Gowdy: ‘Russia Had Disdain’ For Clinton, Wanted To ‘Harm’ Candidacy

Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Washington. (AP Pho... Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) MORE LESS
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Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote in a statement Tuesday that the committee’s probe of Russian election meddling made clear “Russia had disdain for Secretary Clinton and was motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm her candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed.”

That statement, flagged by CNBC, seems to be at odds with the one-page summary of committee Republicans’ draft report on the probe released by Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) Monday. That document said in part that the committee had concurred with the intelligence community’s January 2017 assessment of Russian meddling “except with respect to Putin’s supposed preference for candidate Trump.” 

Conaway announced Monday that the committee had completed the information-gathering portion of its investigation and would share a draft report with Democrats Tuesday. Democrats on the committee, led by Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA), have long complained of Republicans’ handling of the probe.

Schiff said in an interview Tuesday that Democrats will release a minority report on Russian election meddling, including both evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and details on “the investigative steps that were never taken to answer further questions about the Russians and the Trump campaign’s conduct.”

CNBC noted that committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who stepped aside from his role leading the Russia probe over an ethics investigation, thanked Conaway, Gowdy and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) by name for their work on the investigation in a statement Monday.

Gowdy, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, announced in January that he would not seek re-election to Congress.

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