San Antonio's Will Hurd Demands Intelligence Committee Chair Step Down for Suggesting Trump May Have Colluded With Russia

Days after landing on the cover of Texas Monthly for his history of standing up to the president on border issues, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd appears to have gone all-in for Team Trump.

On Thursday, the San Antonio Republican joined the other GOP members on the House Intelligence Committee in demanding the resignation of Rep. Adam Schiff as chairman. In a letter, the nine U.S. Reps blasted Schiff for lying about the president's possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.

"Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming," read the letter, also signed by Texans Mike Conaway and John Ratcliffe.

As evidence of Trump's innocence, the lawmakers pointed to the completed two-year probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Although Mueller's final report remains unavailable, Attorney General Bill Barr last week assured the nation it clears Trump of collusion.

Shiff delivered a scathing response to his Republican colleagues, saying they'd given Trump and his cronies a pass on numerous counts of alarming behavior that suggested the president might be conspiring with — or compromised by — the Russian government.

Perhaps Hurd's willingness to call for the chairman's ouster should be no surprise given the San Antonio congressman's record. The former CIA operative has struck a delicate balancing act as he tries to keep his seat representing a border district with a long history of flipping between red and blue control.

Family separations and 30-foot walls aren't likely to site well with the district's constituents, so Hurd's frequently spoken out against them. However, outside of those issues, his record largely squares up with Trump's.

Hurd votes in line with the president's positions 82 percent of the time, according to a recent FiveThirtyEight analysis. He's also received dismal 2017-2018 approval ratings from progressive groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (7 percent), Common Cause (0 percent) and the League of Conservation voters (11 percent).

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