Citing “dysfunctional chairman” Devin Nunes, who’s incompetently leading the House Intelligence Committee investigation of Russia, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Saturday that it’s time for an outside independent commission to look into Donald Trump’s Moscow ties.
Pelosi didn’t necessarily say the committee itself is a failure but simply pointed out that the credibility of such a committee is nonexistent if the man running it is, as she said, dysfunctional. As a result, the House Intelligence Committee is essentially useless at this point.
Video:
.@NancyPelosi calls @DevinNunes a “dysfunctional chairman” of House Intelligence Committee. RETWEET TO AGREE #AMJoy https://t.co/PAotfAmTH7
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— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) April 1, 2017
Pelosi said:
Here we have a situation that has been so completely politicized. You know what’s very sad about it is that it brings dishonor to the whole committee. We are very proud of our Democrats on the committee. We’re very proud of our ranking member Adam Schiff, who’s done a remarkable job. And maybe some of the Republican members have comported themselves very well as well – but not the chairman. So when they say, ‘Oh, the House committee – it’s dysfunctional.’ No, it’s a dysfunctional chairman.
In the exchange with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Pelosi also noted that not all Republicans involved in investigating Russia have compromised themselves, but the most important player in the House investigation right now – Devin Nunes – has shown a complete inability and unwillingness to lead a bipartisan inquiry.
Most recently, Nunes has shown he is more interested in being a puppet to protect Trump instead of a representative of the American people, who want and deserve a thorough investigation into whether the President of the United States colluded with a foreign government to gain power.
While some are calling for GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan to remove and replace Nunes as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi suggested that putting the Speaker in charge of replacing someone when Republicans have politicized the investigation so much would resolve in the same dysfunction we are seeing today.
The Democrats are taking this investigation seriously, demanding politics be set aside for the good of the country. Republicans are taking a different strategy, putting politics first and bending over backward to protect the GOP president.
As long as that’s the reality, this investigation will have no credibility.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
