Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The House Intel Committee Just Abruptly Ended Its Own Trump Russia Probe and a Republican Member Is Crying Foul

Putting principle before party.

Representative Tom Rooney (R-FL) has broken rank with his party after the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, concluded its investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election, saying they have found no evidence that Russians colluded with any members of the Trump campaign. Rooney, who sits on the committee, told CNN that he believes the committee has lost its credibility.

"We have gone completely off the rails, and now we're basically a political forum for people to leak information to drive the day's news," Rooney said during an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."


Rooney further pleaded with his colleagues to come together before this year's midterm elections. (Rooney himself announced last month that he will not seek re-election.)

"If we don't get any of these recommendations out before this cycle gets fully underway, then we really have just completely wasted a year of everybody's time," he said. "Hopefully we can salvage something positive out of this."

Rooney noted that Republicans are still drafting their report, which is expected to conclude that there is no evidence that Russian operatives interfered in the presidential election to help Trump win. It's likely the committee will release two competing reports: one from Republicans concluding that there is no evidence of collusion at all, and another from Democrats that not only argues for collusion but also points out the avenues the Republican-led committee did not investigate.

CNN's Erin Burnett then proceeded to press Rooney on the issue.

"I just want to be clear here. The intelligence community had originally said that they believed that the Russian intent was to hurt Hillary Clinton, but as it became clear that Donald Trump was a viable candidate, they then took it further," she said.

She continued: "They wanted to explicitly help Donald Trump. So you're saying you do agree? You do concur with that conclusion by the intelligence community which they are standing by tonight?"

"I believe there's evidence of everything that you just said," Rooney responded. "But I also believe there's evidence to where they were trying to wreak havoc on both sides." (He would later note that he had seen classified evidence that the Russians had damaging information on Hillary Clinton, but planned to withhold it until after the election because they expected her to win.)

Burnett then read Rooney remarks from Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX), who leads the Russia investigation. Earlier, Conaway told CNN's Manu Raju:

"The bottom line: The Russians did commit active measures against our election in '16, and we think they will do that in the future. We disagree with the narrative that they were trying to help Trump.

When Burnett asked Rooney if his statements on the program placed him at odds with his fellow Republicans on the committee, Rooney said they did not:

It's not completely the opposite. I think there were efforts to try to hurt Hillary and help Trump, but I think there was also the opposite too. I think their goal was to create mayhem so that any candidate that won––and they did believe Hillary was going to win––was to have that person bloodied and weakened so they would be able to use that in the future against us. I think there is absolutely evidence to show though they were trying to help Trump at some point, but also they were also trying to hurt our side as well. There is evidence of both sides.

Rooney's comments come scarcely a couple of weeks after he called for an end to the House Intelligence Committee's investigation, arguing that the only purpose of the investigation is to fuel the media narrative and partisan bickering for the Democratic Party.

"That's why tonight I've asked our Chairman [Mike] Conaway that we need to end this investigation," he told CNN's Erin Burnett at the time. "It's been going on for a year."

He added: "We've interviewed scores of witnesses and now we've gotten to the point now where we're literally bringing people in for nine hours just so the Democrats can leak to the press something as ridiculous as 'white lies.'"

Rooney was referring to former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, who turned in her resignation a day after nearly nine hours of private testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, during which she admitted to investigators that her work for the president had occasionally required her to tell white lies. Her fealty to the president did not protect her in the end, according to anonymous sources who spoke to the press, and Trump nonetheless scolded her after she’d given her testimony.

The president, meanwhile, took the news that the House Intelligence Committee ended its investigation as another opportunity to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference. The decision to end the investigation comes as Mueller's probe appears to be accelerating.

THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION," he tweeted, writing in all capital letters.

This prompted a response from California Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, who accused Republicans of lacking "the courage to stand up to a President of their own party when the national interest necessitates it."

In a statement, Schiff criticized Republicans for ending the House investigation:

While the majority members of our committee have indicated for some time that they have been under great pressure to end the investigation, it is nonetheless another tragic milestone for this Congress, and represents yet another capitulation to the executive branch. By ending its oversight role in the only authorized investigation in the House, the Majority has placed the interests of protecting the President over protecting the country, and history will judge its actions harshly.

More from People/donald-trump

Rosie O'Donnell; Donald Trump
Olivia Wong/Getty Images; Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Rosie O'Donnell Fires Back At Trump With Epic Rant After He Threatens To Strip Her U.S. Citizenship

Actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell condemned President Donald Trump after he announced in a post on Truth Social that he is considering stripping her U.S. citizenship, labeling her a "Threat to Humanity."

O’Donnell, who was born in the U.S., moved to Ireland shortly before Trump’s inauguration. In an April interview with CNN, she said it was his reelection that ultimately prompted the move, citing the risks Project 2025 poses to her and her nonbinary child—especially after decades of being in Trump's crosshairs.

Keep ReadingShow less
A grocery aisle shelf of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
OLIVIER DOULIERY / Contributor/Getty Images

Bacon-Flavored Cinnamon Toast Crunch Just Landed In Stores—And The Internet Is Not OK

Every now and then, a food brand will try something different in an effort to rejuvenate its products and hopefully attract new customers.

Sometimes these pay off handsomely, such as Peanut M&Ms, which are arguably more popular than the original.

Keep ReadingShow less
Archbishop Thomas Wenski; David and Rena Mourer visit the entrance to "Alligator Alcatraz"
Joe Raedle/Getty Images (both)

Archbishop Rips 'Alligator Alcatraz' In Powerful Statement Condemning Trump's Immigration 'Enforcement Tactics'

Historically conservative Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami issued an official statement on Thursday, July 3, addressing immigration enforcement tactics employed by the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump.

Posted on the Archdiocese's website, it was also shared on the Archbishop's personal X account.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Nancy Mace
David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Gavin Newsom Hilariously Claps Back At Nancy Mace After Her Cringey 'Don't California My South Carolina' Debate Challenge

South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace was widely mocked after she challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom to a debate—only for him to directly address her "Don't California My South Carolina' campaign with a list showing the stark differences between their two states.

Mace posted a video on X in which she extends a "FORMAL INVITATION" for Newsom to debate her "common sense policies," chiding him with the following message:

Keep ReadingShow less
office cubicles
Paymo on Unsplash

Things Toxic Coworkers Did That Made The Whole Office Go Silent

Workplaces have professional standards to maintain, or at least they should. While it's great to have fun in the office, there are some things that are appropriate during leisure time that aren't OK at work.

But some people never seem to get the memo.

Keep ReadingShow less