Pelosi throws tantrum: Demands Devin Nunes' removal as House Intelligence Committee chairman (UPDATE)

Al Weaver
The Washington Examiner
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 17:32 UTC

© Associated Press

"Chairman Nunes' deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be immediately removed from this position, Rep. Nancy Pelosi wrote to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to remove Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee because of his effort to publish a GOP memo outlining surveillance abuses at the FBI.

"Chairman Nunes' deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be immediately removed from this position," Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to Ryan, R-Wis.

"House Republicans' pattern of obstruction and cover-up to hide the truth about the Trump-Russia scandal represents a threat to our intelligence and our national security," she said. "It is long overdue that you, as Speaker, put an end to this charade and hold Chairman Nunes and all congressional Republicans accountable to the oath they have taken to support and defend the Constitution, and protect the American people."

Full text:

Comment: Pelosi's letter seems to have been prompted by inaccurate reporting, specifically by The Daily Beast.

Nunes hits back against Democrats' FBI FISA memo hysteria

Schumer penned a separate letter to the House Republican leader, saying he has not taken "credible action" to deal with Nunes as the memo, which he has deemed "conspiracy-themed," is set for release.

"Quite simply, under your leadership, dangerous partisanship among many House Republicans seems to have taken precedent over the oath we all take to protect our nation," Schumer said. "The American people have a right to know the answers to these questions. I urge to answer the preceding questions; remove Chairman Nunes from the HPSCI; withdraw support for the release of the HPSCI's memo; and insist on supporting swift passage of legislation protecting Special Counsel Mueller's investigation from political interference."

Comment: Why would the White House interfere with Mueller's investigation? If the memo contains enough information to hang him, Rosenstein, McCabe, Comey, Strzok, Page, (and oh, if only!) Killary and Obama et al, the White House doesn't have to lift a finger.

• 'Shocked to his core': FBI Director Wray blown away after viewing contents of FISA memo, source says
• Let the leaking begin: FISA memo officially names James Comey, Andrew McCabe & Rod Rosenstein
• 'Explosive' FISA Memo that will 'put people in jail' is released to House of Representatives

Democrats are fuming over the Republican plans to release the memo, and have called it an attempt by the GOP to distract from the ongoing investigation into President Trump's possible ties to and collusion with Russia during the 2016 election. But Republicans say the memo summarizes how the FBI abused its surveillance authority to keep tabs on Trump's transition team.

The GOP also says it is going through the proper procedure, first by voting on its release, and then giving the Trump administration time this week to review it and decide whether to let it be released to the public. Members of the Trump administration have indicated they will approve of its release.

Democrats countered that Republicans have tweaked the memo, and shouldn't be able to release it in its current form, since the committee voted Monday to release a different version.

The FBI warned Wednesday that the memo should not be released in any form due to "grave concerns" with its accuracy.

Comment: Come guys, get your story straight: Senior FBI officials report 'no factual inaccuracies' in FISA abuse memo

Comment: More from Breitbart:

Nancy Pelosi Calls on Paul Ryan to Remove Rep. Nunes as House Intel Committee Chair for Releasing the FISA Memo
by Sean Moran
1 Feb 2018

...

Democrats and their allies have recently started attempting to discredit Rep. Nunes ahead of the release of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) memo.

MSNBC analyst John Heilemann asked two Democratic lawmakers in two separate interviews whether Chairman Nunes was "compromised by the Russians" or a "Russian agent."

Heilemann asked Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), "Is it possible that the Republican chairman of the House intel committee has been compromised by the Russians? Is it possible that we actually have a Russian agent running the House intel committee on the Republican side?"

Murphy rebuked that question, suggesting that there was "no information to suggest that it is" the case. Heileman responded, "[Nunes is] behaving like someone who's been compromised, and there are people in the intelligence community, and others with great expertise in this area, who look at him and say, 'That guy's been compromised."

Rep. Pelosi added, "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."

Pelosi concluded, "The integrity of the House is at stake. We look forward to your immediate action on this subject."