An outraged Rep. Trey Gowdy on Thursday slammed the news media for leaks of DNI Dan Coats testimony to the House Intelligence Committee "before the transcript's even dry."
"Eight hours ago, Adam Schiff and I looked Dan Coats in the eyes – and we assured him that there would be no selective leaking of his testimony to us," the South Carolina Republican told Erin Burnett on CNN.
He was referring to the committee's vice chairman, Schiff, who is a California Democrat.
"And, I'll be damned if eight hours later there aren't three different leaks of what he told us.
"If anyone is questioning why congressional investigations aren't taken seriously, and are viewed as political exercises, you need to look no further than the fact that we looked one of our intelligence officials in the eyes and promised him there would be no selective leaking," Gowdy said.
"And here I'm being asked about it, not even eight hours later."
CNN and NBC News were among the news organizations reporting Coats told committee members President Donald Trump had asked him repeatedly to say publicly no Russian collusion occurred during the election.
Burnett then asked Gowdy who might have leaked the testimony.
"There were eight people in the room," the representative said. "I can tell you who it was not.
"It was not me. And I do not believe it was Adam Schiff. He's a former federal prosecutor who knows that leaks undercut the efficacy and integrity of investigations.
"I can't tell you who it is.
"But I can tell you this: You're going to have a chilling effect on other witnesses who want to share classified, sensitive information when it makes its way to the headlines before the transcript's even dry."
When Burnett suggested Coats himself might have been the leaker, Gowdy snapped: "No, no, no. No.
"I don't think the man who asked us to promise that we would not leak the information leaked it.
"I don't know who it was," he said. "I'm not going to speculate. I'm not going to guess."
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