The House Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, called on the Republican chair Rep. Devin Nunes to recuse himself from the committee's investigation into President Donald Trump's connections with Russia on Monday.
Schiff's statement followed news reports that Nunes, the committee's chairman, was on White House grounds with a source who showed him secret intelligence reports. The day after that meeting, Nunes briefed Trump that he and his advisers may have had their communications picked up "incidentally" as part of intelligence-community surveillance of foreign targets.
"After much consideration, and in light of the Chairman's admission that he met with his source of information at the White House, I believe that the Chairman should recuse himself from any further involvement in the Russia investigation, as well as any involvement in oversight of matters pertaining to any incidental collection of the Trump transition, as he was also a key member of the transition team," Schiff said in a statement.
Schiff said he worried the public is losing faith in Nunes's ability to conduct an unbiased investigation.
"I believe the public cannot have the necessary confidence that matters involving the President's campaign or transition team can be objectively investigated or overseen by the Chairman," Schiff said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi echoed Schiff's sentiments and those of other Democrats who are increasingly urging Nunes to step aside.
"The Chair of the House Intelligence has a serious responsibility to the Congress and to the Country. Chairman Nunes' discredited behavior has tarnished that office," she said.
"Speaker Ryan must insist that Chairman Nunes at least recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation immediately. That leadership is long overdue," Pelosi said.
Nunes defended his White House visit by saying he wanted "to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source." The Trump administration was not aware of his visit, he said.
Democrats have seized on Nunes's announcement, accusing the Republican of attempting to give political cover for Trump, who claimed in a series of shocking tweets this month that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, had wiretapped Trump Tower phones during the 2016 election.
Last week, Schiff said Nunes’s actions had thrown "great doubt" on the committee’s ability to conduct a fair investigation.
Numerous lawmakers have called for a select committee to carry out the investigation, and the effort received bipartisan support when Republican Sen. John McCain questioned Nunes's credibility in an interview on Wednesday.
Trump appeared to complain about controversy surrounding Nunes on Monday night. In a series of tweets, the president said, "Why isn't the House Intelligence Committee looking into the Bill & Hillary deal that allowed big Uranium to go to Russia, Russian speech ... money to Bill," referring to former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The Washington Post reported in October last year that there was no evidence Clinton was personally involved in the uranium deal.
Trump called the Russia investigation a "hoax" and has denied his team had any untoward interactions with the Kremlin. The FBI — along with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee — are conducting investigations on the matter.
Read Schiff's entire statement below:
After much consideration I believe Chairman should recuse himself from involvement in investigation/oversight of Trump campaign & transition pic.twitter.com/jpfA1x80Si
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 27, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment