Thread by @Olivia_Gazis

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee this morning are boycotting a public hearing convened on emerging technologies and national security, citing the committee's lack of hearings or briefings on FISA abuse.

In a letter to Chairman Adam Schiff, GOP members write, “Until the Committee prioritizes oversight activities related to urgent and critical concerns, Republican Members cannot support distractions from our core responsibilities”

Here’s the half-empty dais

In their letter, Republicans say there are “numerous committees” in the House that can conduct hearings on emerging science and technology matters, and that House Intel should focus on “critical issues we are uniquely postured to address.”

But...

... it’s very much worth noting the country’s counterintelligence chief warned just this Monday of the growing threat from foreign adversaries leveraging new technologies for espionage:

cbsnews.com/news/u-s-count…

Subcommittee chairman @jahimes called GOP letter "as wrongheaded as it is mendacious," and said Rep. Stewart (its ranking member) told him GOP was reluctant to engage in committee's public work because of grievances related to impeachment - an issue not mentioned in their letter

@jahimes The hearing is nonetheless ongoing, and streaming here:

“Even as this committee was the epicenter of the polarizing impeachment debate [it]... succeeded in compartmentalizing the emotions...of impeachment and the critical work we do on behalf of the American people,” Himes said. “That rubicon has been crossed”

cbsnews.com/news/republica…

Reminder that early last year House Intel restructured its subcommittees around thematic challenges across the intelligence community, rather than keeping them agency-specific

cbsnews.com/news/adam-schi…