White House Intelligence Briefing on Confidential Informant Must Include Gang of 8

Statement of Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn

Tomorrow’s White House briefing by law enforcement and intelligence officials to discuss a confidential informant’s interactions with Trump campaign officials in 2016 cannot be a closed partisan meeting and must include members of both political parties through the “Gang of Eight.” Despite President Trump’s assertions on Twitter, the entire U.S. intelligence community has concluded beyond a doubt that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. And it has been widely documented that numerous members of the Trump campaign, including the President’s own son, took meetings throughout the campaign with Russians and other foreign nationals offering assistance to the campaign.

The investigation has already yielded more than a dozen indictments or guilty pleas. No American is above the law, not even the president. The investigation of Russia’s election attacks must be allowed to run its course and the evidence followed wherever it leads.

With regard to tomorrow’s briefing, even more troubling than the partisan makeup of participants is the fact that House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) is even participating. Nunes has repeatedly proven himself recklessly irresponsible with classified information and has made a concerted effort to distort the truth and undermine the credibility of law enforcement officials investigating the Russian attack on the 2016 election.

This briefing must be bipartisan or it runs the risk of being grossly distorted and overtly politicized by Nunes who has repeatedly chosen to put his political party before his country. Americans deserve better.