Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that Democrats will consider a subpoena for National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe after he announced the House and Senate intelligence committees would no longer receive in-person briefings on election security.
In a letter to the heads of those committees Friday, the nation's top intelligence official said the move was intended to ensure intelligence regarding "elections security, foreign malign influence, and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized."
Ratcliffe said on Fox News'
"Sunday Morning Futures" that he would "continue to keep Congress
informed" through written updates. He explained the main reason for the
change was to stop "a pandemic of information being leaked out of the
intelligence community."
"Congressional oversight of intelligence activities now faces a historic crisis," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a statement Saturday after Ratcliffe's announcement.
Rubio bemoaned intelligence leaks, citing media reports that included information shared by National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina in briefings this month.
"Yet, this
grotesque criminal misconduct does not release the intelligence
community from fulfilling its legal requirements to respond to
Congressional oversight committees," Rubio said. He said Ratcliffe
"stated unequivocally that he will continue to fulfill these
obligations" and "explicitly" said the Senate Intelligence Committee
"will continue receiving briefings on all oversight topics, including
election matters."
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