House panel’s Russia report finds ‘no evidence’ of collusion, Trump says probe ‘MUST END NOW’
Source: https://goo.gl/GocS1k
The House Intelligence Committee on Friday declared that it found “no evidence” of collusion between the Russian government and Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election, releasing a heavily redacted final report on its yearlong Russia investigation.
The Republican-authored report — released over Democratic objections — stated the committee “found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.” The committee did, however, “find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaign.”
President Trump, reacting to the report moments after its release, hailed its findings and said the Russia “Witch Hunt” must end, in an apparent swipe at Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation.
“Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. ‘No evidence’ that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.’ Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia-Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” Trump tweeted.
The more than 250-page report was heavily blacked out, however, and the leader of the committee investigation slammed the intelligence community for their “overzealous redactions.”
“I am extremely disappointed with the overzealous redactions made by the IC. Many of the redactions include information that is publicly available, such as witness names and information previously declassified,” Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, complained in a statement Friday.
“I will continue to challenge the IC’s many unnecessary redactions with the hopes of releasing more of the report in the coming months.”
The committee’s investigation focused on several topics: Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, the U.S. government’s response to the attack, links between Russians and the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and purported leaks of classified information.
The investigation found that Russia’s “increasingly aggressive cyber operations” would “continue to present a profound threat,” while noting that Russian state actors were responsible for the “dissemination of documents and communications stolen from U.S. political organizations.”
The report said the Russian government used media company “RT to advance its malign influence campaign” during the 2016 election, along with social media platforms to “sow social discord and to undermine the electoral process.”
But the committee found “no evidence that Trump campaign associates were involved in the theft or publication of Clinton campaign-related emails, although Trump associates had numerous ill-advised contacts with WikiLeaks.”