Devin Nunes: What To Know About Rep. Dems Want To Resign For Not Being Impartial
Rep. Devin Nunes is under fire for what Democrats see as his too-close ties to the White House. Nunes, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the election, is being asked to resign. Learn more about him, and the controversy, here.
1. He’s accused of being too close to the president to hold an impartial investigation
Congressional Democrats are calling for CA Representative Devin Nunes, 43, to recuse himself from the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election because of 1. his position as a member of President Donald Trump‘s campaign and transition team and 2. the revelation he was shown secret intelligence reports on White House grounds.
Devin said that the source’s reports showed that Trump and his associates may have been “incidentally” been the victims of foreign surveillance by American spies. His claims raised questions of why the meeting was held on White House grounds, who gave him the briefings, and why he revealed the information. As the Chair of the House Intelligence. many believe this makes his involvement biased. Nunes, at this point, refuses to step down.
2. Democratic representatives are calling for his recusal
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA said in a statement to CNN on March 27: “The Chair of the House Intelligence has a serious responsibility to the Congress and to the country. Chairman Nunes’ discredited behavior has tarnished that office. (House) Speaker (Paul) Ryan must insist that Chairman Nunes at least recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation immediately.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA, who is leading the Russia investigation with Nunes, asked for his recusal as well. “The questions are profound enough that I think we need to move past it, and ideally that would mean the chairman ought to recuse himself.”
3. Thousands of tweets insist he be removed
It’s not just politicians; politically-minded Twitter users are demanding that Nunes recuse himself, because they want an impartial and fair investigation. If Russia did, in fact, interfere with the election, then the American people have the right to know what happened.
4. He’s a climate change denier
Nunes doesn’t believe in climate change, a fact revealed when California experienced a devastating, state-wide drought in 2014. When confronted with the link between the drought and climate change, he said “global warming is nonsense.” He wrote in his 2010 book, Restoring the Republic, that the members of the environmental lobby were “followers of neo-Marxist, socialist, Maoist or Communist ideals.”
Trump Addresses Congress — Pics
5. He’s been characterized as “controversial” and “sharp-tongued”
Nunes has sparred with his fellow Republicans as well. During the 2013 budget standoff, Nunes called the Republicans on his own committee “lemmings with suicide vests.” Ouch. “It’s kind of an insult to lemmings to call them lemmings,” he added. While they haven’t outright called for his recusal, GOP representatives like John McCain, R-AZ, criticized Nunes. “I think there needs to be a lot of explaining to do. I’ve been around for quite a while and I’ve never heard of any such thing,” McCain told CBS.
HollywoodLifers, what are your views on Rep. Nunes? Tell us in the comments!
