No answers yet in Russia probe, Grassley says

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Senate Judiciary Committee's probe into Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election hasn't yielded answers yet, but Sen. Chuck Grassley characterized the investigation as still in its early stages.

'Not yet,” the Judiciary chairman said Tuesday when asked if the committee is making progress toward understanding whether Russian interests attempted to influence the election of President Donald Trump, as well as whether they succeeded.

'Nor has any other committee,” Grassley added.

Whether FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller is making progress in his criminal investigation is unknown, Grassley said, and unless there is some leak, 'we won't know until he gets done.”

The Senate Intelligence Committee has taken the lead on the investigation into Russian interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. However, Grassley's Judiciary Committee has gained access to about 20,000 pages of emails from the Trump campaign and, according to news reports, memos that former FBI Director James Comey drafted of his meetings with Trump.

The Judiciary Committee also has heard from or is set to hear from a number of key players, including Donald Trump Jr. Most of the gatherings have either been closed-door hearings or interrogatories conducted by staff. Grassley said he favors hearing from those witnesses in open session in the future.

The Judiciary Committee is laying more groundwork for its investigation, Grassley said, as he and the ranking member, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, discuss 'what we're trying to do and the information we're trying to get.”

'We know (Russians) did things - who knows what their motive was - to make an impact here” just as they did in the Netherlands, France and, perhaps, Germany, Grassley said.

'They interfere with a lot of democracies,” he said. 'So we have accusations of what they might have accomplished, but there's been nothing of that proven” by the four congressional committees investigating.

His staff and Feinstein's have been meeting over how to proceed with the investigation and 'it would be fair to say we've reached understanding in principle, but we haven't reached any conclusion.”

'The details have not been worked out and I really can't talk about anything until those details have been worked out,” Grassley said.

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