House Republicans on the Judiciary and Oversight and Reform Committees wrote a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday demanding he allow them access to interview transcripts and other materials obtained during their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Signers on the letter include Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Mike Johnson (LA), Ken Buck (CO), Chip Roy (TX), Matt Gaetz (FL), and Andy Biggs (AZ).
??#HappeningNow: @JudiciaryGOP and @GOPoversight Republicans demand release of @RepAdamSchiff's secret Russia transcripts.
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 5, 2020
The American people deserve transparency. pic.twitter.com/i63QSIs2S3
The Intelligence Committee began their investigation in January 2017, and by March the following year they had interviewed 73 people and reviewed over 300,000 documents, finding the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia:
"According to public reports, HPSCI voted in September 2018 to release 53 transcripts. We understand now that Chairman Schiff is blocking the release of these transcripts. This news, if accurate, is disturbing—especially in light of Chairman Schiff’s cries in 2019 for transparency regarding allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. For almost four years, prominent Democrat politicians and commentators alleged that President Trump colluded with Russia, with Chairman Schiff going so far as to say that he had “direct evidence” of collusion. Now that these allegations have been disproven by several investigations, the American people deserve to have transparency about why public figures such as Chairman Schiff continued to promote such wild accusations."
"We hope you will follow through on the September 2018 HPSCI vote and publicly release the 53 transcripts," the letter continued. "Short of full public disclosure, however, we require access to this material for our ongoing oversight of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Therefore, pursuant to HPSCI Rule 14(f), we respectfully request that HPSCI grant us access to the transcripts of all interviews conducted and other material obtained during the Committee’s investigation."
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