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.
By Betsy Woodruff and Spencer Ackerman
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.
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Source: The Daily Beast
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