Holder rips House Intel Republicans for ending probe: ‘Politics beat a desire for the truth’

Former Attorney General Eric Holder criticized Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee for deciding to end the panel’s probe into Russian election interference, declaring that “politics beat a desire for the truth.”

“Republican House [Intelligence Committee] shut down Russia probe before doing a complete job,” Holder tweeted Monday. 

“This is a coverup and a lasting stain on the reputation of what used to be a bipartisan Committee when it was run by Republican Rogers and Democrat Ruppersberger. Politics beat a desire for the truth.”

Republican House Intell Comm shut down Russia probe before doing a complete job This is a coverup and a lasting stain on the reputation of what used to be a bipartisan Committee when it was run by Republican Rogers and Democrat Ruppersberger. Politics beat a desire for the truth

— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) March 13, 2018

Holder was referring to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who led the House Intelligence Committee during the Obama administration. Rogers is now the director of the National Security Agency.

The pair were known for running the committee in a bipartisan fashion.

Political infighting has plagued the current leadership of the Intelligence panel.

GOP and Democratic lawmakers found themselves in a fierce PR battle over a pair of memos on whether the Department of Justice had abused a surveillance program against a Trump campaign aide.

The GOP memo claimed that that evidence showed that the program was abused and that the Justice Department was biased against Trump, while the Democratic memo refuted those allegations.

Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) also recused himself from the probe after the House Ethics Committee began investigating whether he disclosed classified information during the process.

Republicans on the committee announced earlier Monday that they were concluding their yearlong probe into Russian election interference.

GOP lawmakers are now finalizing their report on the results of the investigation, which they say will find that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential race.

Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, slammed Republicans for concluding the probe in a fiery statement.

“By ending its oversight role in the only authorized investigation in the House, the Majority has placed the interests of protecting the President over protecting the country, and history will judge its actions harshly,” Schiff said.

“If the Russians do have leverage over the President of the United States, the Majority has simply decided it would rather not know.”