House Intelligence Committee met with Ben Rhodes: Report

The House Intelligence Committee met with former Obama deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, according to a report Tuesday.

It was already known that Jared Kushner, top adviser and son-in-law to President Trump, on Tuesday spoke with members of the panel, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. CNN's Manu Raju tweeted Tuesday evening that the network's chief political analyst Gloria Borger had learned that Rhodes also spoke to the committee.

The Intelligence Committee is also investigating intelligence leaks, and Rhodes has become a person of interest for certain Republicans as someone who may be playing a role in the leaking of classified information from the Trump administration to reporters.

Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who is not a member of the intelligence panel, has accused Rhodes of being a primary source of the leaks causing harm to the Trump administration and called on Trump to remove all Obama official holdovers from his administration. The Florida Republican said in an interview on MSNBC earlier this month that Rhodes may be in contact with Obama holdovers in the National Security Council, who are behind the "selective leaking" hurting Trump's ability to conduct foreign policy.

DeSantis admitted he's spoken to Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina about it. While DeSantis said would defer to Gowdy, a member of the intelligence panel, to identify people of interest, he did say the panel has brought in some "big names."