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.
In front of cable news cameras and on Twitter, the tensions between Republicans and Democrats on the House intelligence committee’s Trump-Russia investigation are pointed and more than occasionally nasty.
But inside the Secure Compartmented Information Facility while members of the intel committee grill Obama administration alums and Trump allies, things can get even messier. Rep. Devin Nunes, who has ostensibly stepped back from the probe, still controls its subpoena power—and significant aspects of its agenda. Nunes’ staffers are tracking down leads. Just not those about Trump.
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.
‘Nunes’ Torquemada’
There’s the work going on in the SCIF in the Capitol basement—hour after hour of interviews with key players, as well as efforts to gather documents from social media companies and emails from key White House players.
But simultaneously, the committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes, appears to be freelancing, helming his own investigation into three passion projects: discrediting the Fusion GPS “pee tape” dossier, criticizing Obama administration officials for looking at the names of U.S. citizens in intelligence intercepts—a process known as “unmasking”—and digging in on allegations that the Russians bribed Hillary Clinton to sell off America’s uranium stores. Sources say he subpoenaed Fusion GPS’ bank without telling the committee’s minority members, which may violate committee rules. Fusion GPS has taken the intel committee to court to try to quash that subpoena.
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There are 13 Republicans on the House Intel Committee. Just 3 regularly attended Russia hearings. https://t.co/pRrH5qrE2R
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 25, 2017
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