House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes met briefly with the rest of the committee Thursday morning, and according to one of those members, apologized after being questioned as to why he revealed he had seen intelligence memos concerning the Trump transition team without first sharing them with the rest of the committee.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told CNN Nunes was asked by several members of the committee why he revealed his information the way he did, and “after a few minutes, Devin Nunes did apologize in a generic way.”
On Wednesday, Nunes told reporters in the Capitol he had seen intelligence reports showing members of the Trump transition team being caught up “incidentally” in the course of normal foreign surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. Nunes also said he was concerned because he claimed the names of some of those people had been revealed on the reports, when normal protocol would have “masked” their identities. All of this was done without first informing other members of the committee about the information.
Speier also told CNN that the info Nunes has seen “will be with the committee tomorrow,” even though Nunes said he doesn’t physically have the information.
After the committee meeting, Nunes twice fielded questions about whether his revelations had been orchestrated by the White House.
Responding to the first of those questions, Nunes said, “As you know, we have to keep our sources and methods here very, very quiet. I’ve told the American public several times that we want people to come to us, to bring us information if they have it.”
Speier’s fellow committee member Joaquin Castro, D-Tex., says he believes it’s possible the Nunes information may have been supplied by the White House.
Also speaking with CNN, Castro said, “At the committee hearing earlier this week, I raised the possibility regarding leaks, that the White House could be a main source of those leaks. There are people who have a kind-of version of Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, who want to be the source of leaks, and when everything blows up, they wanna be the savior.”
Anchor Kate Bolduan jumped in, asking, “Do you think that’s a real possibility?
“Absolutely,” Castro said.
Nunes further explained to the media that his decision Wednesday to brief the White House on his findings was “a judgment call on my part.”
