Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier who sits on the House Intelligence Committee said on Monday that top Donald Trump defender Rep. Devin Nunes should face an ethics investigation if the reporting is true that he was trying to get dirt on Joe Biden from Ukraine.
During an interview on MSNBC, Speier said, “If [Nunes] was on a political errand for the president that was using taxpayer funds inappropriately, he should be investigated by the Ethics Committee and he should be forced to repay the Treasury the money that was spent for what was a purely political activity.”
The Democratic lawmaker said it increasingly looks like Rep. Nunes was either using taxpayer dollars for a “political errand” for Trump, or he was flirting with a campaign finance violation.
“He could be hit both ways, to tell you the truth,” Rep. Speier said.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Video:
Rep. Jackie Speier says Rep. Devin Nunes faces a potential ethics investigation for his involvement in the Ukraine scandal. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/MQ8jAfOieo
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) November 26, 2019
Rep. Speier said:
I think there certainly is a potential — if it’s true, a potential ethics inquiry that needs to take place. If he was on a political errand for the president that was using taxpayer funds inappropriately, he should be investigated by the ethics committee and he should be forced to repay the Treasury the money that was spent for what was a purely political activity. … If he wanted to use his own campaign funds to do that and he was doing opposition research for the president, that would be a gift of money to the president’s campaign and you’re limited in how much you can actually contribute. So he could be hit both ways, to tell you the truth.
In addition to concerns raised by House Democrats, The Hill reported on Monday, “At least one outside group has filed a complaint against Nunes with the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which can review cases against lawmakers and refer them to the House Ethics Committee.”
Nunes should have nothing to do with the impeachment inquiry
The fact that Devin Nunes appears to be directly involved in Donald Trump’s extortion scheme is even more stunning given the fact that he is a key figure in the ongoing impeachment proceedings.
Over the past several weeks as a throng of Trump administration officials testified before the House Intelligence Committee – the committee of which he’s the ranking member – Nunes has tried to smear the witnesses and chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, all while pushing Russian talking points.
In light of the explosive new reporting, the Republican lawmaker shouldn’t be part of conducting the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. If anything, he should be a subject of the investigation.
Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
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.
