Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!
– House Intelligence Committee Republicans have released their final findings on Russian interference in the 2016 US election, ending a yearlong probe, per the Washington Post. The heavily redacted 253-page report puts President Trump and his cohorts generally in the clear, noting the panel found "no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government." What it did find was that the Obama administration dropped the ball with a "slow and inconsistent" response to the Russians, and that both the Trump and Clinton campaigns showed "poor judgment and ill-considered actions." The report, which was said to be based on interviews with nearly 75 witnesses and a scouring of hundreds of thousands of documents, also concludes that any attempts of Trump associates to try to forge a relationship with Russia were either unsanctioned by Trump or didn't pan out. But the New York Times notes that Democratic committee members, who didn't endorse the report, have said their GOP colleagues didn't probe as deeply as they should have and wrapped up investigative efforts early to help shield the president from any trouble. A nearly 100-page Democratic rebuttal to the GOP's report says "a majority" of its findings are “misleading and unsupported by the facts and the investigative record," per the Post. Trump immediately jumped on the announcement, tweeting just minutes after the news broke: "Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. 'No evidence' that the Trump Campaign 'colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.' Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!"