U.S. House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California) has renewed calls for an independent commission to investigate Russia’s interference in the U.S. electoral process and its possible ties to President Donald Trump's administration.
Pelosi in a July 14 news conference also said presidential adviser Jared Kushner's security clearance should be revoked in view of his attendance at a meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 along with Donald Trump Jr. and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Kushner is also Trump's son-in-law.
According to multiple U.S. media reports, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. in June 2016 was accompanied by a Russian-American lobbyist who is suspected of being a former Soviet counterintelligence officer.
The president’s son agreed to take the meeting after receiving an e-mail stating he would be given derogatory information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and that the information was purportedly coming from the Russian government.
The president and his son have claimed that the meeting was not unusual in politics and that no information was shared.
In the news conference on July 14, Pelosi and other top House Democrats said they will attempt to force a vote on the need for an independent commission, although as a minority party their power is limited.
The commission would be in addition to investigation into Russia-related matters by at least two congressional panels and a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department.