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WASHINGTON – The House Intelligence Committee voted Friday in favor of publishing transcripts of more than 50 interviews conducted as part of a one – year investigation into Russia 's interference in the 2016 election, giving details of what the key actors in the drama told investigators behind closed doors.
The transcripts to be finally released include some of President Trump's closest associates, including his son Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his former lawyer Michael Cohen and former political advisers Steve Bannon and Corey Lewandowski.
The panel will request the declassification and publication of the transcripts of the interview. They will be sent to intelligence officials for review, who may write passages outside national security concerns.
Intelligence agencies will act "as quickly as possible" to review any declassification requests from the House's intelligence committee, but the process may take "several weeks or more," according to a US intelligence official.
With regard to the investigation in Russia, the word "Collusion" is often used. But there is not much clarity about what this really means. Is it illegal? Is this a motive of impeachment? We asked a law professor to explain to us. Photo Illustration: Drew Evans / The Wall Street Journal.
The documents also include interviews with former and current government officials such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper.
The group's democrats agreed to publish all the transcripts the Republicans wanted to make public, but they unsuccessfully pushed for the publication of several more transcripts that had been concealed. Representative Testimonials Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, Florida) and Dana Rohrabacher (R, California) were among those not included in the release.
Wasserman Schultz was chair of the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 elections. The DNC emails were hacked and broadcast by people affiliated with the Russian government, intelligence sources said. Mr Rohrabacher drew the attention of investigators when he tried to obtain a thanks from the founder of the WikiLeaks website, which published thousands of emails stolen by the Russians, had already reported the Wall Street Journal.
The transcripts will also provide a detailed overview of an investigation that began throughout the year with a bipartisan promise of courtesy. The supposed Republican Democrats were trying to protect Mr. Trump. Republicans have accused Democrats of ignoring evidence that the Trump campaign was misguided by spy agencies and law enforcement for political reasons.
The committee was unable to reach bipartite conclusions on any of the key controversies. The Republicans of the committee released their report in March. They challenged the assessment of the country's spy agencies that Russia's interference was intended to help Trump during the 2016 elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin later admitted that he wanted Mr. Trump's victory in order to improve his relations, although Mr. Putin denied any interference from Russia.
The Democrats released their own report, saying the investigation failed to address key issues and to call key witnesses. They continued to mount their own investigation without the support of the Republicans of the commission and suggested that they will reopen the inquiry if they regained control of the House in the November midterm elections. .
Two other investigations into Russian interference are continuing. The Senate Intelligence Committee is also investigating the matter and continuing to interview witnesses. Randy Credico, a New York radio personality in contact with WikiLeaks, was summoned to appear before the Senate committee next week, according to a copy of the summons reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
The Senate panel is expected to publish several more reports in the coming months on topics such as possible collusion; the use of social media and misinformation by Moscow; and the US government's response to the Russian campaign.
In addition, special advocate Robert Mueller continues to investigate whether any criminal laws were broken during the 2016 campaign. Mueller's investigation resulted in several convictions or guilty pleas by associates. close to Mr. Trump, but none lead to collusion with Russia. The president and Russia deny collusion.
-Shelby Holliday and Dustin Volz contributed to this article.
Write to Byron Tau at [email protected]
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