Saying “Devin Nunes is not having a very good time right now” would be the understatement of the moment. (At least until Donald Trump rants on Twitter again.) The embattled House Intelligence Committee chair is facing questions from Republicans and Democrats alike after his sudden decision to cancel the group’s meetings this week. What’s more, he visited the White House in secret before revealing sensitive information to the press pertaining to the committee’s investigations into Trump’s baseless wiretapping claims and his administration’s possible ties to Russia.
Tuesday morning, several of Nunes’ congressional colleagues made the talk show rounds to discuss the matter at length. Like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Trump’s former presidential rival turned occasional critic. When Today host Matt Lauer asked him whether Nunes should recuse himself from the investigation for not sharing sensitive information with his fellow committee members before informing Trump and the public, Graham said “he put his objectivity in question at the very least.”
As for Nunes’ secretive visit to the White House to obtain classified information, Graham describe the situation as “bizarre”:
“There’s nothing [that’s] been revealed to suggest that the Obama administration surveilled the Trump campaign. That’s not even what Nunes is saying. He’s saying that there’s some incidental collection outside of Russia. The problem that he’s created is he’s gone off on a lark by himself, sort of an Inspector Clouseau investigation here, trying to find some unmasking information about collection incidental with the Trump campaign and some foreign agent outside of Russia.”
“I think the only way this thing can be repaired,” Graham concluded, “is if he tells his colleagues on the House Intel Committee who he met with, and what he saw.”
“This is what a cover-up to a crime looks like.”
—Rep. Eric Swalwell on Devin Nunes to @Morning_Joe https://t.co/fHzwuNoGVL pic.twitter.com/T1V07qEzm0
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2017
Meanwhile, MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosted Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), who didn’t hide behind any party pretense or Peter Sellers allusions. When it came to discussing Nunes’ odd decision to visit the White House grounds, the representative reminded co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that all elected officials have access to their respective office’s own secure facilities. (Nunes previously claimed he could only access the information he sought in the White House’s equivalent.)
As a result, Swalwell argued Nunes’ activities were all the more suspicious:
“This was done because the White House wanted it to be done, and this is what a cover-up to a crime looks like. We are watching it play out right now.”
When asked if Nunes’ possible recusal from the House Intelligence Committee and its investigation would do anything to save the matter, Swalwell said it wouldn’t. “It’s been compromised,” he explained, adding that appointing an independent commission going forward would be the best “insurance policy.”
(Via Today and Morning Joe)