‘The Big Problem I See Here Is That You Have an American Citizen Who Had His Phone Calls Recorded’
The top Republican responsible for investigating the possibly illegal actions taken by Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s disgraced and now former National Security Advisor, is flat-out refusing to do his job. Eight-term Rep. Devin Nunes, Republican of California is the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Instead of opening an investigation into Flynn’s discussions with top Russian officials that were of such great concern the Dept. of Justice was forced to warn the White House last month, Rep. Nunes will be investigating the Federal Bureau of Investigation for “leaks.”
“I expect for the FBI to tell me what is going on, and they better have a good answer,†Nunes, speaking about the intelligence agency’s eavesdropping on telephone calls between Russian officials and General Flynn, told The Washington Post.
Yes, instead of investigating a possibly compromised National Security leader, Congressman Nunes is going to investigate the leak that ultimately forced Flynn to resign – or that forced Trump to demand his resignation, depending on whom you believe.
“The big problem I see here is that you have an American citizen who had his phone calls recorded,†Nunes, who became Intelligence chairman in 2015, added. At 42, he is the youngest Intelligence chair in U.S. history.
Flynn, like several of President Trump’s inner circle, has strong ties to Russia. In 2015 he attended a Russian State dinner and sat next to President Vladimir Putin. Green Party’s Jill Stein also attended and sat at the same table. Flynn also gave a paid speech at the gala, prompting lawmakers to call for an investigation.
Despite a plethora of evidence against Flynn, Rep. Nunes “said it was ‘very hard to believe’ that Flynn was acting as ‘some sort of secret Russian agent,'” the Post adds.
If this is starting to feel like a cover up, don’t suppress that thought just yet.
Talking Point Memo editor and publisher Josh Marshall Tuesday morning noted that “only three or four hours before Flynn resigned, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence), Devin Nunes, said there was no problem and it was just the President’s enemies (‘the swamp’ in his words) making trouble. ‘It just seems like there’s a lot of nothing here,’ Nunes told Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis.'”
And as NCRM reported in December, Nunes announced he does not want any further investigations to be opened into Russia’s hacking and interference in the U.S. election. Rep. Nunes happened to sit on the Trump Transition team’s executive committee.Â
Since first elected to the House in 2002, Democrats have not offered a significant candidate to unseat Nunes. In the 2010 general election he ran unopposed.
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