The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Monday called on the committee’s Republican chairman, California Rep. Devin Nunes, to recuse himself from any investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
“After much consideration, and in light of the chairman’s admission that he met with his source of information at the White House, I believe that the chairman should recuse himself from any further involvement in the Russia investigation, as well as any involvement in oversight of matters pertaining to any incidental collection of the Trump transition, as he was also a key member of the transition team,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement posted on Twitter.
After much consideration I believe Chairman should recuse himself from involvement in investigation/oversight of Trump campaign & transition pic.twitter.com/jpfA1x80Si
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 27, 2017
The call for recusal comes amid the revelation Nunes was on the White House grounds the day before he announced he had seen information that President Trump and some of his associates may have been accidentally spied on. Nunes said he went to the White House complex for meetings and to go into a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, to view the information he later alluded to publicly.
Schiff’s remarks seem likely to set Democrats up to dismiss any report Nunes’ committee develops on Russia’s alleged effort to influence the election, unless Nunes removes himself from the process. It’s a position that is also likely to keep Democrats calling for a special prosecutor in that investigation.
Kyle Feldscher contributed
