GOP accuses Democrats of blocking closed FBI, NSA testimony on Russia – Washington Examiner

Republicans charged Tuesday that Democrats are blocking the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russia from moving forward by refusing to sign a letter that would officially invite FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers back before the committee for closed-door testimony.

Republicans have made clear they want that testimony before hearing from others, and say it will allow the committee to be as informed as possible when interviewing future witnesses.

Committee member Rep. Peter King, R-NY, verified the information about the letter that was described to the Washington Examiner by a source close to the committee who requested anonymity.

"My understanding is that Devin [Nunes] or the general counsel for the Republican side prepared a letter to Director Comey and Director Rogers asking them to testify at a closed session, and that thus far, the Democrats have not signed it," King said.

"The purpose of the closed session is to start getting answers to many of the questions that Director Comey could not answer at the public hearing because of the ongoing investigation. To me, if Democrats want answers to their questions, this is one way to get them. So I'm surprised they're not agreeing to this right away," King added.

A Democratic committee aide replied by accusing Republicans of trying to eliminate the open hearing entirely.

"Republicans wanted to do the closed hearing in lieu of the open hearing they were hoping to schedule it at the exact same time as the open hearing, even though all the witnesses [Brennan, Clapper and Yates] were prepared to testify," the aide said. "We would welcome hearing from Directors Comey and Rogers again just not instead of the open hearing."

The delay in setting up the closed hearing also means that the testimony volunteered by four persons related to Trump campaign Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone, and son-in-law Jared Kushner is on hold indefinitely, as the committee wants to have the closed session first.

Comey and Rogers have already given their open testimony to the committee. But just two days later, Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., made his bombshell revelations in which he claimed to have reviewed raw intelligence documents that allegedly show members of the Trump transition team being caught up and named in legal surveillance of foreign nationals. Nunes also briefed the White House on his findings, a move which was controversial enough at the time, but has grown even more so in recent days.

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Last Friday, Nunes announced the committee was cancelling the already-planned second open hearing which would have included former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and former acting US Attorney General Sally Yates. "We are asking Mr. Comey and Mr. Rogers to come back in. And until we can get them in in a closed session, it's not going to be worth it to have the open session," he said.

Democrats blasted the decision at the time. "What's really involved here is the cancellation of this open hearing and the rest is designed to distract," said ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Democrats said they were skeptical that Nunes' revelations might have been coordinated by the White House. That speculation intensified this week after CNN reported Nunes had been on the White House grounds to meet the source for the documents behind his claims.

Nunes explained the episode in an interview with CNN by saying his White House visit was a fairly common happening, and that the information he needed to view could only be done so at places with the correct computer security and clearances, which was available at the White House.

Numerous Democrats have called for Nunes to step away from the investigation, but thus far he has refused to do so.

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GOP accuses Democrats of blocking closed FBI, NSA testimony on Russia - Washington Examiner