House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes on Tuesday shot down Democrats’ suggestions that he step aside from his committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election or resign from his spot leading the committee.
“Why would I not?” Nunes said to reporters on Capitol Hill when asked if he would continue his work. “You guys need to go ask them why these things are being said.”
He added, “You’ve gotta go talk to them. That sounds like their problem. My colleagues are fine.”
Nunes has been under the microscope for the past week after he went to reporters with information that he believed showed President Trump and his associates had been “unmasked” after the legal surveillance of other targets. Nunes then went to the White House to brief Trump about what he had learned.
Trump later said he believed Nunes’ information somewhat vindicated his claim that President Obama ordered Trump to be spied on during the campaign. Nunes said that wasn’t true and that the surveillance occurred during the transition.
Nunes later confirmed that he viewed the information on the White House grounds the day before going to the press. Democrats on the committee have complained that Nunes has yet to show them the information, and they believe he has compromised the committee’s independence.
Multiple high-ranking Democrats have called for Nunes to step aside or recuse himself from the investigation, but Nunes said the committee’s investigation goes forward.
“We’re doing a very thorough job on this investigation,” he said.
