Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. is warning Americans that the Republicans who control the House Intelligence Committee may be planning on scotching the investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russian government officials.
Schiff, who is the ranking member of the committee, explained on Twitter that Republican committee members were putting on the show of conducting an actual investigation while actually doing everything in their power to undermine it. He also characterized their effort as part of a larger Republican campaign to delegitimize the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Schiff's observations have coincided with a news cycle which has made it increasingly clear that Trump is planning on clamping down against those investigating his possible Russia connections. Trump has already publicly attacked Mueller by telling reporters earlier on Friday that his investigation has been "really, really disgraceful," potentially laying the groundwork for firing Mueller in the near future. That has been reinforced by conservatives in the media who have embellished on a series of anti-Trump text messages sent by two FBI agents to imply that it may be biased against the president.
In addition, Trump told those reporters that he wanted "to rebuild the FBI. It will be bigger and better than ever."
Trump has also refused to rule out pardoning Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser who has been cooperating with prosecutors in their investigation into the president. If Flynn were pardoned by Trump, he would no longer have reason to continue cooperating.
"I don’t want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet. We'll see what happens. Let's see. I can say this: When you look at what's gone on with the FBI and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry," Trump said when asked about the possibility of pardoning Flynn.
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