Rep. Schiff Defends Committee Examining Russia-Trump Connections

Democratic representative Adam Schiff defended the House Intelligence Committee’s continued investigation into ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives to NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday.

A day before a high-stakes hearing, the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday there’s no evidence to back President Trump’s claims that Barack Obama wiretapped him, though the Republican chairman said investigators are looking at other types of possible surveillance of Trump and his aides during last year’s campaign.

Nunes has defended the former intelligence officer, arguing that the USA surveillance that exposed the contents of his call to Kislyak is the graver concern than the call itself.

Schiff represents suburban Los Angeles and is a soft-spoken former prosecutor who chooses his words carefully.

‘We said nothing. All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. However, he said, that only applies if Trump literally meant he was wiretapped.

“If Comey indicates that Trump or his associates were in contact with foreign figures who were under surveillance, there might not be much public reaction at first”, he said.

Lawmakers will question Comey about allegations of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election as well as President Trump’s claim that former president Obama tapped his phones during the campaign.

More details could emerge Monday, however, when FBI Director James Comey is slated to testify at the House committee’s first public hearing on the matter.

Comey, 56, hasn’t testified publicly since before the election.

Republican representative Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, denied the existence of evidence against the Trump campaign. That rift makes “a bipartisan, thoughtful, thorough investigation” essential, he said.

Five different congressional committees are also conducting Russia-related inquiries.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., however, said despite the questionable wiretapping allegation, a crime was committed in the revelation Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, had been in contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

So last Thursday, I traveled to Capital Hill to personally meet with Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Ca.) of the House Intelligence Committee and, when his scheduler claimed that he was “unavailable”, forcefully pushed for a meeting with one of his committee lawyers, Allen R. Souza, and fully briefed him about Montgomery and the FBI’s apparent cover-up.

We know that Gen. Flynn’s name came- up as a result of surveillance of the Russian ambassador.

Mr Nunes told Fox News on Sunday that a review of justice department documents provided on Friday indicated there was no such wiretap. “We’re going to highlight the fact that we know that the Russians were trying to get involved in our campaign, like they have for many decades”. “There is direct evidence I think of deception and that’s where we begin the investigation”. In an aside during a March 8 speech, the director indicated he has no intention of leaving voluntarily.