Two top Republican senators are signaling that the intelligence community's top watchdog should probe potential "leaks" to reporters after the 2016 presidential election about the investigation into Russia's election meddling and President Trump
Donald TrumpPoll: 73 percent of Democratic voters would consider voting for Biden in the 2024 primary Biden flexes presidential muscle on campaign trail with Virginia's McAuliffe Has Trump beaten the system? MORE's campaign. The two senators previously requested a briefing from Attorney General William Barr
Bill BarrTrump: Washington/Lincoln ticket would have had hard time beating me before pandemic Trump says Barr 'never' told him he thought he'd lose election Speeches aren't enough: Biden must ditch bipartisanship, endorse ending filibuster MORE on his effort to investigate alleged "spying" during the 2016 election after Barr told lawmakers that he was looking into the issue.
Donald TrumpPoll: 73 percent of Democratic voters would consider voting for Biden in the 2024 primary Biden flexes presidential muscle on campaign trail with Virginia's McAuliffe Has Trump beaten the system? MORE's campaign. Sens. Ron Johnson
Ronald (Ron) Harold JohnsonThe Hill's Morning Report - Pelosi considers adding GOP voices to Jan. 6 panel McConnell pushes vaccines, but GOP muddles his message Ron Johnson: 'I may not be the best candidate' for 2022 midterms MORE (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley
Chuck GrassleyThe Hill's Morning Report - Pelosi considers adding GOP voices to Jan. 6 panel Ex-Rep. Abby Finkenauer running for Senate in Iowa Six takeaways: What the FEC reports tell us about the midterm elections MORE (R-Iowa) — the chairmen of the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees, respectively — sent a letter on Monday to Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, asking if his office was investigating "apparent leaks" from the intelligence agencies.
Ronald (Ron) Harold JohnsonThe Hill's Morning Report - Pelosi considers adding GOP voices to Jan. 6 panel McConnell pushes vaccines, but GOP muddles his message Ron Johnson: 'I may not be the best candidate' for 2022 midterms MORE (R-Wis.) and Chuck GrassleyChuck GrassleyThe Hill's Morning Report - Pelosi considers adding GOP voices to Jan. 6 panel Ex-Rep. Abby Finkenauer running for Senate in Iowa Six takeaways: What the FEC reports tell us about the midterm elections MORE (R-Iowa) — the chairmen of the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees, respectively — sent a letter on Monday to Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, asking if his office was investigating "apparent leaks" from the intelligence agencies. "Texts and emails demonstrate the need to investigate leaks from agencies or entities other than FBI," the two senators wrote in their letter.
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If an investigation isn't ongoing, the two senators want an explanation from Atkinson on why the watchdog office hasn't opened a probe.
A spokesperson for the intelligence community's inspector general office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter comes as Grassley, Johnson and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamSenate braces for a nasty debt ceiling fight Bipartisan group says it's still on track after setback on Senate floor How Sen. Graham can help fix the labor shortage with commonsense immigration reform MORE (R-S.C.) are laying the groundwork for their own probe into the 2016 election, including the FBI's handling of the probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden flexes presidential muscle on campaign trail with Virginia's McAuliffe Shontel Brown gaining ground against Nina Turner in Ohio: poll Biden hits trail for McAuliffe in test of his political brand MORE's emails and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant application on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Lindsey Olin GrahamSenate braces for a nasty debt ceiling fight Bipartisan group says it's still on track after setback on Senate floor How Sen. Graham can help fix the labor shortage with commonsense immigration reform MORE (R-S.C.) are laying the groundwork for their own probe into the 2016 election, including the FBI's handling of the probe into former Secretary of State Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden flexes presidential muscle on campaign trail with Virginia's McAuliffe Shontel Brown gaining ground against Nina Turner in Ohio: poll Biden hits trail for McAuliffe in test of his political brand MORE's emails and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant application on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Bill BarrTrump: Washington/Lincoln ticket would have had hard time beating me before pandemic Trump says Barr 'never' told him he thought he'd lose election Speeches aren't enough: Biden must ditch bipartisanship, endorse ending filibuster MORE on his effort to investigate alleged "spying" during the 2016 election after Barr told lawmakers that he was looking into the issue.In one text message from December 2016 included in the Grassley-Johnson letter, Strzok is quoted as texting that he thought "our sisters have begun leaking like mad." The letter doesn't clarify who "sisters" refers to, and Grassley and Johnson also appear to be in the dark about who it is.
In another email, Strzok in April 2017 posits that an "agency" got more information than he previously realized and adds "might explain all these weird/seemingly incorrect leads all these media folks have. Would also highlight agency as source of some of the leaks."
The GOP senators also appear not to know who the "agency" in question is, asking in their letter to the intelligence community watchdog who Strzok is referring to and why he thinks it implies an agency is leaking. But the two senators say in their letter that Strzok's email is in response to a Guardian article about British intelligence agencies alerting their U.S. counterparts about contact between members of Trump's campaign and Moscow.
