National Security

House Intel concludes Russia probe interviews: reports

The House Intelligence Committee has finished interviewing witnesses as part of its investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race, a likely sign the probe is coming to an end, according to reports.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who is overseeing the panel’s investigation, is expected to announce on Monday that the committee will move on to writing its final report based on the interviews, a source told CNN.

A spokesperson for Conaway declined to comment to the news outlet.

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Democrats have previously said that the Republican-led investigation was not as extensive as they would have liked and that more witnesses needed to be interviewed. They said that the final interviews were rushed and the committee was too lenient in its questioning of witnesses.

While the committee did not interview President Trump, it interviewed some of his closest aides, including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

Relations between Democrats and Republicans on the House panel have been fraught, with much of the spotlight centering on tensions between committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.) and ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Those partisan tensions came to a head earlier this year with the release of competing memos, one crafted by Republicans and the other by Democrats, concerning alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI and Justice Department.

According to CNN, the committee is expected to produce two reports: a Republican one arguing that no evidence of collusion was found, and a Democratic one making the case for possible collusion and calling for further investigation.

The Senate Intelligence Committee and special counsel Robert Mueller are currently carrying out their own separate investigations into Russian meddling and possible collusion during the 2016 election.