“We will be presenting … facts that have not yet come to public light.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that Democrats are readying their own report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election that will contain never-before-seen evidence of collusion.
Schiff told The Washington Post in a new interview after Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announced they were shutting down their investigation due to finding no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia that the minority report will aim to “rebut the GOP conclusions.”
“We will be presenting evidence of collusion, some of which is in the public domain and apparent to everyone willing to see it, and other facts that have not yet come to public light,” Schiff said. “I fully expect that the majority will omit many of these facts in its report and mischaracterize others.”
The California Democrat also said he didn’t think there was any way Republicans could “reach the conclusions that they want to start with unless they ignore or mischaracterize what we’ve been able to learn.”
Schiff previously stated back in February that there is “ample evidence” that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians.
“There is already, in my view, ample evidence in the public domain on the issue of collusion if you’re willing to see it,” he said.
On Monday, Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) revealed that House Intelligence Committee Republicans had completed the nearly yearlong investigation and “found no evidence of collusion. We found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings.”
Democrats quickly criticized the Republicans’ findings, with Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) calling the committee’s announcement “a stunning betrayal of the American people and the public trust.”
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to share his caps-filled reaction to the news. “THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,” he tweeted.
