Democrats on Wednesday were angry with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., for telling the press that Obama administration intelligence officials appear to have “unmasked” several Trump transition officials who were swept up in routine surveillance.
Nunes told reporters Wednesday that the new information he has “bothers” him, because it seems to show that officials revealed the identities of U.S. citizens caught up in routine surveillance of foreigners when they should have remained masked.
“What I have read bothers me and I think it should bother the president himself and his team, because I think some of it seems to be inappropriate,” Nunes told reporters at the White House following his meeting with Trump.
But Democrats pounced and complained that Nunes should not have publicized that information before sharing it with the full committee.
“If accurate, this information should have been shared with members of the committee, but it has not been,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on Nunes’ committee. “Indeed, it appears that committee members only learned about this when the chairman discussed the matter this afternoon with the press.”
Schiff said he has already “expressed my grave concerns” with his decision to release the information.
Nunes said he felt Trump and his team should know that his staff and perhaps Trump himself were “unmasked” when they should not have been, since the former Obama administration already apparently knew.
Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee, called Nunes’ public statement a “pathetic charade.”
“Former Trump transition member Devin Nunes blew what little credibility he had left with this pathetic charade,” he said. “This isn’t an investigation; it’s a protection racket for Donald Trump and his fragile ego.”
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., complained in a MSNBC interview that Nunes’ actions were “highly irregular and probably inappropriate.”
And MoveOn.org called Nunes’ statement “absurd and unprecedented.”
