Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that there is “significant evidence” of collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, despite special counsel Robert Mueller’s lack of indictments related to issue.
Schiff, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” was asked by host George Stephanopoulos how he squares his past assertions that there is evidence of collusion with Mueller’s decision not to charge anyone with such crimes.
{mosads}Schiff responded that there is “significant evidence of collusion” and pointed to evidence such as the Trump Tower meeting in 2016 between Trump campaign officials and Russians as well as alleged communications between former Trump adviser Roger Stone and WikiLeaks.
But Schiff added that “there’s a difference between compelling evidence of collusion” and whether Mueller concluded that “he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the criminal charge of conspiracy.”
“I have trust in his prosecutorial judgment, but that doesn’t mean, of course, that there isn’t compelling and incriminating evidence that should be shared with the American people,” Schiff said.
Mueller, who was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, on Friday submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr. Conservatives have celebrated the delivery of Mueller’s report and revelations that he won’t recommend new indictments as evidence that the special counsel concluded there was no collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
But Schiff and other Democrats have urged lawmakers not to draw conclusions before Mueller’s report is made public. A summary of Mueller’s main findings could be shared with Congress and made public as soon as Sunday.