Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi has called on Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to remove Rep. Devin Nunes from his position as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Pelosi wrote a strongly-worded letter to Speaker Ryan today, requesting the change.
“From the start, Congressman Nunes has disgraced the House Intelligence Committee. Since pledging to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, Congressman Nunes has abused his position to launch a highly unethical and dangerous cover-up campaign for the White House.
Congressman Nunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from this position.”
Pelosi also criticizes Ryan for inaction regarding the events of the last several weeks. Democrats have accused Republicans of waging a PR campaign against the FBI and DOJ in an effort to undermine their investigations into the Trump-Russia affair.
“It is long overdue that you, as Speaker, put an end to this charade and hold Congressman Nunes and all Congressional Republicans accountable to the oath they have taken to support and defend the Constitution, and protect the American people. The integrity of the House is at stake,” Pelosi wrote.
Nunes had previously pledged to recuse himself from ongoing congressional Russia probes but has repeatedly found himself at the heart of controversies related to the investigations.
Last night Democratic ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, accused Nunes of “secretly altering” a controversial memo that Nunes, along with other members of the committee, wrote that purportedly outlines abuses by the FBI and DOJ in obtaining warrants to spy on the Trump campaign during the presidential election.
Schiff called for a new vote on the altered document for Monday, February 5, the date of the committee’s next business meeting. But Rep. Peter King, also a member of the committee, has pushed back on the claim, saying the changes “in no way” affect the substance of the memo and came at the behest of the FBI.
The memo has been released to the White House for the president’s review. He has five days to approve its release or object to it, but has indicated his desire to see the memo be made public.