GOP Members of House Intel: No Evidence of Collusion

Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican leading the Russia investigation on the House Intelligence Committee, on Monday told Fox News the panel has concluded its interviews and that it found no evidence of collusion.

“We found no evidence of collusion, and so we found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings,” Conaway said. “We found no evidence of any collusion of anything people were actually doing, other than taking a meeting they shouldn’t have taken or just inadvertently being in the same building.”

The year-long investigation was one of three on Capitol Hill looking into whether members of President Donald Trump’s campaign team colluded with Russians during the 2016 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.

Conaway said Republicans will confer with Democrats and move forward on putting together a report on its findings.

"We will now be moving into the next phase of this investigation, working with the minority on a report to give the American people answers to the questions they've been asking for over a year," said Conaway. "With the 2018 primary elections already underway, and just 238 days until the mid-term elections in November, it's important that we give the American people the information they need to arm themselves against Russian attempts to influence our elections."

But Democrats were reportedly not consulted on the findings, and some have said there are still witnesses to be interviewed, according to CNN. 

"There are a number of steps that I think any credible investigator would say, 'These need to be done,' and we still hope that they will be," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said last week after the committee interviewed former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Schiff, according to CNN, had not been told as of mid-Monday that Republicans planned to end the witness portion of the Russia investigation. 

Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, pushed for the panel to issue subpoenas for Lewandowski and outgoing White House communications director Hope Hicks after the pair did not answer several questions about their time in the White House. Republicans, though, did not follow through. 

Conaway said the committee conducted 73 interviews, reviewed over 300,000 documents and held nine hearings and briefings. 

"We are confident that we have thoroughly investigated the agreed-upon parameters, and developed reliable initial findings and recommendations," he said.

The Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee are still investigating any ties.