Politico reports that the House Intelligence Committee, in their first act under Democratic control and under the new leadership of Adam Schiff [D-CA], has voted to send dozens of transcripts from their Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller.
Previously, the Republicans on the committee, while still in the majority and under Devin Nunes’ [R-CA] leadership, prevented Schiff from sending the transcripts to Mueller saying Mueller had not requested them.
Mueller will now examine the four dozen unredacted transcripts for evidence of perjury. The special counsel has already prosecuted Trump associates for lying to Congress, using the committee’s transcripts to do so. Michael Cohen, self described “fixer” for President Trump, and Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser have both been charged with lying to Congress.
Per CNN, some of the members of Trump’s orbit who could face intensifying scrutiny following the committee’s action are Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, and Hope Hicks.
In November, while still under GOP control, the committee voted to make the transcripts public but before they can be released, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is reviewing them for classified material.
Politico reports the Republicans on the committee called for full transparency with the transcripts ahead of today’s vote, saying, “Republicans are happy the Democrats are joining us in reiterating what the Republican-led committee already voted to do in September 2018—make all the transcripts available to the executive branch, including the Special Counsel’s office, as part of the process of publishing them for the American people to see.”
The Republican side of the committee wanted to subpoena numerous witnesses and to release all unclassified transcripts to the public. The motion to do so was denied, Rep. Mike Conaway [R-TX] said.
The Democrats on the committee have accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans of dragging their feet in naming the committee members in order to hinder the process of the transcripts being turned over to Mueller. The roles have been reversed since the midterm wins by Democrats have resulted in the Republicans now being in the position of having motions and requests for subpoenas ignored.
In other House Intelligence Committee Russia Investigation news, Rep. Schiff also announced today that the committee has postponed Michael Cohen’s testimony, which was scheduled for Thursday, “in the interests of the investigation”. He is now scheduled to testify on February 28.
