Jared, military chief in Iraq
Nunes has said he will not step down from his chairmanship or recuse himself from the Russia investigation, despite calls to do so from Democrats and some of his Republican colleagues.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House panel, went to the White House on Friday to view materials that he said were “precisely the same.”
He declined on Sunday to describe the contents, but criticized the unorthodox disclosure to Nunes, suggesting that the material was more likely an effort to distract the public.
“It certainly is an attempt to distract and to hide the origin of the materials, to hide the White House hand,” Schiff told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The question is, of course, why? And I think the answer to the question is this effort to point the Congress in other directions, basically say, ‘Don’t look at me, don’t look at Russia, there is nothing to see here.’ You know, I would tell people, whenever they see the President use the word ‘fake,’ it ought to set off alarm bells. And I think that is really what has gone on here.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who chairs the Armed Services Committee, said it was indisputable that Russia attempted to influence the U.S. election, reiterating his call for a special select committee.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he didn’t think another review was necessary, citing the bipartisan work from the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“I think they clearly laid out that they’re going wherever the facts take them,” McConnell said, referring to the Republican chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the panel.
“We don’t need yet another investigation. We know the FBI is looking at it from their perspective.”
Trump’s Twitter tirade came days after it was reported Michael Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser, requested immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony to congressional investigators.
Flynn was forced to resign in February after revelations that he lied about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia was not worried about what any U.S. investigation might reveal.
“We insist that any blaming that Russia could have been interfering in domestic affairs of the United States is slander,” he said. PRESIDENT TRUMP declared the U.S. is prepared to tackle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program on its own without help from China. “China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t,” Trump told the Financial Times. “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.” Trump’s comments come as he’s set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., this week. The leaders are expected to discuss North Korea, trade and other issues. WHITE HOUSE senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is in Iraq with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an official said Sunday.
Kushner traveled with Gen. Joseph Dunford to see the situation in Iraq for himself and show support for the Iraqi government, an official said.
Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, has no previous diplomatic or government experience, but Trump has made Kushner his point person on foreign policy.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with Trump and Kushner last month.