Politics

House Committee Votes To Release Russia Probe Transcripts

The panel voted unanimously to release the the documents after Democrats on the committee have been calling for the release for months.

House Committee Votes To Release Russia Probe Transcripts
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We could get new insight into the Russia investigation after the House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Friday to release some interview transcripts. The interviews with key players of the 2016 election took place between June 2017 and March 2018 as part of the panel's probe into Russian election interference. 

The documents include interviews with President Donald Trump's inner circle, like Steve Bannon, Corey Lewandowski, Michael Cohen, Hope Hicks, Roger Stone and longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller. The transcripts also include interviews with members of the president's family, including Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner. 

The panel also interviewed former Obama-appointed intelligence officials, including former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. McCabe and Yates both served under President Trump, and were both fired.

The House intel committee released its GOP-led report in April saying its investigators found no evidence the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with the Russian government. But a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee supported the intelligence community's findings that Russia did interfere and favored Trump.

Democrats on the committee wanted the release of these documents months ago. It wasn't until recently Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Fox News he wanted the release of the interview transcripts before the midterm elections. 

The documents will now be reviewed and redacted to protect classified information, a process that could take days or weeks.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.