The Russian investigation had become very contentious. Democrats had their memo refused by President Trump while Devin Nunes had his memo accepted.
There were two different memos from two different groups of people. Nunes memo made the FBI look bad and Trump look good. The Democrats memo showed signs of collusion making Trump look bad.
Then there was the case of Steve Bannon. He was giving the House Intel Committee the run around and was due to face lawmakers.
It was unclear at the time if Bannon would show up for questioning or if he would persist in his defiance. He had already faced a line of questioning but was required to face more.
Bannon’s Defiance
Lawmakers believe that Bannon should be held in contempt if he doesn’t show up for questioning.
“We have to hold him in contempt” one GOP source said.
“I’m not going to speculate,” Mike Conaway said. “But I expect him to appear.”
Tom Rooney mentioned Corey Lewandowski who was expected to answer more questions as well.
“I don’t think he needs to be subpoenaed,” said Rooney, a key member of the panel, said of Lewandowski. “I think he came in and answered eight hours’ worth of questions based on the letter we sent him and his employment with the Trump Organization and Trump campaign. … We did not ask him to come in to answer questions about his time as a private citizen — so I think that’s clearly a difference between him and Steve Bannon.”
Schiff’s Claim
“All of this is evidence of collusion,” said Schiff, a former federal prosecutor. “Now, I’ve never said that there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s for Bob Mueller to decide. But to say there’s no evidence of collusion, you’d have to ignore all this.”
He seemed to be implying there was a reason Trump wouldn’t sign the memo’s release. His statement suggested that something was in the memo that Trump was scared of being released.
“If this were a trial on the issue of did the Trump campaign conspire with the Russians to interfere or violate U.S. election laws by providing help to the Trump campaign, if this were a trial on that conspiracy charge…all of that evidence would come in as evidence of collusion,” Schiff said.
“It’s not fine to work with a foreign power even if there is no violation of law involved,” he added.
It was time for the memo to be released in all fairness. Let those in authority decide if to accept or reject its findings.