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The House Intelligence Committee just released its final report on Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, saying that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia, and blaming US intelligence agencies for “tradecraft failings.”
The 253 page report, which had been heavily redacted, says the Trump campaign made a series of “imprudent,” “ill-advised,” and “questionable” decisions in holding meetings with Kremlin-linked people and trying to make contact with WikiLeaks, but concluded that the investigation didn’t uncover any criminality.
Democrats on the committee slammed the report, saying that Republicans hadn’t actually been looking for collusion or potential crimes.
“Throughout the investigation, Committee Republicans chose not to seriously investigate — or even see, when in plain sight — evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the committee, said in an emailed statement.
Republican leadership of the committee released the highly contentious report a month after issuing a summary on March 22 that set off a partisan fight over Russian goals during the election.
Republicans initially argued that US intelligence agencies were wrong in their report published in January 2017 that said Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted then-GOP nominee Donald Trump to win and tried to sway the election in his favor. Facing a wave of criticism, several house Republicans backtracked shortly afterward.
The final House Intelligence Committee report is consistent with that previous argument, saying that the US intelligence agencies’ conclusion wasn’t well-reasoned.
The document also largely backed other reports on Russian efforts to shape the election, supporting a New York Times article that said the investigation into the Trump campaign started because of George Papadopoulos.
You can read the entire report here.
