Calls mount for intel chair’s recusal
Nunes admits he met secret source at White House
WASHINGTON — Top House Democrats on Monday called on the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to recuse himself from the panel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election, thrusting the entire inquiry into jeopardy amid what they described as mounting evidence he was too close to President Donald Trump.
The remarkable calls by Reps. Adam Schiff of California, the committee’s top Democrat, and Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, came after revelations that the committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, had met on the White House grounds with a source who showed him secret U.S. intelligence reports.
The next day, he revealed Trump or his closest
associates may have been “incidentally” swept up in foreign surveillance by U.S. spy agencies.
Schiff suggested that Nunes, who served on the Trump transition team, was simply too close to the White House to run an independent and thorough inquiry.
“The public cannot have the necessary confidence that matters involving the president’s campaign or transition team can be objectively investigated or overseen by the chairman,” Schiff said Monday evening.
Still, Schiff stopped short of pulling the panel’s Democrats out of the investigation.
Doing so could jeopardize Democrats’ influence over the inquiry and, importantly, their access to intelligence on possible ties between Trump associates and Moscow and whether Russians intervened in the election.
Secure location
The revelation that Nunes had viewed intelligence materials on White House grounds the day before making an announcement that bolstered the administration’s case fueled damaging speculation that Nunes was acting at the instruction of the president.
This could prove fatal to the bipartisan investigation, which has hinged on the ability of Nunes to conduct a neutral inquiry, as well as the mutual trust and cooperation of Nunes and Schiff.
Pelosi, the Democratic leader, echoed Schiff ’s call for Nunes to recuse himself, saying his behavior had “tarnished” his post, and that House Speaker Paul Ryan should weigh in.
“Speaker Ryan must insist that Chairman Nunes at least recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation immediately,” she said in a statement. “That leadership is long overdue.”
Nunes, responding to recusal calls, on “The O’Reilly Factor,” said, “I’m sure the Democrats do want me to quit because they know I’m quite effective.”
The spokesman for Nunes, Jack Langer, said the congressman met with his source at the White House because he needed access to a secure location where people with security clearances can legally view classified information.
But such facilities can also be found in the Capitol building, and at other locations across Washington.
Democrats characterized Nunes’ announcement last week as an attempt by a congressman who was eager to do the White House’s bidding to distract from the investigation into Russian meddling.
Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called it “more than suspicious” that Nunes went to the White House complex, pointing out that he would “have to be escorted” while there.
“Who is he meeting with?” Warner said in an interview with NBC. “Was it a source or somebody from the administration?”
‘Not concerned’
Langer did not address those concerns Monday. In a brief statement, he said: “Chairman Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source.”
He added: “The chairman is extremely concerned by the possible improper unmasking of names of U.S. citizens, and he began looking into this issue even before President Trump tweeted his assertion that the Trump Tower had been wiretapped.”
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said Monday that White House officials had no previous knowledge of Nunes’ visit to the White House grounds, saying the only information he had came from “public reports.”
He also said officials were “not concerned” about the prospect that someone within the executive branch had leaked classified information to Nunes.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, accused Nunes of weakening not only the committee’s tradition of bipartisanship but also Congress itself. He urged Ryan to replace Nunes.
“He has not been cooperating like someone who is interested in getting to the unvarnished truth,” Schumer said.
Acknowledging that the incidental collection from surveillance appeared to be legal, Nunes on Wednesday said his concerns surrounded additional names that may have been improperly “unmasked.”
Normally, intelligence agencies mask the identities of U.S. citizens who are incidentally present in intercepted communications.
Schiff also worried that anyone viewing the distributed reports could decipher whom they were discussing even though the names were masked.
‘Duty’ to Trump
Nunes repeatedly declined to offer any details about the source of what he characterized as “dozens” of classified intelligence reports, which Schiff accused him of viewing in a “dead-of-night excursion.” Nunes said only that the information had come to him after the committee’s public hearing Monday.
Nunes declined Friday to say whether that information had come from the White House.
“You can ask me every single name that exists on the planet, and I’m still not going to tell you who our sources are,” he said.
Nunes on Friday defended his decision to bypass Schiff and go to the White House, saying he felt a “duty” to tell Trump because of Democrats’ “relentless” political attacks.
Trump seized on the information, saying he felt “somewhat” vindicated in his wiretapping claim against former President Barack Obama — debunked by the FBI director and the director of the National Security Agency, as well as the heads of both the Senate and House investigations, including Nunes.