House Republicans Step Up Demands for Russia Probe Documents

(Bloomberg) -- House Intelligence Committee Republicans and other GOP lawmakers on Wednesday stepped up their demands for the Justice Department and FBI to turn over more information about their investigative decisions and tactics during the 2016 presidential election.

The lawmakers said they aren’t satisfied by a plan to let only certain House and Senate leaders review some of that material Thursday. Representative Michael Conaway of Texas said he and other GOP members of the intelligence panel signed two letters on Wednesday underscoring their contention that all committee members should get a look.

The material Conaway and the others want to see is related to an alleged FBI informant who explored ties between members of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russians. One of the letters was sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but Conaway refused to say who the second letter was addressed to.

Conaway said the letters echo previous complaints from Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes that Justice officials are improperly sharing material and other documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation only with the congressional "Gang of Eight." That refers to the top House and Senate Republican and Democratic leaders, and the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Other House Republicans on Wednesday moved to press Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders to get more involved in their efforts to obtain Justice and FBI material related to decisions in the investigations of Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign.

Representative Mark Meadows on Wednesday filed a resolution that he said would reflect the House GOP’s sentiment that the Justice Department should produce the materials, including applications and communications with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. “We are just encouraging our leadership to stand in solidarity with the institution and support many demands for documents that the DOJ denied,” he said.

The resolution was being circulated late Wednesday afternoon, with 10 other lawmakers signing it so far.

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo

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