Representatives of the U.S. Congress sent to the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia, to get acquainted with the classified data of Russian interference in presidential elections in the United States. The house of representatives has appointed the date of its first public meeting on this issue. And the Senate preparing to question witnesses.
Investigation of the relations among representatives of the President’s team of Donald trump and Russian officials dealt with by the Congress, are in full swing.
For several months representatives of the committees of the Senate and house of representatives have stated that their investigation of Russia’s intervention in the presidential elections of 2016 are at the “initial” stages. But on Tuesday, March 7, it became clear that their investigation has entered a new phase.
Currently, as reported by several senators, the CIA reports to the members of these committees data that requires verification. Monday, March 6, Chairman of the Senate Committee on intelligence Richard Burr (Richard Burr) and “whip” the Senate majority John kornyn (John Cornyn) visited the headquarters of the CIA, to review the documents on the basis of which the intelligence community has concluded that Russia has sought to tip the scales in favor of trump.
As said kornyn Tuesday at Langley he saw “four large folders containing secret documents that was provided to the Committee to conduct a” comprehensive investigation.
The Chairman of the house Committee on intelligence Devin Nunes (Devin Nunes) reported that members of the Committee also traveled to the headquarters of the CIA and in the near future is planned a new trip. According to him, he almost managed to agree with the intelligence community on the question of whether to hand over documents to Congress or should remain in the intelligence agencies.
On Tuesday, nuñez also announced that the first public meeting of his Committee on this matter will be held on March 20 and that it will be heard the testimony of former members of the Obama administration, including former CIA Director John Brennan (John Brennan), former Director of National intelligence James Clapper (James Clapper), and former acting attorney General Sally Yates (Yates Sally), whom trump fired in January over criticism of his immigration Executive order.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on intelligence is expected to start questioning witnesses behind closed doors “in the coming days and weeks”, as reported by one representative of Congress who wished to keep his name a secret. It is expected that these interrogations will be held on Capitol hill, and that testimony will be given officials of the agencies participating in the collection of data on the basis of which the conclusion was made about Moscow’s intervention on the side of trump CIA, FBI and national security Agency.
Senator mark Warner (Mark Warner) announced that he plans to go to Langley on Wednesday, March 8, to read intelligence documents. Warner stressed that these documents do not cover the entire volume of the information that they need for the investigation of Russian interference in presidential elections, including contacts of representatives of trump and Russian officials.
According to the Senator, he discussed with Burr, who, exactly, should interrogate in the framework of this investigation. He declined to reveal, will the Committee to question attorney General Jeff and Roman sessions (Jeff Sessions), one of the main supporters of trump, who during a hearing on the question of the approval of his nomination to the post was silent on the two meetings with the Russian Ambassador, which took place last year.
Monday, March 6, the Associated Press reported that members of the intelligence Committee contacted a former foreign policy adviser to trump Carter page (Carter Page) and that Paige has agreed to provide the Committee with all the necessary information in this case.
On Tuesday, Warner also said that he is very pleased with the level of cooperation that now occurs between the intelligence Committee and the FBI. A leading Democrat of the house Committee on intelligence, Adam Schiff (Adam Schiff) has accused the FBI is that the Agency hides vital information from the Committee.
“I regularly talk with FBI Director [James] Komi (James Comey), said on Tuesday Warner. I am confident that we will be able to get all the information we need to find out and tell the American people what really happened or didn’t happen.”
On Tuesday, March 7, núñez also said that perhaps the intelligence community did not provide important information about the potential investigations counterintelligence senior congressmen, which it is obliged to notify in such matters.
Núñez noted that, according to numerous press reports, the intelligence community was checking people associated with the administration of the trump, on the existence of ties with Russia, but did not put the Congress informed on the progress of their investigations.
“If trump or any person associated with trump was being investigated, it was necessary to inform high-ranking members of Congress — said Nunez. We have some questions about that, told us last year that was supposed to tell.”
