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.
She is right. Kushner/Cohn/Powell faction... (helped by Jaime Gorelick of all people) is going to be the undoing of our winning.
One poster theorized that we were winning with Bannon but now that Kushner side is taking control it is another story.
Never thought I’d say this, but I’m up for a special prosecutor. Rudy Giuliani doing anything lately?
That's the only way to break this open. All we have now is "wild partisan accusations from disgraced Nunes".
Buck up. We knew how feckless they were. That’s why we elected Trump. At least they’re not dropping bombs on US today.
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.
He won’t.
I am not ready to jump off just yet but must admit I have been thinking about it lately. A couple more months of this crap and I'll just assume we've been suckered, it's Bush/Obama II and jump ship for some other port
The article hints this is from Ryan
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my take away too
Pretty bad when the press that sides with you sides against you.
Cover up!
You didn’t vote for Goldman Sachs and the GOPe? Think again.
So far they have been.
Well, to be fair, based on his track record I never saw him as a conservative, but I liked his apparent willingness to fight the #uniparty. But plenty of stuff has been happening lately that just doesn’t make sense. I mean in the way a story a teenager is telling you doesn’t make sense because they are lying.
They control the media, judges and the politians. You are never going to beat them this way. They control the US now and are not going to let that power go through law. We the people no longer have any power and that is not going to change without drastic measures which will never happen.
You may be right.
They may have discovered so many higher ups were involved with the Rice scandal, that they would just let the investigation die.............................
I have not read the comments yet, but this reeks of that POS rat Ryan!
This. There is no there there when it comes to Russia.
Is it possible, when push comes to shove going up against the “progressive Marxists”, that Pres. Trump himself is a wimp? Sometimes I think so.
Wow, just friggin’ wow! The UNIPARTY is on the march...now installing a BUSHIE into this slot heading up the soon-to-be “we’ve found NOTHING” investigation.
“Non-partisan” Ethics committee? Give me a break!
Ok, just a thought: this doesn’t change the facts. If anything, Rice more than ever needs to be called before this committee. This may work in our favor by allowing the House Intel Cmte to get back to digging into the probe, armed with new evidence about Rice. Strategically, this removes a major arrow from the Schiff/ Democrat quiver - that the probe is compromised. Now what? Schiff better be careful: if he keeps going on CNN implying Trump is guilty, Connoway could call for him to recuse himself. Nunes advanced the ball and now is handing off
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