BREAKING NEWS

Court papers show partisan split widening over Russia probe

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 - Top Democrats in the US House of Representatives are refusing to endorse a Republican move to find out who paid the research firm that commissioned a dossier alleging ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, a court document made public on Monday night showed.
The split is the latest sign of partisan feuding that current and former US officials say is undercutting a House Intelligence Committee probe into Russia's reported interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Republicans on the committee earlier this month subpoenaed an unidentified bank for the last two years of records of the accounts of Fusion GPS, the political research firm that hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to pull together the dossier on Trump.
The move was an apparent effort to find out who had paid for the work that led to the dossier. The firm assures its clients it will not disclose their identities.
Late last week, Fusion GPS sued the unnamed bank in federal court in Washington, requesting a court order to block the subpoena.
In Monday night's court filing, lawyers for the House of Representatives, saying they represented the Intelligence Committee, asked the court to reject Fusion's request.
But the legal challenge was made without support from Democrats, throwing into further question a tradition of bipartisanship in Congress on intelligence issues.
Democrats, who are in the minority, and some Republicans on the House panel, want to investigate Russia's role in the 2016 election, as well as allegations - so far unproven - that Trump's team colluded with the Kremlin.