financial records that show that the trump people principally paul monfort myself and somebody named carter paige who in all honestly i've never had of had contact with russians. no one has ever seen these documents, these are what the russians call assessments. >> you have never been to russia? >> i've never been to russia, no contact with the russian state or russian intelligence. i had no contacts with people who might have been a go-between without my knowledge. >> so that's your denial on the record. >> that's my denial. >> you have known president for a long time. take a listen to john podesta talking about you. >> diplomats said post election they were talking to the trump campaign roger stone in august, foreshadowed the fact they were hacked by e-mails and those would be forthcoming, carter paige one of trump's foreign policy advisors went to russia before the republican convention and met with the person in the russian hierarchy responsible for collecting intelligence. >> the view is you have some inkling? >> at the time podesta and his m m minions were savaging of -- being aware of the

carter paige, paul manafort, general flynn, very much ongoing, several people under investigation for russia in the trump world. how much bigger could this get? >> well, that's why it's absolutely critical i think to undertake one of these independent investigations that the people are talking about on both sides of the political aisle. it's interesting, it's always been the case, with the trump camp that the more that you pull on the string that connects back to russia the more stuff that comes out. as was mentioned, manafort, paige, now flynn. so we really don't know exactly where it's going to end and having spent a lot of time doing counterintelligence myself, as you start to pull on strings like that it often turns very quickly into a ball of yarn you have to pay a lot of attention to and try to run every single thing down that you can. you have to wear a black hat. you have to think of what the worst-case scenario might be, even though it might not be the case, you still have to consider it. a lot of investigative work remains. >> what is the worst case? >> well, the worst-case

carter paige, a trump campaign person asked to resign after some suspicious ties between him and russiamerged. paul manafort all had to resign after suspicious ties between him and russia e verged. you've got also what the entire intelligence community concluded was a concerted effort by russian intelligence to just sort of meddle in our election. what's best is for folks to agree that we're not going to have a new election. the election is settled. there was no link between russian interference and the actual outcome. but this is a national security issue that we are clearly facing. lot of folks that i talk to in the intelligence community, we are faced with an adversary that's interested in stealing information in a way the public can't fully perceive. >> jenna: it's difficult to know who to trust. john roberts brought up something interesting at the beginning of the show. yes, we do know there's surveillance of an ambassador. but when that surveillance is taking place, the identity of an american citizen, that person on the other side of the call, a private american citizen, is class

connections to pro-putin figures in ukraine and alleged meetings between former trump adviser carter paige and russian individuals under u.s. sanctions. manafort and paige have denied any wrongdoing. the fbi also continues to investigate a 35-page dossier compiled by a former british intelligence agent alleging russia has compromising personal and financial information about donald trump. cnn was first to report on friday the intelligence agencies have corroborated aspects of the dossier, specifically calls between russian officials and other russian nationals known by u.s. intelligence for sharing information damaging to hillary clinton and helpful to donald trump. former obama adviser ben rhodes tweeting today, when campaign chairman and national security adviser resign over russia ties there is more. manafort and flynn had nothing in common except russia and trump. president trump for his part continues to make public statements seemingly defending vladimir putin, telling fox news he respects the russian leader earlier this month. >> putin's a killer. >> a lot of killers. a lot of kille

top trump cronies like carter paige, paul maniford, and michael flynn all had regular communications with high-level russian intelligence agents at the same time they were engaging in hacking. the national security advisor resigned in disgrace. because of illegal communication with the russian ambassador. the president refuses to denounce vladimir putin and continues to try to make russia great again. connect the dots. it's time for house republicans to do your job and put country ahead of party. join us in a bipartisan investigation of the white house. what did the president know, and when did he know it? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair would remind members to avoid improper references to the president. for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition? without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today on behalf of the many veterans and the work that congress is doing to support and represent them on the house floor this week. these are the heros that keep us safe and secure each and every day. mr. yoder: this week the body passed a

others were attached to the trump campaign, his manager, paul manifort, and russian energy advisor, carter paige. meanwhile, russia's putin is the same k.g.b. thug he always has been, continuing to invade countries in eastern and central europe, propagate a war in syria, as well as a bloody war against ukraine. the american people deserve to know the full extent of russia's financial, personal and political grip on the trump administration. and congress should meet its constitutional responsibilities to protect our national security. protect our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. the american people need to know whether russian creditors or their intermediaries are helping prop up the trump commercial empire. this congress needs to do its job, conduct hearings, subpoena witnesses, and bring truth to the american people about the trump administration's ties to russia. i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, -- >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does t