Evidence of Trump campaign crimes exists, says Democrat Intelligence committee member

He says that his committee's investigation doesn't have the resources it needs to track all the leads they have received

A Democratic congressman on a committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election says that he has seen evidence of criminal activity by members of the Trump campaign.

Representative Joaquin Castro, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, was responding to a question from MSNBC’s Joy Reid, which specifically mentioned hearings that the committee held last year with Fusion GPS, which compiled the contentious dossier that purportedly held damaging information about President Donald Trump.

“Do you believe that you heard evidence of crimes committed by members of this administration,” Reid asked.

“Yes,” Mr Castro responded, before adding that he doesn’t think that the Intelligence Committee has adequate resources for their investigation.

“A big concern hat I have is that there’s not enough resources, or energy or time that’s been committed to tracking down the leads that have been given to us,” Mr Castro said.

Mr Castro's office did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on what kind of criminal evidence he has seen, or who may have been involved.

The House Intelligence Committee is one of at least five investigations looking into Russian meddling into the 2016 election, including the FBI-appointed special counsel headed by Robert Mueller. Mr Mueller’s investigation, while held under tight wraps, has produced four indictments on charges ranging from money laundering accusations to lying on federal disclosure forms.

Fusion GPS, a national research firm, first became involved in the 2016 election when it was hired by Republicans during the 2016 primary, but was later hired by lawyers from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to investigate potential ties between Mr Trump and Russian individuals.

The dossier Fusion GPS produced has yet to be verified, and have become a source of contention given its various financing sources.

Even so, Fusion GPS has so far rejected the suggestion that their work started the Trump-Russia investigation. That investigation was reportedly launched by President Barack Obama’s Justice Department as more evidence of connections between Mr Trump — who has had business dealings in the country in the past, and who frequently spoke highly of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the campaign — came to light.