of inquiry, beginning with these incomplete or unexamined investigative threads:<\/p>\n
(1)\u00a0 \u00a0 The scope and scale of the Russian government\u2019s operations to influence the U.S. political process, and the U.S. government\u2019s response, during and since the 2016 election;<\/p>\n
(2)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0The extent of any links and\/or coordination between the Russian government, or related foreign actors, and individuals associated with Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, transition, administration, or business interests, in furtherance of the Russian government\u2019s interests;<\/p>\n
(3)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Whether any foreign actor has sought to compromise or holds leverage, financial or otherwise, over Donald Trump, his family, his business, or his associates;<\/p>\n
(4)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Whether President Trump, his family, or his associates are or were at any time at heightened risk of, or vulnerable to, foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure, or coercion, or have sought to influence U.S. government policy in service of foreign interests; and<\/p>\n
(5)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Whether any actors \u2013 foreign or domestic \u2013 sought or are seeking to impede, obstruct, and\/or mislead authorized investigations into these matters, including those in\u00a0the\u00a0Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Committee may pursue additional lines of inquiry regarding matters that arise from the investigation, and it intends to cooperate with other congressional committees, as needed, on matters of overlapping interest.\u00a0 The Committee also plans to develop legislation and policy reforms to ensure the U.S. government is\u00a0better\u00a0positioned to counter future efforts to undermine our political process and national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs its first act, the Committee has voted to release to the Department of Justice and its components, including the Special Counsel\u2019s Office, transcripts of testimony taken before the Committee during the 115th Congress, with no restrictions on their use.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Committee also plans to release to the public all investigation transcripts, as it is committed to providing the American public with greater transparency and insight into Russia\u2019s operations and the U.S. government\u2019s response. To protect ongoing investigative interests and information that remains classified, the Committee will release transcripts in a manner and according to a timetable that allows continued pursuit of important leads and testimony, while ensuring that the American people have faith in the process and can assess for themselves the evidence that has been uncovered, while legitimate national security interests continue to be protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Chairman of the Committee, I am committed to leading a thorough and impartial investigation that will follow the facts, and I hope that our\u00a0Minority\u00a0counterparts will join us in that effort. \u00a0Congress has a duty to expose foreign interference, hold Russia to account, ensure that U.S. officials \u2013 including the President \u2013 are serving the national interest and, if not, are held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: HPSCI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On February 6, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":21568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[572,107,2301,3752,82,677],"class_list":["post-21567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","tag-adam-schiff","tag-house-intelligence-committee","tag-house-permanent-select-committee-on-intelligence","tag-hpsci","tag-metered","tag-russia"],"yoast_head":"\n