THE TIGHTENING NOOSE:

[A]n announcement from Schiff shortly after the Wednesday morning vote underscored the ginormous reach of the 2.0 version of the investigation.

The investigation will examine the "scope" of the Kremlin's influence campaigns on American politics, both in 2016 and afterwards, and "any links/and or coordination" between anyone in the Trump orbit--the campaign, transition, administration, or, critically, the president's businesses--and "furtherance of the Russian government's interests." It will also look at whether "any foreign actor," not only Russians, has any "leverage, financial or otherwise" over Trump, "his family, his business, or his associates"--and whether such actors actively "sought to compromise" any of those many, many people.

A related line of inquiry will examine whether Trump, his family, and his advisers "are or were at any time at heightened risk of" being suborned by foreign interests in any way. That includes a vulnerability to foreign "exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure or coercion." All that makes it very likely that the committee examines Trump administration policy--think the Syria pullout, or ex-national security adviser and admitted felon Mike Flynn's attempts to work with Russia's military in Syria, or Trump's infamous Helsinki meeting with Vladimir Putin--through that lens.

Schiff said that the committee will also probe whether anyone, "foreign or domestic," currently or formerly sought to "impede, obstruct and/or mislead" the intelligence committee's investigation or any others, meaning Mueller's or the Senate intelligence committee's own inquiries. And that raises the prospect of examining whether the aforementioned witnesses before the panel obstructed it. Fellow Democrats on the committee have told The Daily Beast their desire to get several witnesses back before the panel whose testimony they consider questionable. Illinois Democrat Mike Quigley said last month there were "nine or ten" such witnesses on his radar, including the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

And with questions swirling about how heavily Trump attorney general nominee Bill Barr will withhold Mueller's final investigative report, Schiff indicated that the committee will form a sort of backstop for the public. He also indicated he'll work with other House committees, likely the oversight and judiciary panels, "on matters of overlapping interest," Schiff said.

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