Pelosi: Nunes' behavior on House Intelligence panel is 'beneath the dignity' of a chairman

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday she has told Speaker Paul Ryan she is concerned that Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes' "weird" behavior is "beneath the dignity" of a chairman.

Nunes was appointed by Ryan to chair the 22-member committee, which is leading House efforts to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

The California Republican said in April that he was temporarily stepping aside from leading that investigation while the House Ethics Committee investigates whether he mishandled classified information. However, Nunes unilaterally issued three subpoenas Wednesday to the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency for information about who disclosed — or "unmasked" — the names of Trump campaign aides in classified reports that were later leaked to the press.

Democrats on the committee complained that the subpoenas were issued without their agreement and that Nunes is interfering with the committee's Russia probe, which is now supposed to be led by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the panel's senior Democrat.

"We deputize people to serve in the interests of our national security and to do so with integrity, patriotism and in the most bipartisan way possible," Pelosi told reporters at a news conference Friday. "The behavior of Nunes ... is beneath the dignity of being a chairman of the Intelligence Committee."

Ryan's office and Nunes' office had no immediate response to the California Democrat's remarks.

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Pelosi said she has had several conversations with Ryan to express her "dismay" about Nunes. Ryan appointed all 13 Republican members of the Intelligence Committee, while Pelosi appointed the nine Democrats. The committee has traditionally had a reputation for bipartisanship, but Nunes is causing chaos, Pelosi said.

"If he (Nunes) recused himself on Russia, then he shouldn't be having access to documents relating to Russia, and he shouldn't be issuing separate subpoenas attaching them to bipartisan subpoenas that were issued this week," Pelosi said. "So my dismay, my objection has been conveyed to the speaker on more than one occasion."

Nunes issued his subpoenas the same day that Conaway and Schiff announced that the committee approved, on a bipartisan basis, subpoenas for testimony and documents from former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Nunes has said that he did not recuse himself in April when he temporarily stepped aside from the Russia probe and still has the power to issue subpoenas. Congressional aides have described his investigation of unmasking as "separate" from the overall Russia investigation.

On Thursday, Nunes complained that the media is ignoring the "unmasking" of Trump campaign aides by former intelligence officials while focusing instead on possible collusion between the campaign and Russian officials in last year's election.

"Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites and others who have no interest in violations of Americans' civil liberties via unmaskings," Nunes tweeted Thursday.

The "unmasking" issue has been raised by the White House and by Trump supporters as a suggestion that the Russia investigation has been politically motivated. But Democrats have largely dismissed this issue as an attempt to divert attention from possible collusion by Trump campaign officials with the Russians.

In early April, Democrats accused Nunes of working with the White House to derail the committee's investigation after Nunes took a secret trip to the White House grounds to review information gathered by White House staffers purporting to show that Trump had been under surveillance by the Obama administration. Nunes told reporters at a news conference that he had discovered evidence to support the president's claim that he was a victim of surveillance. No evidence has ever been released to the public.

Nunes' press conference led to an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he mishandled classified information. Nunes said in April that he would step aside from his committee's Russia investigation and allow Conaway to take charge while the ethics probe is underway.

Pelosi said Friday that it is Ryan's responsibility to act and that he should do something "in fairness to Mike Conaway."

"It all comes back to him (Ryan), because this is his appointment, and his appointment acted in a way that was weird," Pelosi said. "It was irresponsible, but it was weird when he (Nunes) did what he did."