House Intel Chair Asks Comey: Would You Probe Potential Clinton-Russia Ties?

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., listens during the committee’s hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2017, on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., listens during the committee’s hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2017, on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S... House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., listens during the committee’s hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2017, on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MORE LESS
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Monday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing was devoted to Russian interference in the U.S. election, including potential ties between President Donald Trump’s allies and Russian officials. But the committee’s Republican chairman made sure to get in some questions about Hillary Clinton.

“If this committee or anyone else for that matter, someone from the public, comes with information to you about the Hillary Clinton campaign, or their associates, or someone from the Clinton Foundation, will you add that to your investigation?” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) asked FBI Director James Comey. “If they have ties to Russian intelligence services, Russian agents, would that be something of interest to you?”

“If people bring us information about what they think is improper, unlawful activity of any kind, we will evaluate it,” Comey replied. “Not just in this context. Folks send us stuff all the time. They should keep doing that.”

Comey confirmed Monday that the FBI was conducting an investigation into whether there was “coordination” between the Russian government and Trump campaign.

The CIA, FBI and director of National Intelligence have all concurred that Russia intervened in the U.S. election in part to help Trump win the presidency.

Nunes said he wanted to make sure that the FBI, which had been investigating Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state throughout the campaign, was treating the former Democratic nominee with an equivalent degree of scrutiny.

“I just hope that if information does surface about the other campaigns—not even just Hillary Clinton’s, but any other campaigns—that you would take that serious also, if the Russians were trying to infiltrate those campaigns around them,” he said.

“Of course, we would,” Comey replied.

The President also brought up “contact with the Clinton campaign and the Russians” in a Monday morning tweet before the hearing began:

It was not immediately clear what contact he was referring to from his other tweets, which called “the Russian story” a “made up” creation of “the Democrats.”

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