Former Trump campaign adviser says he is not concerned about House panel’s request for documents
WASHINGTON – Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo said he is not concerned about being included on a list of 81 individuals and groups the House Judiciary Committee has requested documents from.
“This is just [Chairman] Jerry Nadler doing what he can to try to keep this ball in the air when the ball has deflated,” Caputo told TMN in an interview on Monday.
He added: “There was never any collusion. A crash squad of America’s best investigators, criminal investigators, with decades of experience and decades of Yale Law school education could not find it. Jerry Nadler isn’t gonna find it.”
Nadler (D-N.Y.) released the list on Monday. It includes officials from the Trump Organization as well as the president’s re-election and inaugural committees. Former administration officials Jeff Sessions, John Kelly, Hope Hicks, Steven Bannon and Reince Priebus are among those included on the list.
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III is soon expected to release his final report on the nearly two-year-long investigation into potential collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
President Trump has adamantly denied allegations of collusion and has called the probe a “witch hunt.” Trump used profane language to describe the investigation during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday.
Caputo said Democrats are investigating Trump for political reasons.
“I think they’re looking for any reason to harass the president,” he said. “And it’s for one reason: So this never happens again. So that no independent person ever runs for president again.”
Caputo said many of the document requests he received appear to be related to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and a Russian attorney. The attorney reportedly was linked to the Kremlin and offered to provide damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Caputo dismissed the request, noting he did not attend the meeting and was no longer employed by the campaign at that time.
Caputo privately testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in July 2017. He said he does not expect to testify before Congress again but is ready in the event he is called.
“If they call me in, it’s just for harassment. But I’ve been through a lot of harassment already. I’ve already lawyered up. So if they want to come at me, bring it.”
Caputo is a media consultant and political commentator. He served as a communications adviser for the Trump campaign but resigned in June 2016 amid a dispute with then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski is also on the committee’s list.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.