Devin Nunes steps away from Russia probe
Follows weeks of attacks from Democrats and media, and filing of ethics complaint by liberal groups.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who exposed the “unmasking” of information regarding the Trump transition team by the Obama administration, has announced he will step aside from the Russia investigation
This is a major victory for Democrats, who have smeared and attacked Nunes, and comes after liberal interest groups filed ethics complaints against Nunes, leading to an ethics investigation.
[Post to be updated]
I'm on phone w/ Nunes. He confirms he's no longer leading the Russia probe but *remains* chairman of the Intel committee.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) April 6, 2017
From The Hill:
“Several leftwing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics,” Nunes said in the statement. “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 unmaking of the identities of U.S. citizens and other abuses of power.”
Nunez [sic] said he will continue to fulfill his other duties as chairman.
“I am requesting to speak to the Ethics Committee at the earliest possible opportunity in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims.”
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) will take over the investigation while Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-PA) will offer assistance.
The ethics committee confirmed an investigation into Nunes:
“The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Devin Nunes may have made unauthorized disclosures of classified information, in violation of House Rules, law, regulations, or other standards of conduct,” the ethics panel said.
“The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), is investigating and gathering more information regarding these allegations.”
The statement noted that the existence of a probe does not mean Nunes broke any rules.
Added:
How important was what Nunes uncovered and made sure would be part of the investigation? Peter King says the information on individuals was personal, like an oppo research file:
The intelligence reports at the center of the Susan Rice unmasking controversy were detailed, and almost resembled a private investigator’s file, according to a Republican congressman familiar with the documents.
“This is information about their everyday lives,” Rep. Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence committee said. “Sort of like in a divorce case where lawyers are hired, investigators are hired just to find out what the other person is doing from morning until night and then you try to piece it together later on.”
This is a major win for the Democrats. The one person willing to stick his neck out to get to the truth is now gone. Can you imagine a Democrat stepping aside under these circumstances? Not on your life. Adam Schiff is still there. This also will feed the beast, as MoveOn.org, which filed an ethics complaint, will be encouraged.
Republicans in Congress can be so stupid and weak it’s maddening.
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Comments
This is awful
Yes. This is repulsive, and it bodes ill for supposed congressional “investigations”.
The left shrieks and a Republican caves. My guess is that he did not have much support from Republican “leadership.”
They’re called the “Uni-Party” for good reason.
[B]odes ill for supposed congressional “investigations”.
Yes and no. Now the Democrat shriekers have Gowdy to deal with. They may be sorry that they did this.
Gowdy looks good on TV, but I never saw any results come out of his TV show.
Really? His investigation dragged Hillary through enough mud that she lost the election last fall. Remember, it’s a political investigation, not a criminal one. You can’t expect people to go to jail, the best you can hope for is political ruination, which he achieved with respect to that vile old hag Hillary.
Why do spineless Republicans give in when Democrats and the opposition press scream? Oh, yeah. Because they’re spineless.
Does Nunes still raise his hand when he needs a toilet break?
I think the state of the GOP is the only state with more caves than the state of Tennessee.
Cave ins also.
Look at the group of losers that we have “Fighting” for us. Collins and Murkowski on every nominee that Trump has come up with threatened to “Carefully” consider each and every one. They did get rid of Pudzer for the EPA. Then Sessions “Recuses” himself from anything to do with Russia. Flynn quits for lying to Pence. Paul Ryan has no clue how to be Speaker of the House. Comey should have been fired from the FBI. Koskenin should have been fired from the IRS. Now Nunes quits because the Dems think he is biased! Do we have anyone with any guts left?
Who is Pence anyway? He reminds of that news reader from the Mary Tyler Moore show.
Now that is just a silly, unwarranted remark.
So you don’t know who he is either? Why did Trump run to his defense as if Pence was a little girl who’d had her virtue questioned?
I’ve never heard Pence say or do anything at all remarkable. Have you?
Not only do you make silly, unwarranted remarks, but your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired as well.
There are days that I wish there were a mechanism for filing civil suit against groups that make baseless ethics complaints.
The problem is that eventually it would be abused by a party in power against a political group that made an entirely valid ethics complaint, but the party in power (the Democrat party, in the future) would make a sham finding that it was baseless (regardless of the actual facts) in order to punish the Conservative group that would be bringing the suit.
It’s time to stop playing by the Democrat rules where they have unfettered reign to throw tantrums and the Republicans are supposed to be the “reserved” ones.
Somebody ought to file ethics charges against Adam Schiff in retribution, demanding that he resign for failing to properly investigate the claims of unmasking and making knowingly false statements to the United States population regarding the events.
That being said, the whiny brats who brought this baseless “ethics” complaint now have Trey Gowdy to deal with. He WILL subpoena Susan Rice about the unmasking, and when she refuses to testify, I fully expect that he WILL have her found in Contempt, AND with Jeff Sessions at DOJ, we WILL have her Jailed for Contempt of Congress until she answers what President Obama knew and when he knew it about the unmasking.
Let’s see exactly how many prior administration officials we can determine committed federal felonies, and see jailed.
Democrat’s spent YEARS screaming “no one is above the law.” It’s time for them to EAT those words.
Have you noticed that Dems NEVER resign for any reason? Sex scandal, money scandal, ethics scandal, top secret security violations scandal, lying scandal, voting scandal, presidential debate questions scandal and not ONE SINGLE Demorat has resigned or “Stepped down”!
It’s easier to deflect and ignore opposition when the media has your back.
Obama’s loosening of the surveillance rules before leaving office guaranteed that there would be enough material available to blackmail everybody, and its working. This is logarithmic McCarthyism, a soft coup that reappears just when you think its gone. New leaders need to step forward who aren’t afraid to hit this head on but I only see a handful and they won’t be supported.
When you give into the demands of Democrats all you get are more demands. Just say no to Democrats.
Who knows what pressure the House Leadership put on Nunes. The House Republican Leadership is a tower of jello.
This is a mistake. The refusal of the Republicans to acknowledge they are at war with the Democrats has neutered them. They are allowing the DNC and the media to control the narrative and they’re going to die the death of a thousand cuts if they don’t stand up and start fighting. No one likes weaklings. No one likes cowards. A Congress full of Pajama Boys breeds nothing but contempt.
Nunes just wants to get along and Dems want him to get along to the slaughterhouse.
Ryan pulls his crappy health care bill (not really that bad), followed by Sessions recuses himself under pressure, now Nunes does. What’s next? Shall we expect to next hear Mitch say, “Well, we just have the votes to confirm Judge Gorsuch so we are sending the nomination back to the President.” I give up on these so called conservatives.
UGHH! This is why the GOP loses even when they win at the ballot box. They are incompetent morons. Democrats never fold. We need better representation.
I don’t know if Nunes stepping down is such a bad idea. I’d rather see a career prosecutor like Trey Gowdy get going against Susan Rice than Rep. Nunes, anyway.
I used to respect Gowdy until the hillary debacle over Benghazi. They turned her into a victim of Republican abuse and her base ate it up. Eleven hours when it could have been done in two. They asked questions that they didn’t know the answers to and we all know lawyers don’t do that. Gowdy is a good man but without the confines and rules of a courtroom, he is lost.
as far as I can tell he’s only stepped away from leading the investigation of the Russia/Trump allegations, not of the wiretapping/unmasking/leaking allegations, so he should still be in the chair when Rice testifies.
Eyes on the ball, not the hand-waving. The Repubs have something they have not had in quite a while, and that is depth of field.
The narrative just changed because the spineless GOP acts as if they are the minority party; which is exactly what they are. MAJORITY IN NAME ONLY! All of them deserver to join Kirk, Boehner and Cantor on the sidelines. They do not deserve to be in office because they can’t serve it. We need fighters, not jellyfish. I’m done with these people.
Nunes uncovers improper conduct by Susan Rice but he’s the one up on ethics charges? Is this real life or a Twilight Zone re-run?
The definition of irony is that the party of Charlie Rangle and Maxine Waters, the King and Queen of unethical conduct, is accusing Nunes of unethical conduct. That’s rich.
Trump is losing his base by listening and siding with his SIL and daughter. I am sickened by Nunes being thrown under the bus and Trumps push to the left, and Globalists .
Laura is furious and said she has many contacts in the WH and Trumps pivot to the center left is. PT a joke. She is in contact 2 to 3 times a day with them.
Now we hear the wall will only be put in strategic places…lol, as if the illegals won’t be able to figure that one out.
Drip drip
I watched a documentary on the “Wall” and believe me there are places where there can be no physical structure. There are places along the Rio Grand where it is impossible to actually build anything let alone a wall. The river changes its course continually and in places like that the wall will have to electronic and human. Now there is whining that the landowners along the border won’t allow their land to be used for the wall. Last I heard they wanted the right to shoot on sight they had so many illegals on their property. It isn’t going to be a snap.
Shoot on sight? I’m cool with it. The idea that isolated, outnumbered ranchers, particularly after Pancho Villa’s raid into Columbus, NM, was one of the selling points for one of the original “trench brooms.”
https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.HOGuPe9YeiRQlzL4Xdb5lQDWEs&pid=15.1
Now there is whining that the landowners along the border won’t allow their land to be used for the wall.
The land-owners are not going to have the choice. The Federal Government representatives will show up with a check and a document that says “here’s our new easement on your property for us to build a structure for the defense of the United States, and your compensation pursuant to the Constitutional requirements that you not be deprived without due process.”
Federal Eminent Domain is a very useful tool.
I think people need to step back and look at what this really does. The first thing is it takes all of the “unethical” steam out of the democrats balloon. The second thing it does is allow them to gather all of the threads on this issue until they have the facts needed to pursue it without interference. The other item accomplished by Nunes is that he made the unmasking public so it can’t be destroyed without consequences. The last thing to remember is that Congress only has power to investigate, the executive branch has the power to prosecute. Those to branch’s will be working together during this investigation unlike they did during any investigations during Obama’s tenure. Which means the investigation will have teeth if something is found. I am curious to see what dirt is uncovered.
“The first thing is it takes all of the “unethical” steam out of the democrats balloon.”
I respectfully submit that we all learn from history. Nothing will ever do that. According to leftist dogma conservatives (according to leftist dogma all Republicans are conservative although we know better) are by definition evil and therefore unethical. Among all sorts of other things they call us.
As a matter of fact, far from taking the wind out of their sails they will take this as vindication. “Even the GOP had to admit that Nunes was trying to sabotage the investigation into Trump’s alliance with Putin. This is clear evidence the Republicans KNOW the two dictators were colluding. We need to investigate for the next four years.”
If you doubt me, do an autopsy of a successful Sharpton/Jackson take-down of a company they accuse of racism. And the successful tactics of companies that fight back.
Actually, the GOP needs to study this subject.
Once again, I advise people not to get too upset about this.
While the optics are not favorable, tactically, and possibly strategically, the Dems have shot themselves in, at least, the foot and possibly the head.
Dem operatives filed an ethic complaint against Nunes. Now, it is patently absurd, but there is no reason why it should not be investigated and shown to be what it is. Nunes, who has been the lightning rod for Dem criticism and who was being used by the Dem/Lib/Prog faction as a reason to halt the House investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion charges, steps down from his position as head of that particular investigation. This removes him as an excuse to hold up the investigation, which everyone knows is going to produce zero evidence of an collusion. However, Nunes retains his position as Intel Committee chair. This means that he is still one of the IGo8 and has access to all the intelligence that he wishes. It also means that he is free to investigate the Trumpgate surveillance, unmasking and leaking scandal. He is also free to present any evidence that he may obtain, on the T-R collusion to Conaway. This is the equivalent of giving Nunes his 00 license. And, as Trumpgate is only an adjunct to to the T-R collusion investigation by the Intel Committee, and Nunes is no longer a part of that investigation, he is free to pick and choose what he tells the committee. In essence Schiff is now cut off from anything that Nunes finds, independently.
Now, we will have to see what Nunes and the Republicans do with this gift. They could simply cave, as they have in the past. On the other hand, they might actually use the situation to their advantage.
Shaking my head. I long for the day when we have a group of conservative elected officials who will do everything in their power to crush the Democrats on every front like the cockroaches they are. The way this is going, that day looks to be at least decades from now.
Now Trump is saber rattling about Syria. Looks like, and I stress looks like, he is now a neocon tool. Please welcome president and first lady Jared and Ivanka Kushner.
Unless you’re one of those people who use “neocon” as code for “Joooo”, what on earth could possibly make you imagine Jared and Ivanka are neocons? Hence you are one of those people, in which case what are you doing on this “neocon” site?
I don’t see a problem here.
Nunes did his job. He threw a hand grenade; it hit a fat target, and the response—a bout of hysteria unusually extreme even for the Dems—gave away the otherwise non-obvious fact that this is big.
If Nunes steps back and someone else runs with the ball, that’s not defeat, that’s pure judo. The Dems’ usual response sets them up for failure: they attack the man, while trying to fight the evidence with rote denial and such low-level rubbish, and leaving the case itself untouched. The Repubs have just uncoupled the man from the case. The Dems’ “ethics” complaints against Nunes now have no bearing whatever on the investigation of the Obamites and their criminal conspiracies.
I’m not underestimating the Republican’s outstanding ability to go spineless just when they need to fight … but Nunes clearing the field for another investigator is not the sign that they’re running up a white flag.
I agree with you if you look at Nunes action from our side of view. But if you look at it from the left’s, they see this as a victory and the “New” guy will not be up to speed and pencil neck will try to run the show. Jeff Sessions needs to step in here and clear the air about who has what document and where it came from. He doesn’t have to run the investigation but he can damn sure supervise it.
We won, damn it. Let’s act like it!
WE won – but the GOP didn’t.
In fact, they lost their shirts.
Good grief. Are the Republicans using the Atlanta Falcons play book?
Mac45,
You are probably right.
Hillaryis44.org agrees with you.
You all know it no longer supports Hillary, right?
It’s Trump all the way and great insight by The Administratior
More proof Trump should bail on the GOP and form a new party.
Perhaps since Nunes is not in charge of the Russian part ,he can still collect Surveillance info and not have to tell Shiff for Brains
Is there a single GOP’er out there that has the balls to tell the left wing wackjobs to f-off?
Nunes should have told the Dems to go suck eggs.