Republicans on Houses Trump-Russia Probe Not That Interested in Trump or Russia

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Republicans on House’s Trump-Russia Probe Not That Interested in Trump or Russia
Only three of the 13 House intel committee Republicans regularly show up to grill Russia-related witnesses. Meanwhile, GOP staffers are chasing the trail of the pee tape dossier.
Betsy Woodruff
Spencer Ackerman
10.24.17 10:55 PM ET


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People familiar with the probe say it’s becoming increasingly clear where the committee’s Republican staffers are focusing their energy—and it’s not on the possible collusion between the Kremlin and Trump Tower.

Three knowledgeable sources told The Daily Beast that usually just three of the 13 Republican congressmen on the committee are regulars when witnesses are grilled behind closed doors. A few additional members sometimes attend parts of the probe’s interviews.

Rep. Trey Gowdy asks the most questions of any Republican there, according to a source in the room during the talks. He often asks the same things of every witness: whether he or she knows of any “collusion, cooperation, or conspiracy.” Rep. Tom Rooney is the only other Republican to ask a significant number of questions. Rep. Mike Conaway, the chair of the probe, is present but doesn’t ask as much.

“Just listening to those guys, it’s not like they’ve been prepared exquisitely by staff,” said the source who’s been in the room during questioning.

The questions tend to get more pointed and more direct when the witnesses are Obama administration alums. Republicans had particularly detailed questions for Samantha Power and Susan Rice, two former Obama administration officials who Republicans lambaste for allegedly unmasking, according to the source in the room.

Other Republicans sometimes make occasional appearances; Rep. Elise Stefanik has attended part of more than half of the interview sessions, per our source, and Reps. Frank LoBiondo, Brad Wenstrup, and Chris Stewart have all also made appearances. A spokesman for Rep. Peter King said he attends “virtually every interview,” though a source disputed that. On Tuesday, when former Trump digital guru Brad Parscale and longtime lawyer Michael Cohen appeared for back-to-back grilling sessions, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen also attended.

This all points to a larger, fundamental tension: For all practical purposes, the House intel committee is running two investigations, not one.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-on-houses-trump-russia-probe-not-that-interested-in-trump-or-russia