John McCain Just Gave Trump and Nunes Terrible News
Senate Republicans have had enough of the amateur hour over at the House Intelligence Committee – specifically the committee chairman’s comically blatant partisan maneuvering.
In a complete denunciation of fellow Republican Devin Nunes (CA) and his ability to conduct a fair and transparent investigation, Arizona Senator John McCain called for a new Select Committee to be formed to take over Congress’ inquiry into the President’s links to Russia and its campaign to undermine the 2016 Presidential Election.
Rep. Nunes made what Democrats are calling a “profound irregularity”Wednesday by taking what he claimed were legally acquired intercepts of members of Trump’s campaign team that he “recently confirmed” not to his committee, or to the FBI or NSA, but to reporters in a hastily organized press conference – and then to the President himself.
Appearing on MSNBC’s ‘For the Record’ this afternoon, Senator McCain responded to Nunes’ dog and pony show by telling host Greta Van Sustern that, “I don’t understand that. Honestly, what this is, really, is a requirement for a Select Committee.”
In his rush to provide pass blocking for the President in what amounts to a late-game Hail Mary he hopes might somehow vindicate his embarrassing Twitter accusations that President Obama “wiretapped” Trump Tower, Rep. Nunes may have inadvertently sabotaged his committee’s credibility.
“It was like a prosecutor taking evidence to the subject [of the investigation] instead of the grand jury,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.
“Because the committee has still not been provided the intercepts in the possession of the chairman,” Rep. Schiff said in a statement, “it is impossible to evaluate the chairman’s claims. It certainly does not suggest — in any way — that the President was wiretapped by his predecessor.”
“This just shows that there’s a tremendous chasm between the two senior members of the House Intelligence Committee,” added Senator McCain, citing this division as yet another indication that the House-led inquiry has lost all legitimacy.
McCain isn’t the first Republican to call Chairman Nunes’ competency into question, but he is the highest ranking GOP official so far to call for the extraordinary step of forming a Select Committee – an admission that the current Committee responsible for the investigation is unable to do its job. Or worse: that it’s been compromised.
You can see Senator McCain’s full interview here:
