House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) did an interview on CNN’s The Situation Room where he managed to make the Russia scandal even worse for himself and the Trump administration.
Video of Nunes all but admitting that it was someone in the White House who gave him his information:
Rep. Nunes refused to say who cleared him for admission to the White House. He also refused to deny that it was a White House staffer who cleared him for admission. The House Intel Committee chairman said, “Look, Wolf, I’m not going to get into sources and methods and how we review documents and classified information. This happens all over the Executive Branch, and it’s quite common.”
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Wolf Blitzer told him that the records are going to come out anyway, and Nunes agreed, but still refused to disclose any information about how he got into the White House and who he was talking to.
Nunes tried to defend himself by saying that if he wanted to, he could have snuck onto the White House grounds at night unseen, “if I wanted to, I could have snuck onto WH grounds at night when nobody would have seen me.”
The interview was a complete train wreck. Nunes offered answers to questions that contradicted themselves. For instance, Nunes tried to claim that his source was a whistleblower, but also that the whole process and the intelligence he saw were routine.
Nunes said that he thought what he saw in the documents was in his opinion wrong, but he refused to say that what he saw was illegal.
Rep. Nunes all but admitted that this was a White House operation. He didn’t provide any explanations, and his answers should only inspire more questions. It is difficult to imagine an interview that could have gone worse for Nunes and the White House.
The old cliche is that the cover-up is worse than the crime. In the case of the Trump/Russia scandal, the crime could be treason, and it is the cover-up that is going to intensify the investigation and scrutiny on Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
