Schiff to Nunes: Recuse Yourself

He says chairman of House Intelligence Committee should not lead Trump-Russia probe
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 27, 2017 6:43 PM CDT
Updated Mar 27, 2017 7:20 PM CDT
Schiff: Nunes Needs to Recuse Himself
White House Press secretary Sean Spicer speaks to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 27, 2017.    (Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes went to the White House grounds to review intelligence reports and meet the secret source behind his claim that communications involving Trump associates were caught up in "incidental" surveillance, the Republican congressman said Monday, prompting the top Democrat on the committee to call on Nunes to recuse himself from the committee's Russia probe. Rep. Adam Schiff said Nunes' connections to the White House have raised insurmountable public doubts about whether the committee could credibly investigate the president's campaign associates, the AP reports. "I believe 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 in a statement Monday.

Nunes confirmed Monday that he met with the source at the White House complex, but he denied coordinating with the president's aides. After reviewing the information last week, Nunes called a news conference to announce that US spy agencies may have inadvertently captured Trump and his associates in routine targeting of foreigners' communications. Trump quickly seized on the statements as at least partial vindication for his assertion that President Barack Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower—though Nunes, Schiff, and FBI Director James Comey have said there is no such evidence. Nunes did not tell Schiff about the meeting at the White House complex. It is highly unusual for a committee chairman and ranking member not to coordinate meetings related to an investigation. Nunes argued he had to review classified, executive branch documents from a secure facility at the White House because the reports had not been provided to Congress and could not be transported to the secure facilities used by the House intelligence committee. (More Devin Nunes stories.)

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