Posted on 08/03/2017 1:59:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
In early April, news reports were filled with word that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes had recused himself from the committee's Russia investigation. Outside activist groups accused Nunes of revealing classified information, and the House Ethics Committee decided to look into the matter. Nunes was forced to step aside from the Russia probe while the ethics watchdogs worked.
Now, nearly four months later, the committee is still working, with no end in sight.
It's been an unusual investigation from the beginning. The House Intelligence Committee has nonpartisan staff to watch members for any possible disclosures of classified information. If a member is thought to have revealed something classified -- it's usually inadvertent and a minor matter -- the staff can bring it to his or her attention, and the matter is usually handled inside the committee.
In fact, it is rare for an accusation of unauthorized disclosure to make it to the Ethics Committee. "It is not unprecedented, but the number of cases that are reported or publicly known are fairly limited," said Scott Horton, a Columbia University law lecturer who has studied the topic. "The treatment of the cases is uneven. In several high-profile cases, the case was opened and studied, but no action was taken."
When Horton testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee last December, running down a list of examples, the most recent case of the House Ethics Committee looking at alleged unauthorized disclosure of classified information was a 1995 case in which the committee investigated then-Rep. Robert Torricelli for allegedly releasing classified information about the CIA in Guatemala. The committee took no action.
But now Nunes is under Ethics Committee investigation. The probe commenced after three left-leaning activist groups, MoveOn.org, Democracy 21, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked the committee "to investigate whether Nunes disclosed classified information," according to the CREW website.
Nunes denied the charges and attributed them to the activists' campaign to derail any investigation into alleged Obama White House misuse of intelligence. Nevertheless, "despite the baselessness of the charges," in the words of his statement, Nunes stepped aside from the Russia probe on April 6.
Now, as the investigation finishes its fourth month, a number of Republicans on the Intelligence Committee are becoming frustrated. As they see it, there's nothing to the charge, but Democrats have the ability to stretch out the Ethics Committee probe -- unlike other committees, Ethics is divided equally between Republicans and Democrats -- in order to keep Nunes out of the Russia investigation.
"I don't think there is anyone on the (intelligence) committee who thinks Devin did anything inappropriate," said Rep. Chris Stewart, a member of the Intelligence Committee, in an interview last week. "We're so frustrated with the ethics process that I've been encouraging him to get back in the seat."
"How it has been handled has been very controversial," said another Intel Committee member in a text exchange. "Democrats slow-walking the ethics inquiry to keep (Nunes) sidelined."
Tom Rust, the Ethics Committee staff director and chief counsel, declined to comment on the case.
Now, as the Russia case continues to dominate public attention, the House investigation is going largely without its chairman, who has been pushed to the side by an unusual investigation that Republicans believe is being extended for the purpose of keeping the chairman away from the Russia affair. And there is no idea of when that situation might change.
But if the history cited by Scott Horton is any prediction, the Ethics Committee will end up doing nothing in the Nunes affair. On the other hand, that is not really the point. The point, at the moment, is for the committee to keep the matter going so that Nunes will have to stay on the sidelines.
And that leads to the question of what Nunes will do now. The first sentence of this article noted that news reports in April said Nunes had "recused" himself from the Russia matter. But Nunes says he did not recuse himself -- that word has a specific legal meaning -- but rather stepped aside from leading the Russia investigation for a while. That meant Nunes not only remained chairman but has also been able to keep up with the Russia probe.
"I never recused myself," Nunes told a Fresno, California radio station in mid-June. "What happened was, the media began this narrative that I had recused myself when in fact all I said was hey, I'm just going to temporarily step aside from leading this." At another point in the same appearance, Nunes said he was "still involved in the investigation, just not leading it."
A month earlier, in May, in an interview with Fox News, Nunes said he is still informed on things that are happening in the Russia affair. "I'm still read into everything," Nunes said.
What if the Ethics Committee probe goes on indefinitely? At some point, it seems possible that Nunes and the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee will say enough is enough. What will happen then is anybody's guess.
Nunes is feared by the Commiecrats/Democrats because they stiffed his constituents in the San Joaquin Valley by denying them water during the long droughts out there. Tens of thousands of farmers lost their jobs, if not their farms because the reds who run/ruin LA wanted all the water for their elites swimming pools.
Well, HE’S BACK and boy is he PISSED. It is time for Nunes to take the cotton gloves off, put on the steel/mail ones, and beat the crap out of the Democrats, both on and off the committee, the Ethics Committee, and in Congress in general.
As we say in the old country, “INVESTIGATE, INVESTIGATE, SUBPOENA, SUBPOENA, INTERROGATE AND SCREW THE LEFTIST BASTARDS”.
As effective as he is (was), problem is Nunes is a member of The Party of Stupid, most of whom do not know how to fight back.
It’s a mini Trump/Russia investigation. Next step, appoint a Special Cousel to investigate the baseless allegation into a non-crime.
He didn’t, he responded to the ginned up hysteria by the Democrat weaponized pressure groups and the ever helpful medeia that made the allegations front page news. They also tried to turn his visit to the WH into a high crime. Republicans almost never fight to the death. The Rats are born that way.
He needs to step back in if for no other reason than to force the ethics committee to get off their ass.
Looks like any Republican is a recusal just waiting to happen, over mean looks, over nothing. Whereas democrats, who should for valid reasons, never do. They must get together in private and snicker.
Really?
Here's a guess... Democrats will cry "corruption" and Republicans will cave.
Meanwhile, Republicans will expedite investigations of Democrats and then clear them.
-PJ
Dems high five all around.
He was threatened
And we probably dont know all the details
Its not Iike anyone in the GOP has the President’s back or even any of their own to let the democrats run these fake investigations fior months and months
Here’s an idea. Since the Ethics Committee is made up equally of both parties, and they can’t flip even one democrat, then charge some democrats with ethics violations, and then the Republicans don’t budge or ever end the investigation.
Like when we exchanged the Soviet’s caught spies with ours. You want Maxine Waters ethics charges dropped? Drop Nunces.
Tit for tat.
This is the age where ALL that matters is the severity of the charge, not the veracity of any evidence. And, even when it is all over, the Liberal/Dim/Progressive/Marxist goal was still achieved by how long the “severity of the charge” played out in establishing what the public will remember most, even after any investigation vindicates someone.
Nunes is a grand target for that agenda, and yes it is to keep him out of the “Russian” investigation BECAUSE the Dims KNOW it is going to lead back to them.
And Republicans are in Charge of the House, Senate, and WH...
AMAZING.
If you knew Devin Nunes personally, you would not say that. He’s been staying away from the “Russia, Russia, Russia” B.S. and meanwhile working behind the scenes to expose real crimes, some of which are now bubbling to the surface.
Thanks for that clarification. I hope you’re right. Frustrating that on the surface it appears good conservatives get snookered at every turn.
No better time to FIGHT.
This is all fixable. Ryan can create a select committee and make whatever rules he wants for it. Then streamroll the Dems if they object on a point of order.
But he will never do that because he doesn’t want to support POTUS. The beltway GOP pigs are just fine with endless investigations that hand cuff POTUS.
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