Trump’s finance and foreign relations to be investigated

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced on  Wednesday that  a committee would investigate  "beyond Russia" whether personal interest was  at the core of President  Donald Trump's executive decisions 

Background 

The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committee in the U.S. House of Representatives charged with the oversight of the United States Intelligence Community, though it does share some jurisdiction with other committees in the House, including the Armed Services Committee for some matters dealing with the Department of Defense and the various branches of the U.S. military.

The committee was preceded by the Select Committee on Intelligence between 1975 and 1977. House Resolution 658 established the permanent select committee, which gave it status equal to a standing committee on July 14, 1977.

Adam Bennett Schiff is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 28th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Schiff has served in Congress since 2001. Schiff is an influential voice for the Democratic Party on foreign policy and national security issues in the House of Representatives. He previously served on the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee and serves on the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Analysis 

Adam Schiff said the investigation would "allow us to investigate any credible allegation that financial interests or other interests are driving the decision-making of the President or anyone in the administration."

"That pertains to any credible allegations of leverage by the Russians or the Saudis or anyone else," Schiff told reporters after the House Intelligence Committee's first meeting in the new Congress. In his statement, Schiff said the investigation would include a continued probe into Russia's actions during the 2016 election and contacts between the Russia and Trump's team, as well as an examination of "whether any foreign actor has sought to compromise or holds leverage, financial or otherwise, over Donald Trump, his family, his business, or his associates."

Schiff said the investigation, which could involve additional congressional committees, would also look at whether Trump or his associates have "sought to influence US government policy in service of foreign interests" and any potential obstruction into the various investigations.

Schiff's announcement is the most detailed look yet into how congressional Democrats will investigate Trump's finances and possible ties to foreign entities, and how Democrats are sure to continue probing Trump and his team well after special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation had concluded.

Trump reacted Wednesday to Schiff's announcement by slamming the California Democrat and saying Schiff has "no basis to do that." "He's just a political hack trying to build a name for himself," Trump said in the Roosevelt Room on Wednesday after announcing his new nominee to be World Bank president. "It's called presidential harassment and it is unfortunate." Trump's comments followed his State of the Union speech Tuesday in which he warned Democrats against undertaking "ridiculous partisan investigations." Schiff responded to Trump's attack on Twitter, saying: "We're going to do our job and won't be distracted or intimidated by threats or attacks.

The House Intelligence Committee met for the first time in the new Congress Wednesday and took its first action by voting to send more than 50 transcripts from its Russia investigation interviews to Mueller. The panel approved the motion to send the transcripts by voice vote, according to Republican Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas.

The committee already sent one transcript to Mueller in December after the special counsel's office requested Roger Stone's interview. Federal prosecutors accused Stone of lying to the committee in his seven-count indictment last month. Republicans also pushed for an extension of the House GOP investigation into alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Assessment 
Our assessment is that the new Congress has begun acting on its promise to check President Trump’s growing power in Washington. We believe that the House Intelligence committee would also like to review the decisions to withdraw troops from Syria as well as the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs.