House probe into Russia ties to Trump off to rocky start

Nunes has said the White House asked him to talk with one reporter, but didn’t give him any guidance on what to say. He said he told that reporter the same thing he’s said to many other reporters in the course of discussions.

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said he wasn’t taking questions about whether the White House enlisted him to talk to reporters, as reported by The Washington Post. He said he doesn’t need to talk about it.

“I’m in a comfortable place. I didn’t do anything to jeopardize my investigation.” Burr told The Associated Press on his way out of the Capitol after Senate votes Monday night.

The issue was likely to come up at Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Dan Coats, a former senator who is Trump’s pick to be the next director of intelligence.

Speaking to reporters earlier Monday, Nunes — a member of Trump’s presidential transition team — said Congress should not begin a McCarthy-style investigation based on news reports that a few Americans with ties to Trump had contacted Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“We can’t have McCarthyism back in this place,” Nunes said. “We can’t have the government, the U.S. government or the Congress, legislative branch of government, chasing down American citizens, hauling them before the Congress as if they’re some secret Russian agent.”

Former Sen. Joe McCarthy led a hunt for communists in the 1950s that was fueled by anonymous informants. Nunes said if evidence surfaces, the committee will investigate.

Schiff, who worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for six years, said it’s not proper to start an investigation by stating your views of the outcome.

“The committee has reached no conclusion on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, Russian officials or any Russian contacts — nor could we,” Schiff said. “We have called no witnesses thus far. We have obtained no documents on any counterintelligence investigation and we have yet to receive any testimony from the FBI of potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Russia’s activity with regard to the 2016 election has been “investigated up and down.”

“If there’s nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate,” Spicer said.

Trump was asked Monday whether he would support a special prosecutor to investigate Russia’s influence on the 2016 election. Instead of answering that question, he said, “I haven’t called Russia in 10 years.” Trump did not say why he called Russia a decade ago.

According to a White House description, the last time Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin was Jan. 28 and the White House said Putin had initiated the call. Trump also travelled to Russia in 2013 for the Miss Universe beauty pageant in Moscow.

Trump has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also said he has no financial ties or other connections to Russia.

Previously, mostly Democrats have requested a special prosecutor, but Republican Rep. Darrell Issa late Friday said Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who worked on Trump’s presidential campaign — is not in a position to oversee such an investigation and urged the administration to appoint an independent prosecutor.

“Any review conducted must have the full confidence of the American people, which is why I recommended an independent review,” Issa said Monday in a statement.

Issa was the first Republican to break ranks on the subject, although House Speaker Paul Ryan said again Monday there should be no special prosecutor.

“The proper place, in my opinion, is the intelligence committees. They’re the ones that have access to methods of intelligence gathering.”

Sessions on Monday told reporters the FBI and Justice Department will remain independent.

“I would recuse myself from anything that I should recuse myself on,” Sessions said. “That’s all I can tell you.”

Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, of Illinois, also said a special prosecutor was needed. Durbin noted on MSNBC that any report the intelligence committees produce as a result of their investigations would likely be initially classified, and the Trump administration would be responsible for declassifying portions and releasing them to the public.

Conducting the investigation in the Republican-controlled Senate intelligence committee “guarantees the American people will not know what is said,” Durbin said.

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Associated Press writers Vivian Salama, Eric Tucker, Julie Pace and Chad Day contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to say that Dan Coats is a former senator, not a former representative.

Deb Riechmann And Eileen Sullivan, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

House probe into Russia ties to Trump off to rocky start

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