Pro-Trump oppo researcher who worked with dead Clinton email hunter asked to appear before Senate Intel Committee

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday contacted a pro-Trump opposition researcher who worked with the late Peter Smith to talk about the 2016 election, the Daily Caller reports.

Chuck Johnson—who founded the website GotNews.com and, according to his Wikipedia bio, "periodically makes false and unsubstantiated claims"—told the Caller he believes the committee wants to speak about his work with Smith, a longtime opposition researcher who was on the hunt for Hillary Clinton's 30,000 emails before his sudden death earlier this month.

Authorities say Smith killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room just days after telling Wall Street Journal he believed Russian hackers were in possession of copies of more than 30,000 emails stolen from Clinton’s server. Smith also suggested he worked with Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Johnson—who served on Trump’s transition team—told the Caller he believes Smith had “a lot of points of contact” with Flynn, though he did not think the former National Security Adviser was engaged in Smith’s quest for Clinton’s emails.

Johnson said he intends to testify in a public setting, adding he will turn any appearance before the committee into a “circus.”