Posted on 04/06/2017 7:10:17 AM PDT by Red Badger
Rep. Devin Nunes said Thursday he is stepping aside as chairman of the House intelligence committee because he is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly disclosing intelligence without proper authorization.
"The charges are entirely false and politically motivated, and are being leveled just as the American people are beginning to learn the truth about the improper unmasking of the identities of U.S. citizens and other abuses of power," Nunes said in a statement, adding that the allegations against him are "baseless."
Nunes said in a hastily-arranged press conference last month he had come into possession of classified information showing Trump transition team members were "incidentally collected" by U.S. intelligence agencies during their surveillance of foreign targets and improperly "unmasked." Nunes made his claim following a late-night trip to the White House where he reportedly met with senior administration officials who played a role in giving him classified information. (Nunes maintains they were not his original source.)
Rep. Mike Conaway, a Republican, will take Nunes's position as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as the Ethics Committee begins its probe.
The Ethics Committee is truly bipartisan, with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. The 18a investigation, as its known, has subpoena power and may also look into what Nunes told Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump when he briefed them following his March 22 press conference.
Ryan said Nunes staying on would be a "distraction" for the investigation into Russia's interference in the election and possible collusion with Trump's team. Ryan earlier expressed support for Nunes.
"He continues to have that trust, and I know he is eager to demonstrate to the Ethics Committee that he has followed all proper guidelines and laws," Ryan said in a statement. "In the meantime, it is clear that this process would be a distraction for the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in our election. Chairman Nunes has offered to step aside as the lead Republican on this probe, and I fully support this decision."
Nunes had not briefed Rep. Adam Schiff, his Democratic counterpart on the committee, before running to Ryan and Trump. That decision blew up an already strained committee, leading to recriminations from Democrats that Nunes was acting like a presidential pawn. The committee's downward spiral led to suspended hearings on the Russia probe, putting the onus on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
I have had my fill of this useless ass party.
When I hear that Pres Trump has hired two Obama ICE rats to lead it, it’s demoralizing. There is NO excuse for this!
“Nunes advanced the ball and now is handing off”
That’s how I read it. The article for this thread is laughable.
I find it interesting that most of the dems I converse with seem quite certain he will be gone soon. Their reasoning is that, having pissed off the left, he will proceeed to piss off congress, a big part of his farther right base and end up with not much of a base at all. It's possible. People in MA saw a similar phenomena with Scott Brown.
Is it the case that the ethics complaint is about that Nunes publicly revealed the mere fact that team Trump was spied upon, i.e., apparently inappropriately unmasked?
So the Dems and the Deep State are claiming they can use the national security apparatus to spy on an opposition presidential candidate, and if anyone publicly reveals the fact of that spying, then THAT is an illegal disclosure of classified information?
Unbelievable presumption and arrogance on the part of the Deep State.
So, Nunes steps aside because he leaks secrets, while investigating leaks of secrets. OK, Got it.
‘I think I’ve come across more perpetual malcontents on FreeRepublic over the last 9-10 months than I’ve seen at a Black Lives Matter rally.’
A thousand up-votes—and even that is too few. The gloom and doom around here lately is as thick as a London fog.
Nunes said this was a temporary step-down, not permanent. He will answer the ethics charges, get them dismissed, hopefully, and return to run the show.
I watch little, if any, cable news anymore, but with so many varying views and downright lying from the media, one doesn't know for sure what really is going on.
I prefer to read numerous sources online and glean from those, what is really going on. Better than watching the cable and network news operations telling me what to believe. My method is not perfect but it's better than wasting my time listening to propaganda from media organizations with agendas to push.
People should be more patient. Too many alarmists, naysayers and quick trigger fingers come out immediately and claim the sky is falling when it turns out that it may not be.
Many are mashing on the gas pedal too hard, as they say in the South. Take some deep breathes and slow it down some. Repeat after me, "We are blessed to have Donald Trump as our president right now and not that lying, corrupt crook Hillary Clinton." Puts things into perspective.
Just be patient. All is not lost.
Trump has said a lot of what I thought at the time was crazy things, and I thought those things would be the end of him.
I thought the Mexican thing would end him.
I thought the remarks about McCain would end him.
I thought the Meygan blood eyes thing would end him.
I thought the Kahn Muslim wife thing would end him. BUT, I was starting to wonder...
I thought the complaining about the Mexican-born judge in the Trump University thing would end him, maybe, if the press could twist it a little more.
By the time the pussy-grab thing happened, I doubted anything could end him.
Like the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going.
“I will not be surprised if Trump is removed from office within six months. At the very least he will be stripped of all power.”
Please share with us how this could actually occur? The GOP will suddenly start impeachment hearings? Not gonna happen lol.
The GOPe seems to be out in force this morning promoting all sorts of FUD. The Handwringers Association of FR seems to have gotten the same memo.
Will you be happy if none of your “dire” predictions never come to pass?
Article from yesterday—
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3541513/posts
US spy agencies intercept and unmask congressional figures as often as once a month
CIRCA ^ | Sara Carter
Posted on 4/5/2017, 10:33:39 PM by Bigtigermike
The U.S. government’s foreign surveillance sweeps up American lawmakers and their staffers so routinely now that Congress is alerted as often as once a month that its employees involved in intercepted conversations have been unmasked and their identities shared with intelligence or law enforcement agencies, Circa has learned.
The so-called Gates notifications — named for former CIA Director Robert Gates — go to the Gang of Eight leadership team in Congress. 2 of 29 The Gang of Eight includes the House speaker and minority leader, the Senate Republican and Democratic leaders and the bipartisan heads of both chambers’ intelligence committees.
Often though, the affected lawmakers or congressional aides aren’t told about the unmasking, unless it involves a security or hacking threat. So some affected lawmakers may not know about their appearance in unredacted executive branch intelligence reports, according to intelligence community sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The notifications are just one of many growing signs that what once was considered a rare event inside the intelligence community — the unmasking of a conversation involving Americans captured overseas by the National Security Agency or the FBI under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — is now becoming more widespread after President Obama lowered the thresholds and privacy protections for such sharing starting in 2011.
(Excerpt) Read more at circa.com ...
I dont know of him personally, but this link from another thread says otherwise. It looks like he votes consistently against almost every conservative postion. (I cant vouch for this group either, just passing on what I read on another thread.)
If this is true, not the person we want here.
https://www.conservativereview.com/members/mike-conaway/liberty-score/
The “leaking” attack on Nunes was very much like the “plagiarism” attack on Gorsuch. Both were invented by the left purely as a weapon. Both have no evidence. Nunes can step aside to help the real investigation go forward despite this new attack, and it was the right thing to do - once. Gorsuch should be confirmed by Saturday at the latest (thank God!). In the end we will win, but the Ctrl-Left is muddying the waters as much as possible.
That ain’t gonna stop!But if it were not for Nunes, Rice would not have changed her story about who done the unmasking of names. She said just doing her job I believe her but what was her job?
We shall see. Hold your cards.
It was Tom Foley (D) House Speaker who said: “The seriousness of the charge mandates that we investigate this.” “Even though there is no evidence,” he said, “the seriousness of the charge is what matters.”...................
It’s not a silent coup grin the left.the “conservative” movement is just as much a participant, if not more. The Republican party gives him zero help or cover.
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