Senate intel committee says House GOP leaked senator's texts

The Senate and the House are worlds apart on intelligence.

The Senate intelligence committee has concluded that Republicans serving on their counterpart in the House were behind a leak involving texts between a Senate Democrat and a lawyer with Russian connections, according to a report on Thursday.

The Senate panel’s leaders called for a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to discuss the breach last month, the New York Times reported.

Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) demanded the rare sit down to talk about their findings and general concerns about the House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

Earlier this month, Fox News published text messages between Warner and Hillary Clinton-connected lobbyist and lawyer Adam Waldman.

Warner was attempting to contact Christopher Steele, the former British spy behind a salacious dossier outlining alleged connections between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Trump erupted on Twitter after Fox published the texts, questioning why Warner would want a private meeting with Steele.

Warner and Burr issued a joint statement condemning “leaks of incomplete information out of context by anyone, inside or outside our committee.”

The leak came shortly after Nunes pushed for the release of a GOP-penned memo accusing top brass at the FBI of anti-Trump bias.

According to the Times, Waldman originally submitted the texts to the Senate committee as part of its investigation. A staffer for Nunes requested in January that copies of the messages also be shared with the House committee.

A spokesperson for Nunes did not deny that the committee had leaked the messages in a statement to the Times.

“The New York Times, a prominent purveyor of leaks, is highlighting anonymous sources leaking information that accuses Republicans of leaking information,” spokesperson Jack Langer told the Times. “I’m not sure if this coverage could possibly get more absurd.”

Burr told reporters on Thursday that he and Warner did not talk to Ryan specifically about concerns over Nunes. He added that he had “no ask” of the speaker.