Dangerous Devin Nunes: Crimebusting Conspiracy Theorist
Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, of California, seems to believe he's this generation's J. Edgar Hoover, the near-mythic crimebuster and first and longest-serving director of the FBI. Nunes has set his sights on this highly-regarded law enforcement organization, as well as its second-longest serving director, well-respected Special Counsel Robert Mueller, also a Republican.
Nunes insists Hoover's beloved Bureau has been infiltrated by corrupt, possibly criminal elements.
In reality, it would appear that Nunes is less J. Edgar Hoover and more the reincarnation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, whose never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way, during the 1950's, proved to be so un-American that it ultimately brought about his downfall. Unfortunately, not before he destroyed the lives and reputations of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Americans. There is, however, a difference between the two. Joseph McCarthy was smart and conniving. He sought to unmask alleged Communists, Soviet spies, and Communist "sympathizers."
Devin Nunes, on the other hand, is not so bright and appears to be nothing more than a self-righteous sniveler.
McCarthy was, and Nunes is, dangerous. Multiple news outlets report that Nunes and a group of House Republicans have been gathering in secret to build a case that senior members of the FBI and the Justice Department may have mishandled contents of a dossier describing alleged ties between President Trump and Russia. In doing so, Nunes and his comrades, while hunting down the criminal elements and corrupt officials they allege to be populating the FBI and DOJ, may simultaneously be protecting the successors of former Soviet officials, KGB Officers, and those sympathetic to them - unwittingly or not.
Nunes's public displays of asininity are familiar to television viewers throughout the world. His contradictory statements before reporters, where he asserted that he'd reviewed documents revealing "incidental" surveillance of individuals connected to President Trump, raised questions of unethical behavior.
"Incidental" might characterize former Trump transition team member and National Security Advisor Mike Flynn's conversations with Russian diplomats and operatives, intercepted by intelligence agencies who routinely monitor them. Conversations Flynn denied having when questioned by the FBI. Denials that proved to be lies. Lies that led to Flynn's guilty plea and becoming a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe.
But why did self-appointed crimebuster Nunes, on his own, without informing any other members of the House Intelligence Committee, travel to the White House under cover of darkness to get a sneak preview of these documents earlier this year?
Allegations of Nunes's continual and secretive mishandling of classified documents that he and other Republicans hope to use in discrediting Mueller, his investigation, the FBI, and the DOJ, are now out in the open. And they're frightening.
It's not clear how this self-proclaimed "farm boy" from California's Central Valley could have come so far. Being a sycophant to former House Speaker John Boehner, who appointed Nunes Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, may have helped. Given that he doesn't appear to be particularly intelligent, nor adept at private investigation, why in the world would anyone consider making Nunes head of the House Intelligence Committee?
With Boehner's retirement, Nunes traded up, becoming a willing pilot fish for presidential apprentice Donald J. Trump. Nunes's sycophancy even earned him a place on the Trump transition team, where Mike Flynn also found a home. The
same Trump transition team that recently had its e-mail correspondence and records obtained by the Mueller investigation. Could it be that Nunes already knows what damning evidence those missives might contain?
A pungent whiff of self-service and personal protection is beginning to fill the air.
Not to worry, though. The only two people House Majority Leader - and Nunes friend - Kevin McCarthy thinks are on Vladimir Putin's payroll are fellow Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and the president himself. Or so McCarthy told another one of those "secret" gatherings of Republican colleagues last year. But that was prior to the presidential election. Things change. Especially in Washington.
Nunes, who appears to subscribe to former presidential puppet master Stephen K. Bannon's allegations of a "Deep State" within the federal government, is treading on treacherous ground, one that could potentially lead to a Constitutional crisis.
For now, the "Deep State" is a conspiracy theory, just as Nunes's allegations are. But if a "Deep State" may eventually be formed, Devin Nunes and his band of renegade Republicans may emerge as its founding fathers.
Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at BBess.soaggragated@gmail.com.