The perception of politics is blocking, or at least delaying, subpoenas for fired FBI chief James Comey and ex-CIA chief John Brennan to obtain their testimony about the Obama administration’s use of the nation’s intel agencies to spy on the Trump campaign in 2016, a Senate committee chairman has suggested.
That spy campaign revolved around the now-debunked Democrat claims of “Russia collusion” that were based largely on the discredited Steele dossier opposition research document funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee has been investigating – even while U.S. Attorney John Durham has convened a grand jury that could be considering criminal charges in the scandal.
Now Politico reports that committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has suggested that “fellow Republicans on his committee were blocking him from subpoenaing former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan and other figures.”
“We had a number of my committee members that were highly concerned about how this looks politically,” Johnson said.
The committee earlier voted to give Johnson the authority to issue those subpoenas.
But during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Johnson said he wants the unanimous support of the committee’s eight Republicans to issue the subpoenas.
Johnson told Hewitt he would not be naming any names, prompting Hewitt to comment: “If there’s a senator who is blocking a subpoena, we need to know who that is so we throw them out.”
The publication said committee officials said Johnson actually has permission to issue the subpoenas, but wants full support.
“Committee members want Chairman Johnson to attempt to get voluntary compliance, and also to be fully prepared for interviews by obtaining necessary documents, before compelling testimony,” the committee spokesman said in Politico. “Chairman Johnson has been working for months to gather documents and information from witnesses on a voluntary basis, but will subpoena witnesses when necessary — and as he has mentioned, his patience is wearing thin.”
Politico commented, “The interview underscores the degree to which there’s a reluctance among some Senate Republicans to advance an investigation that Democrats have viewed as a conduit for foreign disinformation aimed at former Vice President Joe Biden less than three months before the election as well as to amplify allegations of corruption by the FBI in its Trump-Russia probe.
“Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of the eight Republicans on Johnson’s panel, raised concerns about the investigation’s political overtones in the spring, though he ultimately has backed some of the panel’s subpoena requests,” the report said.
Johnson recently subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding he release all documents related to Crossfire Hurricane, the Obama administration’s probe of now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion.
Fox News reported the FBI must provide by Aug. 20 “all records provided or made available to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice for its review.”
Johnson also wants “all records related to requests” to the General Services Administration or the Office of the Inspector General for the GSA for “presidential transition records from November 2016 through December 2017.”
The DOJ’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, concluded the FBI committed at least 17 significant errors or omissions in its applications to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign.
The FBI, in a statement, noted it already has produced documents for the committee and will continue to cooperate.
