Grenell To Schiff: Release The Secret Russia Probe Transcripts Or I Will
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, told Rep. Adam Schiff on Monday that 53 transcripts from the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into possible Trump-Russia collusion are ready to be released to the public.
In the letter, Grenell urged Schiff to publish the documents, but said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is prepared to release them if the California Democrat refuses to do so.
"I urge you to honor your previous public statements, and your committee's unanimous vote on this matter, to release all 53 cleared transcripts to Members of Congress and the American public as soon as possible," Grenell said in the letter, first reported by The Washington Examiner.
"I am also willing to release the transcripts directly from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as to ensure we comply with the unanimous and bipartisan vote to release the transcripts."
Republicans have in recent weeks upped pressure on Schiff to release the transcripts.
The House Intelligence Committee voted in September 2018 to release the documents. The panel sent the 53 transcripts, which totaled more than 6,000 pages, to ODNI for a review of classified material.
ODNI completed a review of 43 of the transcripts in June 2019, Grenell told Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence panel. The other 10 were recently completed, the letter stated.
Republicans on the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees sent a letter to Schiff on Tuesday saying that he has been "blocking" the release of the transcripts.
It is unclear why Schiff has withheld the documents from public view. His office did not return a request for comment on Tuesday.
"All of the transcripts, with our required redactions, can be released to the public without any concerns of disclosing classified material," Grenell wrote to Schiff.
The Intelligence Committee conducted an investigation through April 2018 into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Republicans on the committee released a report on April 27, 2018, that said there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The special counsel's office, which released a report on April 18, 2019, arrived at the same conclusion.
The transcripts are of interviews with several Obama administration officials, including Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, and Samantha Power, former Trump White House officials and several Trump associates.
The committee also interviewed the two lawyers at the firm Perkins Coie who financed the infamous Steele dossier. Transcripts for the lawyers, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann, are included in the yet-to-be-released tranche of documents.
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This puts Adam Schiff in a terrible spot. He's been called!
The Senate report already confirmed that the Russians interfered in 2016 and would do so again in 2020. They also reached the determination that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia.
Already confirmed by former "acting" intelligence chief Adm. Joseph Maguire several times before he was canned
February 20,2020.
So why do we need the Transcripts?
Grenell is grandstanding as would be any "acting" appointment by the POTUS.
Washington politics as usual.
Seems to be a lot of 'acting' people these days.
Take that up with Senate democrats. They have a problem with Trump appointments. We are in the final year of the President's first term and there are still slots waiting to be filled.
As far as I know, donald has not even named anyone yet.
John Ratcliffe (R-Texas)
Nothing like nominating someone that already had to withdraw...
A minute ago you didn't even know who it was, now you are slamming him because he lacked Republican support the first time around.
Sorry but the Senate is controlled by one Mitch McConnell and is majority GOP.
Dems can only delay so much.
There would not be slots that need to be filled if the POTUS or the West Wing knew what they were doing
and vetted appointees properly, hence the large number of Acting positions avoiding Senate oversight.
I think we can all agree that cast offs from Fox Entertainment are not the best choices for political positions.
The turn over for this White House's appointments is a record breaking 86%.
John Ratliffe.
In the last 24 hours, in spite of admitting that he follows Qanon online, Ratliffe has gained the support of his party's Senators.
They can delay enough. The Senate leader's priority is judicial appointments. He has been very successful on that end with 25% of all Appellate Court Justices now Trump appointees. The cost of that has been the President's administration appointments which have been opposed En Masse by democrats.
The turn over for this White House's appointments is a record breaking 86%.
Starting with James Comey sending over "a couple of guys".
I didn't say I didn't know who he was, I said I didn't know he was actually nominated.
Just what we need for a top intelligence post. Someone that lies on a resume.
Correct!
Just what we need for a top intelligence post. Someone that lies on a resume.
You mean somebody who doesn't hate Trump!
Guess I missed a lot of this as not many seem to be reporting on it.
Just read an NPR report that he testified before the senate.
Also reading that it looks like one cannot blame democrats even though they oppose it.
Collins of Maine is a holdout that may decide to let him through.
Correct. This one involves the Never Trump wing of the GOP.
I thought we wanted transparency. Let me turn it around - these documents are not classified - why won't Schiff let America see them?
Grenell is grandstanding
Oh, I see.
Washington politics as usual.
Not if Grenell releases the documents! I'll give you one guess which news organizations would be ever so slow to cover it.
This Just in:
House Intel spokesman confirms receipt of Grenell letter, says Russia transcripts will be released expeditiously
It's going to be interesting to see how the left and the Democrats spin this failure.