Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announced Saturday afternoon that they will subpoena the bank records of the opposition research firm that produced an explosive dossier about President Donald Trump’s interactions with the Russian government leading up to the 2016 election.
“The parties have reached an agreement related to the House Intelligence Committee’s subpoena for Fusion GPS’s bank records that will secure the Committee’s access to the records necessary for its investigation,” a committee spokesperson said in a statement to reporters.
The subpoena comes after new revelations this week about the entities that contracted Fusion GPS to investigate Trump. The conservative news outlet Washington Free Beacon disclosed for the first time this week that it initially paid for the research during the 2016 Republican primary, work that was later funded by a law firm tied to the Democratic National Committee and the president campaign of Hillary Clinton.
Fusion GPS has recently been fighting House Republicans’ attempts to obtain their records, accusing committee chair Devin Nunes (R-CA), who has been unilaterally issuing subpoenas despite having recused himself the Russia investigation, of unprofessional conduct.
“You, and by extension, your staff, have proven to be unreliable partners in good faith negotiations, we cannot reasonably be expected to trust anything that you or your staff would represent to us,” the firm’s attorney wrote.
Nunes has also sent subpoenas to the Justice Department and FBI for any documents they may have about the controversial dossier, which was produced by a former British intelligence agent.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, who are still working to investigate allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, have accused Nunes of attempting to muddy the waters and distract from their work.
“Acting on the urging of the President who has repeatedly denied the intelligence agencies’ conclusions regarding Russian involvement in our election, they are designed to distract attention and pursue the President’s preferred goal – attacking Clinton and Obama,” ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a statement.
