House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes denied on Monday morning that there was any evidence from the intelligence community of contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives.
"As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist. . . . What I’ve been told by many folks is that there’s nothing there," Nunes, R-Calif., said.
Nunes contended there was no need at this time for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of contact between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides. Instead, the Republican said that the "major crimes" that have been committed are leaking to the news media on the subject of Russia, as well as other accounts of what should be confidential dealings with the Trump White House, including calls with foreign leaders like the Australian prime minister.
"There’s been major crimes committed," Nunes said, referring to the leaks. "What I’m concerned about is no one is focusing on major leaks that have occurred here. . . . We can’t run a government like this. A government can’t function with massive leaks at the highest level."
This is the first time a leading House Republican – in this case, the lawmaker who is leading the investigation in the lower chamber – has said flatly that he has not seen any evidence of inappropriate communications between Trump aides and Russia. The FBI is investigating Russia’s role in last year’s elections and potential ties between Trump associates and Russia.
On Monday, Nunes rejected the call by Democrats that he would request Trump’s tax returns, which they believe would shine light on possible Trump business dealings with Russia.
Both the House and Senate Intelligence committees are probing Russia’s alleged interference in last year’s U.S. elections aimed at helping to elect Trump. Nunes signaled that his committee would be operating by its own rules instead of working in close tandem with the Senate, which has pledged a bipartisan investigation of Russian involvement in the election.
Trump administration asked intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories Greg Miller, Adam Entous
The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, a politically charged issue that has been under investigation by the FBI as well as lawmakers now defending the White House.
…
The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, a politically charged issue that has been under investigation by the FBI as well as lawmakers now defending the White House.
… (Greg Miller, Adam Entous)
He also rejected the idea that former senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. – a close Trump adviser during the campaign who is now attorney general – should recuse himself from any Justice Department probe on the topic.
Nunes confirmed that he was one of the lawmakers to whom the White House turned to combat a New York Times story saying there were frequent contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. That report mentioned ousted national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former campaign aide Carter Page, as well as Trump associate Roger Stone.
"At this time, I want to be very careful that we can’t just go on a witch hunt against Americans because they appear in news stories," Nunes said.
He described the White House passing on to him a phone number for a reporter. The California Republican said he didn’t see anything inappropriate with the request and his behavior.
"I had already talked to many of you about that several times," Nunes said, explaining he was only passing on "whatever I had already told you." "Isn’t the whole point of the press to be transparent?"
Trump slams intelligence officials, media over ‘illegally leaked’ info, Flynn and Russia Julie Pace
President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed the media and “illegally leaked” intelligence information for bringing down his national security adviser Michael Flynn, one day after the White House said Trump had asked Flynn to resign because he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with…
President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed the media and “illegally leaked” intelligence information for bringing down his national security adviser Michael Flynn, one day after the White House said Trump had asked Flynn to resign because he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with…
(Julie Pace)
The chairman’s comments come after a Washington Post story describing the Trump administration’s efforts to enlist the intelligence community to knock down media stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia.
Nunes said that the committee was still determining the scope of its investigation into alleged Russian participation in the U.S. elections to tilt the outcome toward Trump, a conclusion drawn by the intelligence community.
But he seemed reluctant to blame Flynn for inappropriately discussing sanctions before Trump’s inauguration with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak, according to current and former intelligence officials.
Flynn was asked to leave the White House after it was revealed he misled Vice President Pence about discussing sanctions on Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States.
Nunes said the U.S. should be thanking Flynn for his service to the country and that the retired lieutenant general was only trying to prepare a new president for office. He said he has not seen the transcripts of Flynn’s call with the Russian ambassador, which would have been "illegally leaked" if he had.
He described Flynn as having done a "big favor" by "keeping lines of communication" open with Russia after President Barack Obama expelled Russian officials from the United States in response to allegations that country interfered in the U.S. elections.
Nunes said we should "be thanking" Flynn and "not going after him."
Nunes also took issue with the definition of sanctions – which were imposed on Russia in 2014 for the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s involvement in Ukraine – saying that in his view, Flynn was not discussing official sanctions in his conversations with Kislyak but rather the "petty" retaliation against such officials by Obama.
He called "ridiculous" any suggestion that Flynn could be charged under the Logan Act – a 1799 statute that has never been used to prosecute U.S. citizens for interfering in foreign policy.
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