gabosaurus
02-04-2018, 04:27 PM
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trey-gowdy-breaks-with-trump-fisa-memo-doesnt-have-any-impact-on-robert-muellers-investigation/article/2648046
Rep. Trey Gowdy broke with President Trump on where the controversial House Intelligence Committee memo leaves special counsel Robert Mueller and his Russia inquiry.
While Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the memo "totally vindicates" him in regards to the federal Russia inquiry, Gowdy, a key player in the development of the report, said he doubts Mueller's probe, which is looking into possible collusion between members of Trump's campaign and the Kremlin, will be impacted.
"I would say this. I'm sure the president is frustrated," Gowdy, R-S.C., said in an interview for CBS News' "Face the Nation" when asked about Trump's tweet. "You know, [House Intel ranking member] Adam Schiff prejudged the investigation before we interviewed the first witness, so I — I'm sure that that instructs some of what he said. I — I actually don't think it is has any impact on the Russia probe for this reason —."
In the run-up to the release of the memo, which outlines alleged abuses of surveillance authority by the U.S. government, Trump defenders had suggested that it could damage the integrity of the Mueller investigation. Even after its release, some of his biggest supporters are still calling for Mueller to quit.
However, a key point in the memo concedes that the FBI began its formal investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016 because of foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos, and not the salacious and largely unverified "Trump dossier" as some Republicans had prevously asserted. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October to charges brought against him by Mueller in his Russia investigation for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
Pressing the point, CBS News White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan asked: "The memo has no impact on the Russia probe?"
"Not to me, it doesn't — and I was pretty integrally involved in the drafting of it," Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, said. "There is a Russia investigation without a dossier. So to the extent the memo deals with the dossier and the FISA process, the dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower. The dossier has nothing to do with an email sent by Cambridge Analytica. The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos' meeting in Great Britain. It also doesn't have anything to do with obstruction of justice. So there's going to be a Russia probe, even without a dossier."
Rep. Trey Gowdy broke with President Trump on where the controversial House Intelligence Committee memo leaves special counsel Robert Mueller and his Russia inquiry.
While Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the memo "totally vindicates" him in regards to the federal Russia inquiry, Gowdy, a key player in the development of the report, said he doubts Mueller's probe, which is looking into possible collusion between members of Trump's campaign and the Kremlin, will be impacted.
"I would say this. I'm sure the president is frustrated," Gowdy, R-S.C., said in an interview for CBS News' "Face the Nation" when asked about Trump's tweet. "You know, [House Intel ranking member] Adam Schiff prejudged the investigation before we interviewed the first witness, so I — I'm sure that that instructs some of what he said. I — I actually don't think it is has any impact on the Russia probe for this reason —."
In the run-up to the release of the memo, which outlines alleged abuses of surveillance authority by the U.S. government, Trump defenders had suggested that it could damage the integrity of the Mueller investigation. Even after its release, some of his biggest supporters are still calling for Mueller to quit.
However, a key point in the memo concedes that the FBI began its formal investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016 because of foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos, and not the salacious and largely unverified "Trump dossier" as some Republicans had prevously asserted. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October to charges brought against him by Mueller in his Russia investigation for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
Pressing the point, CBS News White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan asked: "The memo has no impact on the Russia probe?"
"Not to me, it doesn't — and I was pretty integrally involved in the drafting of it," Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, said. "There is a Russia investigation without a dossier. So to the extent the memo deals with the dossier and the FISA process, the dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower. The dossier has nothing to do with an email sent by Cambridge Analytica. The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos' meeting in Great Britain. It also doesn't have anything to do with obstruction of justice. So there's going to be a Russia probe, even without a dossier."