epublicans are refusing to name members to the House Intelligence Committee and, in the process, are effectively stalling special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into the Trump-Russia scandal.
After pointing out that the arrest of former Trump adviser Roger Stone last week had been possible because the House Intelligence Committee provided a transcript of Stone's testimony to the special counsel's office,
MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow explained on Friday that the committee could also provide transcripts for testimony from other current and former Trump officials. If it was revealed to Mueller that they had lied under oath, he could file criminal charges against those individuals and perhaps acquire more information about the president in the process.
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The catch, though, is that House Republicans have been slow to assign members to the committee.
"Here's something to watch: All right, we've already got two people indicted for felonies for lying to House Intelligence, [Michael] Cohen and Stone," Maddow told her viewers. "Mueller had to obtain both of their transcripts from the House Intelligence Committee before he could file those charges. Is House Intelligence sending Mueller anybody else's transcripts? The thing to watch here is that, it turns out they actually can't. They can't until they have the intelligence committee up and running... and they can not do that until they have a full list of members for the intelligence committee. And so far Republicans are not naming any members for the Intelligence Committee."