Former U.S. officials to testify at May 8 Senate hearing on Russia probe
Reuters
Published Apr 25, 2017 04:22PM ET
Former U.S. officials to testify at May 8 Senate hearing on Russia probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two former U.S. officials, intelligence director James Clapper and deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, will testify next month in a congressional investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday.
Congressional committees began investigating the issue after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking of the Democratic political groups to try to sway the election toward Republican Donald Trump. Moscow has denied any such meddling.
Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, and Yates, the former deputy attorney general, will testify on May 8 before the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime and terrorism, Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley said in a statement.
More witnesses may be added.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he was "a little troubled" that the Senate Intelligence investigation appeared to be moving slowly.
Reuters reported on Monday that the probe, the Senate's main investigation into allegations of Russian election meddling, has a much smaller staff than previous high-profile congressional investigations.
Clapper, Yates and another official who also served under former President Barack Obama, ex-CIA Director James Brennan, were scheduled to testify to the House of Representatives intelligence committee in March but that hearing was canceled by the panel's chairman, Republican Devin Nunes.
Nunes, a Trump ally, recused himself from the Russia investigation in April after receiving information about intelligence agency surveillance of foreign nationals that swept up some information about members of Trump's transition team.
His decision to hold a news conference and discuss the information with Trump before disclosing it to Democrats raised questions about whether he could lead a credible investigation.
The House committee on Friday invited Yates, Clapper and Brennan to appear at a public hearing to be scheduled after May 2.
The Judiciary subcommittee's chairman, Republican Lindsay Graham, said he wanted to ask Clapper and Yates whether they knew about a court order allowing FBI surveillance of the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016.
The Washington Post reported this month that such a warrant had been issued. Clapper said in a March television interview he was not aware of any wiretapping of Trump or advisers.
Get The News You Want
"I want to get to the bottom of this," Graham said on Fox News.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.