“If it’s not a legitimate and comprehensive and in-depth investigation, why would we be party to it?”<br />Ms. Speier said the committee’s Democrats — all nine of whom were interviewed by<br />— would not hesitate, “under certain circumstances,” to pull their support.<br />Mr. Nunes has belittled news stories about the Russian links of Mr. Trump’s associates and has pledged — along with Senator Richard M. Burr, the North Carolina Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee — to examine Mr. Trump’s accusations, made without evidence,<br />that President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of Trump Tower.<br />If Russia Inquiry Is Not ‘Legitimate,’ Democrats May Abandon It -<br />By EMMARIE HUETTEMANMARCH 11, 2017<br />WASHINGTON — They agreed just a week ago to the terms of a House Intelligence Committee<br />investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.<br />Still, Democrats are bracing for fights over subpoenaing witnesses<br />and documents — including, possibly, Mr. Trump’s tax returns — since Republicans have balked at an outside, independent inquiry into what intelligence officials say was an unprecedented intrusion into an American election by a foreign power.<br />Democrats expect the first major test of the investigation —<br />and Mr. Nunes’s stewardship — to come on March 20, when the committee holds its first public hearing.<br />Should the issue not be put to rest quickly, Ms. Speier said, “it would call into question the entire investigation.”<br />Several Democrats said they expected their desire to compel certain witnesses to testify to stoke friction among Republicans.
