2016 ELECTION/GOP/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Republican lawmakers say they’re approaching the end of their investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election even though the most politically explosive issue — whether associates of President Donald Trump colluded with the Kremlin — remains unresolved.
That will present Democrats who have spent a year amplifying suspicions about Trump’s own ties to Russia with a wrenching choice: to join Republicans and set aside the most momentous aspect of their probes — or to break from the GOP and end any chance of presenting a united front against a continuing Russian threat.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has suggested his panel’s investigation will end early next year, emphasizing that he wants to wrap up by February, ahead of the first 2018 primary elections.
His panel still has a long list of witnesses to interview, but Burr described the timeline as a ‘mathematical equation,’ one pitting the ability of the committee to schedule meetings against the calendar. And he’s hinted it’s possible the report will find no evidence of collusion between Trump allies and Moscow…
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who’s leading the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, told POLITICO this week that he hopes to finish before the Senate.”
-Kyle Cheney and Elana Schor, “GOP winds down Russia probes with Trump collusion unanswered,” Politico, Oct. 27, 2017 05:04am