The House Intelligence Committee released a redacted version of the Republican report of the committeeâs investigation on Russiaâs meddling in the 2016 election, concluding that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, ABC News reports.
The year-long investigation began as a bipartisan effort, but quickly became a battle between the Republicans and Democrats over Russiaâs interference and its connection to the Trump campaign.
While Democrats were quick to rebuke the committeeâs final report, President Trump applauded the committeeâs findings.
âNo collusion, which I knew anyway. No coordination, no nothing. It’s a witch hunt, that’s all it is,â Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump also tweeted about his perceived vindication, writing, âJust Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. âNo evidenceâ that the Trump Campaign âcolluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.â Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!â
Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. âNo evidenceâ that the Trump Campaign âcolluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.â Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018
âHouse Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Counsel appointed. Witch Hunt!â Trump also wrote on Twitter. Although, Democrats have disputed these âno collusionâ findings.
House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Counsel appointed. Witch Hunt!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018
Despite Trumpâs praise of the committeeâs reports and claim of vindication, the committee did not completely let the Trump campaign off the hook in its 253-page report.
According to CNN, the committee expressed in its report that the Trump campaign âdemonstrated poor judgmentâ with that infamous Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer, Trumpâs son Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort in June 2016. The report also called the Trump campaignâs praise of Wikileaks âobjectionable,â ABC News reports.
âWhile the committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government, the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns,â the committee wrote.
The report also downplayed the roles of two campaign aides â George Papadopoulos and Carter Page â who were closely associated with Russia, CNN reports.
âThere is no evidence that anyone on the Trump campaign was aware of Page’s past ties to Russian intelligence services-or Papadopoulos’ more recent contacts with a Russian-connected professor-when these two individuals were included among the advisers that were publicly announced on March 21,â the report states. âIn fact, as Kushner candidly put it, âwe put together that list because we were getting a lot of pressure from the media to put out a list of foreign policy advisers.ââ
The report also calls out the Obama administrationâs response to the Russian interference, and takes issue with the opposition research dossier composed by ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, which the report points out was indirectly paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through Fusion GPS, CNN reports. .
The Democrats on the committee did release their own 98-page report, accusing their Republican colleagues of playing âdefense counselâ to the White House, ABC News reports.
âCommittee Republicans chose not to seriously investigate â or even see, when in plain sight â evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,â Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement.
The House Intelligence Committeeâs investigation on the Russian meddling is one of the first of multiple investigations to conclude, with the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committeesâ and Special Counsel Robert Muellerâs investigations still continuing.
However, Rep. Mike Conaway, the Republican who led the committee’s Russia investigation after Rep. Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, recused himself from the investigation, believed the report had âoverzealous redactionsâ and says he intends to push for the intelligence community to declassify more of the final report, CNN reports.
Republicans will continue to look into investigations and reports, and Nunes will also continue his own investigations on the State Department and the Steele dossier. Democrats, however, have said that they will continue with the Russia probe.