Rep. Elise Stefanik, a new appointed member of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, said she “absolutely believe[s] crimes were committed.”
“Look at most recently the bombshell news report of FBI head of counter-intelligence in New York state — part of the Mueller special investigation — he was taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Russia,” the upstate Republican told The Post days after Speaker Kevin McCarthy named her to the prestigious panel.
“So yes there are crimes.”
She was referencing ex-fed Charles McGonigal, busted this week for being on the payroll of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Like the Jan. 6 inquiry, the new House probe would have the power to issue criminal referrals. The congresswoman demurred on whether the committee would take such a step, saying the matter would be one for the larger GOP conference to make.
Stefanik said she was hopeful the subcommittee — created shortly after former president Trump’s home Mar-A-Lago was raided by the FBI — would yield “transparency and accountability” for the agencies.
“There will be legislation, I think, that will be introduced as a result of this oversight,” she said. “That’s not a partisan goal. These government agencies have a responsibility to serve the American people, not the other way around.”
Both Stefanik and subcommittee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have all but ruled out working with Democratic colleagues who will serve with them.
Democrats have not yet announced who they intend to appoint to the subcommittee, but that decision is expected in the coming days.
By Jon Levine
