GOP lawmaker: It’d be a ‘surprise’ if House panel concluded Russia probe this year

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who is leading the House Intelligence Committee’s probe into Russia’s election meddling, said Tuesday that it is unlikely that the panel will conclude its investigation by the end of the year.

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if the committee’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election could wrap up this year, Conaway said that it “would be a surprise” if it did.

“No,” Mike Conaway just told me when asked if House Intel would try to conclude Russia investigation this year and issue its report. “That would be a surprise.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 28, 2017

{mosads}

The House Intelligence Committee is one of three congressional panels looking into Russian efforts to disrupt and influence the presidential race between President Trump and Hillary Clinton. Special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.

The House Intelligence probe, however, has been the subject of some political controversy.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), was forced to step aside from the Russia probe earlier this year after it was revealed that he received classified information from the White House showing that Trump and his associates were incidentally swept up in U.S. foreign surveillance.

After Nunes stepped aside, Conaway helped put the committee’s investigation back on track, and has largely maintained a good rapport with the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.).