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Congresswoman Waters Demands Independent Investigation into President Trump’s Kremlin Klan; Condemns White House Interference

March 3, 2017

Congresswoman Waters Demands Independent Investigation into President Trump's Kremlin Klan; Condemns White House Interference

Washington, D.C.Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, demanded an independent investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the hacking of the 2016 election. Her statement was released following an announcement by the House Intelligence Committee regarding the scope of their investigation.The Congresswoman's statement follows:

"I welcome Wednesday's announcement by the House Intelligence Committee that Chairman Devin Nunes and Ranking Member Adam Schiff have approved the scope of investigation for the committee's inquiry into Russian interference into the 2016 election, and that the investigation will seek to determine whether there were ‘links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns or any other U.S. Persons,' and I especially applaud Ranking Member Schiff's statement that the committee's investigation must include ‘any potential collusion between Russia and U.S. citizens.'

"Nevertheless, I continue to have profound concerns about whether the House and Senate intelligence committees, under Republican leadership, are willing and able to conduct a thorough, bipartisan investigation into possible collusion between Russian operatives and the Trump campaign. My concerns were validated by reports that Chairman Nunes and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr spoke with reporters to discredit New York Times' reporting on the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia in response to a request from the White House.

"We now know that the Trump administration will do anything within its power to hide the truth about its ties with Russia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions – like Mike Flynn before him – spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and then lied about it. This follows revelations that White House aides including Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to enlist CIA Director Mike Pompeo and FBI officials, in addition to Chairman Nunes and Chairman Burr, to discredit the New York Times' report.

"For many months, I have argued that a thorough investigation is necessary in order to determine exactly what happened in the 2016 election and who is responsible. What did Mike Flynn, Jeff Sessions, and other Trump associates know about Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election? What did President Trump himself know? What sort of communications did Trump's associates have with Russian operatives, and was Trump aware of them? Why does this President refuse to condemn or criticize Vladimir Putin in any way? Does Putin have compromising information on Trump, and does this information jeopardize our national security?

"At one time, I believed that these critical questions could be investigated credibly by the House and Senate intelligence committees. I therefore introduced H.Con.Res. 15 in January, in order to ensure that these committees, in the course of their investigations, would determine whether there was collusion between persons associated with the Russian government and persons associated with President Trump and his campaign. However, having witnessed the Trump administration's deplorable efforts to interfere in the work of the intelligence committees, I now believe that an independent investigation into President Trump's Kremlin Klan is imperative.

"Make no mistake, the truth will be revealed. If it is discovered that President Trump worked with Russia to undermine our democracy, Republicans in Congress should put country above party and move to impeach President Trump."