House Intelligence Committee finds no collusion by Trump campaign with Russia News
House Intelligence Committee finds no collusion by Trump campaign with Russia

The US House Intelligence Committee [official website] released its final report [report, PDF] absolving the Trump campaign from involvement in Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In the almost 250-page report, Republicans concluded that the year-long investigation has produced no evidence that the Trump campaign aided in Moscow’s efforts. While the committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign “colluded, coordinated, or conspired” with the Russian government, the report still points to questionable judgment by both sides of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The report also pointed to findings that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) [official website] paid for opposition research obtained by Russian sources, originally realized in the memo [JURIST report] declassified and released by the committee in February.

Shortly after the release, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) [official website] released a statement [press release] on behalf of the Democratic minority members on the committee, describing the flawed approach Republicans took in the vote to adopt the report while not seriously investigating the alleged collusion. Throughout the 98-page response [text, PDF], the Minority Views suggested that the committee’s majority has forgotten its commitment to justice and chosen to prematurely cease the investigation in a “systematic effort to muddy the waters and to deflect attention away from the President.”

Commenting on the considerable amount of redactions within the report, Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) [official website] released a statement [press release] saying:

The Intelligence Community has finished its declassification review of the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation final report. Given the substantial public interest at stake, the Committee is publishing the redacted version we’ve received. However, we object to the excessive and unjustified number of redactions, many of which do not relate to classified information. The Committee will convey our objections to the appropriate agencies and looks forward to publishing a less redacted version in the near future.

The report put forth various recommended solutions to safeguard the United States political process from future interference from hostile governments through information operations. Schiff insists that the minority work on the Russia investigation will continue despite the decision by the Majority.

President Donald Trump has responded [tweet] via Twitter, insisting the investigation “MUST END NOW!”