Nunes wants all documents on longtime U.S. intel source

WASHINGTON » A subpoena that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., issued to the Justice Department last week made a broad request for all documents about an individual who people close to the matter say is a sensitive, longtime intelligence source for the CIA and FBI.

The Justice Department has refused to provide the documents. Intelligence officials say the material could jeopardize the source, a U.S. citizen who has aided the special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign.

The subpoena, which was reviewed by The Washington Post, demands “all documents referring or related to the individual referenced in Chairman Nunes’ April 24, 2018 classified letter to Attorney General Sessions.” That is the only material the subpoena seeks.

In an interview Wednesday, Nunes maintained that he was “not interested in any individual.”

“We’re interested in documents that should have been given to us at least last fall,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking for, and any claim to the contrary is wrong, and they know it’s wrong.”

Nunes said that Justice officials have blocked access to specific documents and that the language in the subpoena was an effort to get access to the underlying information.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

Senior intelligence officials alarmed by Nunes’ subpoena warned White House Chief of Staff John Kelly last week that the information being sought could not be turned over because it could do serious damage to intelligencesharing relationships with other countries, the Post reported Tuesday.

Kelly and President Donald Trump sided with the Justice Department.