GOP panel chairman apologizes to Dems
Nunes pledges to cooperate, but criticism grows
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House committee investigating Russian interference in the election apologized in a private meeting on Thursday for not sharing intelligence with the panel’s top Democrat before giving it to President Donald Trump and the news media, Democratic lawmakers said.
But the expression of contrition from Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to members of the panel did little to quiet criticism from Democrats who said he had proved himself unable to conduct an unbiased inquiry.
On Wednesday, Nunes announced that he had received information that Trump or members of his transition team may have been “incidentally” caught up in foreign surveillance
by American agencies. He said at a news conference that he had briefed House Speaker Paul Ryan and planned to inform Trump. The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, was notably absent.
Democrats said that the disclosure by Nunes, who served on Trump’s transition team, was intended to throw a lifeline to the president after his unfounded claim that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones during the election. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said Nunes had either been manipulated by Trump or been “a willing stooge.”
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said Nunes had “apologized for not informing the ranking member.” Nunes’ decision to bypass the top Democrat, Schiff, and then to brief Trump, whose associates are under investigation, called into question the inquiry’s future days after its first public hearing.
By Thursday afternoon, members of the committee, including Schiff, said they had still not seen the information that Nunes claimed to have received. Schiff, who said members had expressed “profound concern” to the chairman, said Congress should create an outside commission — something Republican leaders have resisted.
“I think yesterday underscores more than any other event just why it’s important to establish an independent commission that is completely removed from any potential political interference,” he said.
Nunes said his decision to go around Schiff was “a judgment call.”
“At the end of the day, sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the wrong one,” he told reporters. “But you’ve got to stick by the decisions you make.”
The credibility of the bipartisan investigation into Russian meddling relies largely on the relationship between Nunes and Schiff, who had apparently worked well together until Wednesday. While they have distinctly different goals for the inquiry — Nunes has been focused on leaks of classified information, while Schiff has sought to look into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians — they have a shared desire to conduct a serious inquiry.
While Nunes said on Thursday that Trump deserved to see the information, many Democrats questioned why he, as the leader of an investigation into Trump’s campaign, would think it was appropriate to share his committee’s evidence with the president. But the committee’s Democrats said that, at least for now, they would remain part of the investigation.
“Distractions will not deter us from the important work at hand, and I am as committed as ever to this investigation,” Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois said in a statement.
Asked whether Democrats were considering pulling away from the investigation, Speier said, “I am not at a point where I could say that.”
“It’s very important for us to recognize that if we are not part of the process, then it is only the Senate that is doing an investigation,” she said. In addition to inquiries by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, the FBI is also conducting an investigation.
A few Republicans also expressed apprehension about Nunes’ decision. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, called his actions “very disturbing.” Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, applauded Nunes’ apology. “We follow the evidence wherever it leads,” he said on Twitter.