White House press secretary Sean Spicer said House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes was 'cleared' to get classified information – as the top Democrat on the panel called on Nunes to recuse himself from the panel's Russian election interference probe.

Spicer pushed back Monday on the idea that Nunes was essentially the recipient of a White House 'leak' last week.

Senior Democrats however have called for him to recuse himself from the panel's Russia probe including Rep Adam Schiff of California and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

'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,' Schiff said.

'This is not a recommendation I make lightly, as the Chairman and I have worked together well for several years,' he added in a statement.

Pelosi added: 'Chairman Nunes' discredited behavior has tarnished that office. Speaker Ryan must insist that Chairman Nunes at least recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation immediately. That leadership is long overdue.'

ALL CLEAR: White House press secretary Sean Spicer said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is 'cleared' to get classified information, and that the White House did not leak anything to him

NO PLUG NEEDED: 'There's a difference between a leak, someone leaking out to reporters for nefarious, to take classified information and share it with people who aren't cleared,' Spicer said Monday

Nunes secretly went to the White House last Tuesday – a day before he issued pronouncements about the 'unmasking' of Americans through surveillance – to review classified information that he and fellow committee members didn't have access to.

'I had to go to the White House to meet with a source. Can no one go to the White House anymore?' Nunes complained in an interview with the Washington Post.

Spicer said on Monday: 'I think there's a difference between a leak and someone pursuing a review of the situation that they have determined ... there's a difference between a leak, someone leaking out to reporters for nefarious, to take classified information and share it with people who aren't cleared.'

Reporters pressed the spokesman on whether the White House orchestrated the release of information to Nunes, as well as who cleared him to enter the White House complex last Tuesday to view classified information in a secure area.

'Chairman Nunes is cleared. He is the chairman of the intelligence committee. Someone who is cleared to share classified information with somebody else [who is] cleared is not a leak,' Spicer said.

Asked who at the White House got him into the compound, Spicer responded: 'I don't know that members of Congress need to be cleared.'

Spicer indicated he doesn't know whether the White House had knowledge of what information Nunes got during his clandestine visit.

'I'm not aware of where he got it from. I know in his public statement, he has talked about having multiple sources,' Spicer said. 'And so I don't know how he derived the conclusion that he did. I think that at this point, the goal would be to wait until the review that he is undertaking is completed.'

He then got asked why Nunes would need to brief President Trump, as Nunes did last Wednesday, on documents that were available on White House grounds.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was at the White House the day before he cited new information about 'unmasking' of Americans at Trump Tower

'That's a big assumption that you're making, that that's the only thing. As I said a second ago, he had multiple sources on multiple topics. We don't know what he briefed him on in its totality. And so to jump to that conclusion is frankly irresponsible,' Spicer responded.

On multiple occasions, Spicer tried to keep his distance from the situation, saying reporters should direct their questions to the Intelligence chairman.

'I know that Chairman Nunes has confirmed that he was on White House grounds Tuesday. And frankly any questions regarding who he met with or why he was here should be referred to him,' Spicer said.

'I'm not going to get into who he met with or why he met with them. I think that's something that he has been very clear [on], and I'll let him answer. 'He is the one who has discussed what he is reviewing, and so I will leave it up to him and not try to get in the middle of that.'

Nunes claimed on Wednesday that President Trump and his transition aides were 'unmasked' in spy intercepts at a press conference that infuriated his Democratic counterpart on the panel.

IT TAKES TWO: Intelligence panel vice chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) wait for the start of a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing concerning Russian meddling in the 2016 United States election

Nunes said the conversations got picked up inadvertently through 'incidental' collection, but his comments nevertheless were taken to bolster President Trump's claim that his phones had been 'tapped' at Trump Tower. President Trump later that he felt somewhat 'vindicated.'

A Nunes spokesman on the Intelligence panel confirmed Monday that Nunes was on the White House grounds the day before he made his explosive comments on Wednesday.

HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE POSTPONES CLOSED SESSION WITH FBI The House Intelligence Committee will not hold on Tuesday a closed briefing with the directors of the FBI and National Security Agency, a spokesman for the committee's Republican chairman said on Monday. Devin Nunes, last week said he cancelled a public hearing on the committee's investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 election because it was necessary to hold the closed session with Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers. 'Director Comey and Adm. Rogers could not come in tomorrow as we´d hoped, so the Committee will continue to try to schedule a time when they can meet with us in closed session,' Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, said in a statement. Advertisement

'Chairman Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source,' said Jack Langer, communications director for the committee.

'The Chairman is extremely concerned by the possible improper unmasking of names of U.S. citizens, and he began looking into this issue even before President Trump tweeted his assertion that [Trump Tower] had been wiretapped,' he said.

His presence on the White House grounds raises the possibility that the information Nunes cited came from someone at the White House.

As chairman of the Intelligence panel, Nunes already has a top clearance and the ability to review classified information inside a secure facility inside the Capitol, raising questions about why he would need to go to the White House to get information.

CNN reported on Monday that Nunes was spotted on the grounds the day before his announcement, something the lawmakers subsequently confirmed in a phone call. Nunes said he didn't believe President Trump or his staff knew he was there.

An official told CNN that Nunes was seen at the National Security Council offices inside the Old Executive Office Building, which is on White House grounds.

Last week, Nunes declined to characterize where he got his information – which panel vice chair Schiff of California blasted him for sharing with the president before he shared it with fellow committee members.

Nunes briefed President Trump on the information last Wednesday.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said last week: 'I'm not aware of where he got the document from. I don't know. I don't know where he got them from. He didn't state it.'

Spicer added: 'So I don't – I don't have anything for you on that and so I cannot say anything more than I don't know, at this point.'

PLEASE COME AGAIN: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) walks out of the West Wing after a meeting at the White House March 22, 2017

Nunes also pushed back in a Daily Beast report on an unexplained Uber ride.

"I was in a cab with staff and we dropped them off before I went to my meeting," he said. "Anything other than that is just false,' he told CNN.

The Daily Beast reported that Nunes was in an Uber Tuesday evening with a senior committee staffer when he got a communication on his phone, before leaving abruptly without telling his aide where he was going.

At a Wednesday morning press conference, Nunes said: 'The intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition.'

Nunes explained the reason for his visit to White House grounds to Bloomberg News, saying that he needed access to a computer system that had the classified information.

'We don't have networked access to these kinds of reports in Congress,' he said. He said his source wasn't a White House staffer, and said he made sure to copy down identifying information about the documents so he could request access to them for the rest of his committee.

Nunes apologized last week after Schiff blasted him for not immediately sharing the information with the panel and meeting with the president about it first.