House intelligence chairman under pressure in Trump-Russia inquiry

With a political storm swirling around him, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said Tuesday he will continue to lead the panel’s investigation into reputed Russian interference past year in the US presidential election.

As long as Devin Nunes chairs the investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, the House Intelligence Committee will have zero credibility.

The reports, Mr Nunes said earlier last week, showed Mr Trump or his closest associates may have been “incidentally” swept up in foreign surveillance by U.S. spy agencies.

The White House said the report was “entirely false” without addressing specific claims that Yates was warned her testimony could include privileged information that would be barred from a public hearing.

(L to R) House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

He says he wants President Donald Trump to uncover Russian activities during the election, but he chastised Trump for what he calls “wild and uncorroborated accusations” that his campaign was wiretapped.

Nunes on Tuesday brushed aside calls to recuse himself, asking why he should.

TRT World’s Tetiana Anderson has more on the controversy from Washington DC. The hearing was later canceled by the House intelligence committee chairman.

Nunes then apologized to Democrats, but the following day he canceled Tuesday’s public hearing, saying he wanted to hear from Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers in private, prompting outrage from Democrats. This information further raises the question of why the meeting was held on the White House grounds.

Steny Hoyer, the House minority whip, said it would be “in the best interest of getting to the bottom of the truth” if Nunes were to step down from the leadership post.

At the meeting, O’Neil presented a letter in which he said the Justice Department had “advised” him that Yates’ official communications on issues of interest to the House panel are “client confidences” that can not be disclosed without written consent.

“You do have authority about whether he gets into this building and can review secured information on this site”, CBS’ Major Garrett said.

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in an email that “Speaker Ryan has full confidence that Chairman Nunes is conducting a thorough, fair, and credible investigation”.

After the hearing before the Senate intelligence committee, Watts told reporters that all the GOP candidates were targeted.

Also Wednesday, Nunes told NBC News that “it appears like the Democrats aren’t really serious” about the probe.

All visitors to the White House, even members of Congress, must be cleared into the complex by someone with access to the area, such as a White House staffer.

“After much consideration I believe Chairman should recuse himself from involvement in investigation/oversight of Trump campaign & transition”, Schiff tweeted Monday evening.

Last week he briefed Mr Trump on documents detailing surveillance of Mr Trump’s team without discussing it with committee members.

Nunes and Schiff met Thursday after a week’s worth of canceled hearings and bickering between the committee leaders, as their investigation turned partisan following a decision by Nunes, a Republican, to go to the press and White House with intelligence before alerting the committee.