Kennedy: House Intelligence chairman must recuse himself
U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III called for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to recuse himself from his committee’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election for going public with news that President Trump may have been under surveillance.
“The idea that this is how you conduct an impartial investigation is absurd,” Kennedy said yesterday during an appearance on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” with Jaclyn Cashman and Hillary Chabot.
“Nunes went to the president of the United States, understanding that his administration is under investigation, and divulged that information to the president. You’re divulging the information relevant to the investigation to the guy that leads the organization that is under investigation. That is not how you run an impartial investigation.”
Nunes told Trump — and reporters — that his communications may have been picked up while intelligence agencies were legally surveilling a foreign target.
“Unfortunately, the chairman has compromised himself now,” Kennedy said, adding that Nunes compromised the integrity of the process and has opened the door for people to question the integrity of the House of Representatives as a whole.
“It leads to people doubting whether the House of Representatives is capable of conducting a fair and impartial investigation,” Kennedy said. “It’s not good for the House, it’s not good for any of our colleagues.”
Kennedy has also been a strong opponent against the Republican health care bill and passionately spoke out about the issues he sees in the new bill.
“It’s a tax cut that just ends up transferring massive amounts of wealth from families working paycheck to paycheck to the rich, under the guise that we’re fixing health care,” he said. “It just doesn’t do that.”
Twenty-four million fewer Americans will have coverage under the Republican bill than the Affordable Care Act and it will increase health care costs for many Americans, Kennedy said.
“That investment we make in (the health care system) is strengthened by the investment that we all make in it, and that commitment we make to each other to make sure it’s strong and robust for our loved ones as well,” Kennedy said. “And this bill destroys that promise for an awful lot of people across the country.”