Sources say Russia probe transcripts affirm officials came up empty on collusion: 'Schiff is in panic mode'

EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts of House Intelligence Committee interviews that have been cleared for release show top law enforcement and intelligence officials affirming they had no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, senior administration and intelligence community officials told Fox News on Wednesday.
This would align with the results of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — which found no evidence of illegal or criminal coordination between President Trump, the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016 — but the numerous transcribed interviews could raise further questions about committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s past statements saying that there was “direct evidence” of collusion.
“Schiff is in panic mode,” a senior administration official told Fox News.
Earlier this week, House Republicans sought over 6,000 pages of transcripts pertaining to interviews conducted by the committee in 2017 and 2018, after the panel in September 2018 voted on a bipartisan basis to approve their public release.
A day later, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell notified Schiff, D-Calif., that the redaction and declassification process was complete, and that the records were ready for release, putting the ball in Schiff’s court.
However, intelligence officials told Fox News on Wednesday that Schiff has had his subcommittee staff director reaching out to heads of intelligence community agencies asking how Grenell was involved and what role Grenell — a known Trump ally — may have played in the declassification and redaction process.
Fox News is told, however, that the redactions were completed before Grenell took the helm as acting director this past February.
The process, according to an intelligence community official, took place under both former directors Dan Coates and Joseph Maguire, and was conducted by career intelligence officials. The official also told Fox News that the relevant heads of appropriate agencies were consulted on the declassifications and redactions of all 53 transcripts.
Grenell, in a letter to Schiff dated May 4, wrote that the review of 43 of the 53 transcripts “was completed in June 2019,” and that the “interagency review of the remaining ten transcripts has been completed.” Grenell added, “pursuant to your guidance, these transcripts have not been shared with the White House.”
The remaining 10 transcripts included interviews with President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., former adviser Steve Bannon, the president’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, Trump aide Hope Hicks and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Further, Grenell wrote Schiff that he was “willing” to release the transcripts directly from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [ODNI] “as to ensure we comply with the unanimous and bipartisan vote to release the transcripts.” It’s unclear, at this point, when Grenell could release the transcripts.
A House Intelligence Committee spokesman told Fox News on Wednesday that the panel received Grenell’s letter on Tuesday.
“After more than a year of unnecessary delay, the ODNI has finally concluded its protracted classification review of the committee’s transcripts, and it also appears the White House has now abandoned its improper insistence on reviewing key transcripts, which the committee appropriately rejected,” the spokesman said.
“We are now reviewing the proposed redactions from ODNI based on classification, law enforcement sensitivity or items ODNI requests be for official use only,” the spokesman continued. “Given the overtly political role now played by the acting DNI, including the leak of his letter, this committee and the public can have little confidence that his determinations are made on the merits.”
The spokesman added: “This process had already taken far too long, most notably because the ODNI improperly held up the declassification review and release of several transcripts at the request of the White House.”
The spokesman also said that the committee’s review of ODNI’s “newly proposed redactions” would be “as expeditious as possible given the constraints of the pandemic.” He continued, “We look forward to releasing these transcripts, which relate to misconduct by the Trump campaign and the president himself.”
The 53 transcripts eligible for release, according to a source familiar with the transcripts, included interviews with Trump Jr., Bannon, Kushner, Hicks, Lewandowski, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Brad Parscale, Michael Caputo and Rick Dearborn.
Also expected to be released, according to the source: transcripts for interviews with Obama officials such as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; former Attorney General Loretta Lynch; former Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power; former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; former National Security Adviser Susan Rice; former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates; former Obama adviser Benjamin Rhodes; and former Obama counselor and Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta.
Another source familiar with the transcripts told Fox News that the people interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee during its Russia probe were asked whether they had evidence that Trump, himself, or the Trump campaign conspired, colluded or coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election.
Two sources familiar with the transcripts told Fox News that not one of the 53 witnesses could provide evidence of collusion.
“The transcripts show a total lack of evidence, despite Schiff personally going out saying he had more than circumstantial evidence that there was collusion,” one source involved in House Russia investigations told Fox News.
Mueller, similarly, at the conclusion of his nearly two-year-long investigation, said he and his team found no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, but did not reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice, which current Attorney General Bill Barr ultimately decided not to pursue.
While law enforcement officials have long maintained that there was clear intelligence Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, to date, there have been no charges concerning actual conspiracy against people associated with the Trump campaign, which was at the core of the Russia investigation.
The Russia probe never produced charges linking the Trump campaign and Russia as part of a criminal conspiracy.

Stay-At-Home Order Cartoons

Wisconsin stay-at-home order is 'definition of tyranny,' state Supreme Court justice suggests

A conservative state Supreme Court justice in Wisconsin suggested Tuesday that the extension of the state’s stay-at-home order was the “definition of tyranny” and compared it to U.S. internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.
"Isn't it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work, among other ordinarily lawful activities?" Justice Rebecca Bradley said during video oral arguments of a lawsuit brought by Republican state lawmakers against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and State Health Secretary Andrea Palm, The Washington Post reported.
Palm issued a statewide stay-at-home order March 24 that is set to expire May 26.
“The people never consented to a single individual having that kind of power," Bradley said.

"The people never consented to a single individual having that kind of power."
— Justice Rebecca Bradley, Wisconsin Supreme Court

Republicans say the order goes too far and ignores state rulemaking laws and doesn’t allow for oversight, RiverTowns.net reported.
“I’ll direct your attention to another time in history, in the Korematsu decision, where the court said the need for action is great and time is short, and that justified ‘assembling together and placing under guard all those of Japanese ancestry’ in assembly centers during World War II,” Bradley added, according to The Post.
The 1944 Korematsu decision upheld the use of Japanese internment camps.
Evers’ administration argued that it’s vital to keep the order in place.
“People will die if this order is enjoined with nothing to replace it,” Colin Roth, assistant attorney general of Wisconsin, said.
He argued the state’s Department of Health Services has the power “to do whatever is necessary to combat a novel, deadly, communicable disease like the one we’re facing today.”
Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said “there’s an awful lot of emotion” being displayed in the case, “because we are in the middle of a pandemic that all sides agree on," according to Madison.com. She didn't say when the court would rule.
Another conservative on the court, Justice Daniel Kelly, was defeated by more liberal Justice Jill Karofsky last month.
Several U.S. states have already started to reopen some businesses following stay-at-home orders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Dan Crenshaw reacts to jailing of salon owner, says some leaders ‘drunk with power’

Tuesday’s jailing of a hair salon owner in Texas for defying a coronavirus shutdown order just doesn’t cut it, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw wrote Tuesday.
In fact, the punishment dished out to Dallas business owner Shelley Luther was another example of public officials overstepping their authority during the crisis, the congressman wrote on Twitter.
“These punishments are NOT just,” Crenshaw wrote. “They are not reasonable. Small-minded ‘leaders’ across the country have become drunk with power. This must end.”
At a hearing, Judge Eric Moye called Luther’s action “selfish,” and claimed she had “disrespected the orders of the state, the county and this city,” FOX 4 of Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
Luther claimed she had to reopen her business because a federal loan had arrived too late to help her, according to the Dallas Morning News.
He said Luther could avoid jail if she would apologize, pay a fine, and remain shut down until a statewide reopening of salons takes effect Friday.
But Luther opted for jail instead.
"I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I'm selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish,” Luther told the judge, according to FOX 4. “I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they would rather feed their kids. So, sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon.”
It was the latest example where Americans were finding themselves up against what many viewed as harsh punishments.
In late April, a 40-year-old Idaho mother was arrested for allegedly refusing to leave a closed playground where she had brought her two children to play.
Her arrest later prompted a demonstration at city hall by more than 100 supporters.
In North Carolina, members of the “ReOpen NC” group were arrested last week, accused of resisting a public officer and violating the Democratic governor’s executive order.
“If you feel the need to stay home, it is your God-given right to do so. But we want to live!" suspect Ashley Elaina Smith said. “[Gov.] Roy Cooper has shown again and again how out of touch he really is. With his illogical declarations of who’s essential and who’s not, he’s effectively destroyed generational family businesses and many good businesses alike. He’s got to go. November’s coming, baby.”
Across the country, governors such as Laura Kelly of Kansas and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have faced opposition for the shutdown orders, such as Kelly’s limits on church gatherings – which faced GOP opposition and later a temporary restraining order – and Whitmer’s restrictions against traveling to relatives’ homes, and on sales of items such as gardening supplies, both of which were scaled back after public protests.

Congressional leaders support deductions for PPP borrowers

Congressional lawmakers are thinking that the Internal Revenue Service may have gotten it wrong when it ruled that borrowers of the Paycheck Protection Program couldn't receive tax deductions on expenses.
That ruling may not be the last word, according to Forbes.
Lawmakers on Tuesday alerted the Treasury Department that the IRS ignored the intent of the PPP.
The IRS was concerned about a double tax benefit, which according to lawmakers, may not be a bad thing.
They argue the purpose of the plan was to provide economic and specifically tax benefits to businesses to make it possible to maintain workers.
The group of congressional members is headed by Chuck Grassley and Richard Neal, the chairmen of the top tax committees in the Senate and the House, respectively.
PPP loans are largely expected to be allocated toward payroll expenses (75 percent), but the remaining 25 percent can be put toward rent, mortgage interest, utilities and interest on other debt obligations.

Hannity bashes 'truly disgusting' Obama letter hitting Biden-Ukraine probe: 'What were you hiding?'

Sean Hannity opened his show Tuesday by reacting to what he called a "truly dishonest, disgusting" letter obtained by Fox News indicating that former President Barack Obama has privately bashed Senate Republicans’ investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son's dealings in Ukraine, a probe Obama's office said lent credence to a “Russian disinformation campaign."
"The office of the former president, Barack Obama, blasted a congressional investigation into Biden's dealing with Ukraine," Hannity said. "Wonder why. Now, the office actually accused the investigation [of] giving credence to a 'Russian disinformation campaign,' and this ridiculous letter insinuated lawmakers were just spreading Russian propaganda."
"This is all a lie, what Obama put out tonight," Hannity continued, calling the letter "truly disgusting and dishonest."
"In reality, it was Obama. It was his administration. It was Biden. They are the ones that spent months and months propagating the Russian disinformation campaign. Uh, Barack? Did you ever hear of the dirty Russian dossier that Hillary Clinton paid for? Of course you have."
The letter, addressed to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which manages presidential records, was written in response to a request on Nov. 21, 2019, by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson R-Wis., for Obama administration records on Ukraine-related meetings.
The letter described the senators' request as improper use of the NARA’s release terms and a supposed effort “to shift the blame for Russian interference in the 2016 election to Ukraine.”
It goes on to cite testimony from former National Security aide Fiona Hill who derided the idea of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election as a “fictional narrative that is being perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services.”
"Members of your administration, they used that unreliable Clinton-bought-and-paid-for, Russian misinformation from the get-go filled with Russian lies," Hannity said, addressing Obama. "Why? To deny Carter Page his civil liberties and civil rights because your people were spying, meaning [former FBI Director] Jim Comey and company, on the Trump campaign deep into the Trump presidency.
"That would be under your watch. Your guy, Jim Comey and company," Hannity went on. "That same Russian dossier was used to commit fraud on FISA applications, premeditated fraud."

"In reality, it was Obama. It was his administration. It was Biden. They are the ones that spent months and months propagating the Russian disinformation campaign."
— Sean Hannity, Fox News

The letter's release comes after Grassley and Johnson, who respectively chair the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month demanding more information on the Obama administration’s dealings in Ukraine.
"What did Obama know, and when did he know it? What did Biden know and when did he know it?" Hannity questioned.
"Ultimately, if President Obama was so concerned about Russian collusion, then he would've listened to Congressman Devin Nunes because Nunes warned Biden and Obama that in 2014, Russia would be playing around in their elections as they have in the past. He wouldn't have dismissed  [Utah Sen. Mitt] Romney's warning in 2012 either," Hannity said.
"Well, Barack, what... were you hiding from we, the people? We would like answers."
Fox News' By Bradford Betz and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Gavin Newsom King of California Cartoons

Biden pressed to choose a black woman as his running mate

 

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a caucus night event in Las Vegas. As Biden’s search for a vice presidential running mate heats up, he is facing growing pressure to choose a black woman. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

DETROIT (AP) — 

After a devastating start to the Democratic primary, Joe Biden’s campaign was revived when black voters in South Carolina and throughout the South overwhelmingly sided with him. Now that he’s the presumptive Democratic nominee, black voters and leaders are pressing for him to pick a black woman as his running mate.

Biden launched a committee last week to begin vetting possible candidates for the vice presidency, a process he has said will likely last through July. He has already committed to picking a woman.

But black voters and leaders say he needs to go further and pick a black woman. They argue that Biden’s success — and that of the Democratic Party as a whole — depends on black people turning out to vote in November. They want a tangible return for their loyalty, not just a thank you for showing up on Election Day.

“Black people want an acknowledgement of the many years of support they have given the Democratic Party,” said Niambi Carter, a Howard University political science professor.

House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, whose endorsement in South Carolina was widely credited with helping widen Biden’s winning margin and start his avalanche of March primary victories, said “clearly” he would prefer a black woman. But he insisted he’s not pushing Biden in that direction.

“I’m the father of three grown African American women. So naturally I prefer an African American woman, but it doesn’t have to be,” Clyburn said. “I’ve made that very clear.”

Biden has been unusually vocal about the people he would consider as running mates. He’s referenced two black women, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia. Other black women, including Rep. Val Demings of Florida and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, have also been mentioned.

But Biden is also thought to be considering several white women, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

President Donald Trump said his November opponent owes the spot to Warren, theorizing that Sen. Bernie Sanders “would have won every single state on Super Tuesday” if Warren had dropped out of the primary race earlier.

In an interview Monday with the New York Post, Trump dismissed Abrams while claiming responsibility for her defeat in the 2018 Georgia governor’s race.

Zerlina Maxwell, a political analyst and former director of progressive media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said this is an opportunity for Biden to recognize the political force of black women.

“The Democratic nominee needs to make it completely clear that they understand the moment and that they understand that black women are the foundation of a successful Democratic Party at every level,” Maxwell said.

Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, said black voters are looking for “authenticity.”

“When folks have talked to us about what they want in a candidate, it is someone who can relate to them,” Shropshire said, noting the coronavirus’s disparate impact on black Americans.

But she said that doesn’t mean that a vice presidential nominee has to be a black woman.

“Having a black running mate checks that box for a lot of people, but I would also say in the same way that black voters weren’t simply during the primary contest saying, ‘Who’s the black candidate?’ I don’t think black voters are doing that for the vice presidential choice either,” she said, later adding the bottom line: “Ultimately, people want to win.”

Tharon Johnson, a prominent black strategist who worked for Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns, said Biden’s focus should be on “energy,” not necessarily on race.

“I am totally, 100% behind the narrative that it’s time for a black woman on the ticket,” Johnson said. “But he has to consider a lot of metrics. Who can he bring on that will increase enthusiasm and drive turnout in those states that matter most in November? And what characteristics are there that will bring that excitement?”

Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and a former Congressional Black Caucus chairman, is a forceful advocate for African Americans within Democratic politics. But he’s also absolute in his assertion that Biden cannot be forced to check a demographic box.

“I’m not sure that the VP is going to throw names out there just to appease people,” Richmond said.

Symone Sanders is the highest-ranking black woman on Biden’s staff and played a key role in shoring up Biden’s campaign in South Carolina. But he also has an older cadre of advisers reminding him of the complicated calculations in putting together a winning coalition.

Kenneth Walden, a 26-year-old black man who lives in the battleground state of North Carolina, said the pick must be a black woman.

“And if not, I believe that it would be a repeat of 2016, where we had an all-white ticket and everybody was not energized,” said Walden, who works in telecommunications and on a YouTube show. “Black people are going to feel betrayed. We’re not just voting based off just party lines anymore.”

Cierra Conerly, a 32-year-old entrepreneur and small-business owner, said she’s torn about whom she wants to see on the ticket, but she said it needs to be someone who can identify strongly with diverse groups.

“I’m African American, I’m a woman, I’m a business owner and I’m also LGBTQ” said Conerly, who lives in Arizona, another state Democrats hope to flip. “All of those aspects are really important and I want someone who is going to be able to speak to those.”

Taylor Harrell, the political director for Mothering Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for mothers, said Biden’s choice shouldn’t be all that complicated: Choose a black woman.

“It’s become a cute catchphrase to say ‘trust black women’ or that black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party, so if we’re truly the backbone, being the backbone should essentially mean being the vice president,” Harrell, a Detroit resident, said. “White people have had a voice for so long and having a black woman will allow us to feel like our voices are going to continue to be heard after they’ve been put on pause for these past four years.”

___

Barrow reported from Atlanta.