|
After stalling
over the committee chairman's ties to President Donald Trump's
White House and disagreements over who should testify, the
bipartisan committee said it sent a letter inviting James Comey,
director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Admiral
Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, to appear
behind closed doors on May 2.
A second letter invited three officials who left the government
as President Barack Obama's administration ended - former CIA
Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence
James Clapper and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates -
to appear at a public hearing to be scheduled after May 2.
The planned hearings are the first the committee has announced
since its chairman, Republican Representative Devin Nunes,
recused himself from the Russia investigation on April 6 after
receiving information at the White House about surveillance that
swept up some information about members of Trump's transition
team.
Echoing Trump, Nunes suggested that Obama's administration had
handled that information incorrectly.
Nunes remains the committee's chairman.
TIES TO TRUMP
Comey and Rogers testified in a public hearing on March 20. At
that hearing, Comey confirmed for the first time that the FBI
was investigating possible ties between Trump's presidential
campaign and Russia as Moscow sought to influence the election.
Nunes was a supporter of Trump's campaign and a member of his
transition team. His decision two days after the public hearing
to hold a press conference about the information and discuss it
with Trump before disclosing it to Democrats raised questions
about whether he could lead a credible investigation.
Committee Democrats also were angered when Nunes scrapped a
scheduled public hearing with Brennan, Yates and Clapper. A
planned closed hearing with Comey and Rogers also was put off.
The House panel is examining whether Russia tried to influence
the election in Trump’s favor, mostly by hacking Democratic
operatives' emails and releasing embarrassing information, or
possibly by colluding with Trump associates.
Russia denies the allegations, which Trump also dismisses.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting a separate,
similar investigation.
Senate investigators currently are interviewing analysts and
intelligence agents who prepared public and classified reports
in January that concluded that Russia had interfered in last
year's election on Trump's behalf, an official familiar with the
congressional activity said.
At this point they are a long way from scheduling interviews or
hearings with any principal witnesses from either the Obama or
Trump administrations, the official said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Mark
Hosenball; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Mary Milliken)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
