Intel Dems hire corruption expert, ex-prosecutor as they ramp up Russia probe: report

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have hired new staff, including a corruption expert and a former prosecutor, to work on their Russia probe, CBS reported Wednesday.

The party, now in the majority, has reportedly hired six staff members for the panel and plans to hire six more.

“There’s a lot of work yet to be done on Russia,” a senior committee official told CBS. “What we’re doing is we are creating a purpose-built team that will take the point on that.”

{mosads}Seven of the new staffers will reportedly focus on investigating ties between President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. 

Republicans on the committee deemed the investigation complete last year, but Democrats have said those finding were inconclusive.

The Intelligence Committee has expressed interest in bringing in Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, to testify, possibly to ask about dealings in Russia.

“We’re in discussions with his counsel, and that’s all I can say at this point,” House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told The Hill when asked about negotiations to bring Cohen before the committee late last week.

Schiff has made it clear previously that he wanted a team with more legal expertise, and now he seems to be forming it, and has more power as head of the committee.

“Unlike in the last Congress, when the investigation was undertaken by existing oversight staff, Chairman Schiff will now have a team better able to answer the key questions about Trump’s relationship with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his cronies,” the senior committee official told CBS.