Russia probe on fast track

Senate Intel putting Russia probe on fast track

Chairman Burr hopes to wrap up the investigation by the end of this year and is pushing an ‘aggressive’ interview schedule.

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN , AUSTIN WRIGHT and KYLE CHENEY

The Senate panel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election aims to finish its work by the end of this year and plans to double the number of witness interviews to nearly 90 before lawmakers break for the August recess, the Republican leader of the investigation said Wednesday.

“I’d like to finish by the end of this year,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told reporters when asked about his timeline for completing a final report, saying that timeline was "aspirational." “It can be done.”

Burr said the intelligence committee’s aides have already spoken to “well over 40” people — and a source close to the investigation characterized that group primarily as intelligence community analysts and former government officials like Jeh Johnson, who served as President Barack Obama’s Homeland Security secretary.

“We’ve got a very aggressive schedule in July,” Burr explained. “We may double the number of interviews by the time we leave for the August recess based upon our schedule.”

The Senate panel is one of at least five committees digging into Russia’s role in influencing the election and any ties between the Cold War adversary and President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Much of Burr’s committee's work has taken place behind closed doors, though it held its seventh public hearing on Wednesday on how Moscow has used cyber espionage and viral fake news stories to influence elections in Europe. Both the Senate panel and its House counterpart have issued multiple subpoenas, including to Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

And Burr told POLITICO on Wednesday his panel had reached an agreement to get memos James Comey wrote on his interactions with Trump, including a meeting in which the president allegedly urged the former FBI director to drop an investigation into Flynn.

On Tuesday, an attorney for GOP operative Roger Stone said the longtime Trump associate was preparing to testify July 24 in a closed session before the House Intelligence Committee, where he planned to explain his communications with Moscow-linked hackers and WikiLeaks, which published stolen emails last year from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta.

While the Senate Intelligence Committee has also sought documents from Stone, Burr said his panel wasn’t sure an interview with him was necessary.

“To bring anybody in for an interview or for a hearing, you have to know what it is you want to ask them. We’re not there with Roger Stone. We still have a very difficult time understanding whether he has anything to contribute to our investigation,” Burr said.

Several other former Trump associates have also signaled interest in speaking to Congress in attempts to clear their names, including former campaign communications adviser Michael Caputo, former campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page and Flynn, who requested immunity in exchange for his testimony. Burr said the committee was still going through the roster of Trump's campaign associates to determine who mattered to the probe.

“We have to separate what people say from what we find people do or did,” Burr said. “They haven’t necessarily been high on our list because we haven’t identified high value to them.”

The North Carolina senator wouldn’t comment when asked if his panel was planning to interview Jared Kushner, the senior Trump White House adviser and presidential son-in-law whose finances and business dealings have reportedly drawn the interest of special counsel Robert Mueller. “I don’t get into specific people, but everybody of interest we’ve certainly made contact with,” Burr said.

Interest on Capitol Hill in deciphering Russia’s influence on the 2016 campaign has picked up steam since the start of the new Congress earlier this year. While there have been partisan splits over whether lawmakers should directly focus on the Trump campaign, members in both parties agree they must quickly determine what federal, state and local election officials can do to fend off another wave of Moscow-driven cyberattacks.

“You certainly want to have it done soon enough so that states and other authorities can take defensive steps,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), one of Trump’s 2016 primary rivals.

GOP leaders have so far resisted calls for a special joint House-Senate effort to investigate the Russia issue, and it’s unclear how the investigation efforts will compare to oversight by lawmakers after other presidential scandals.

The Senate Watergate special committee lasted a little more than 16 months and disbanded after it produced a final report that prompted impeachment proceedings and led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. A Senate committee tasked with investigating President Bill Clinton’s Whitewater land dealings took up 13 months and led to an 800-page final report.

In a recent interview, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who sits on the intelligence panel, said he believed the Russia probes could take “years.”

“Every few days there's a new revelation,” he said. “I just know we're in a full-fledged kind of a situation here that usually takes a while to work itself out.”

Across the Capitol, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who’s leading the House Intelligence probe, told reporters his workload is expanding. “If I talk to one witness and they give me someone else’s name, I’ve got to go find that witness and talk to them,” he said. “You’ve got to run the daisy chain of witnesses out.”

Conaway’s Democratic counterpart, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said there are still a significant number of witnesses to interview and “mountains” of documents to review. The House panel is also still trying to coordinate with Mueller as he takes charge of his own investigation into everything from financial connections between Russia and Trump to the president’s decision in May to fire Comey.

"I think we'll let the investigation dictate the timing," Schiff said.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), another member of the House Intelligence panel, said new revelations were slowing the probe: “Nobody was talking about obstruction of justice but, thank you to Donald Trump’s self-incrimination, we’re now talking about obstruction of justice.”

Burr’s Democratic counterpart, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was hesitant to say the intelligence panel’s probe could be wrapped up this year. “I’m not going to try to get into predictions at this point,” he said.

“We still have all the individuals that were affiliated with the campaign that have been mentioned in the press as having potential contacts or ties,” Warner added. “We’re still in the process of reviewing their documents.”

The pace is causing frustration among Trump’s Republican allies on Capitol Hill, including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Asked if the panel’s probe could be wrapped up by the end of 2017, Cornyn responded: “It could be, if we didn't chase every rabbit trail imaginable.”