House intel chairman who stepped aside from Russia probe says media ignoring 'unmasking' of Trump aides

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes — who said in April he would step aside from his committee's Russia probe amid an ethics investigation of him — complained Thursday 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.

Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites and others who have no interest in violations of Americans' civil liberties via unmaskings. — Rep. Devin Nunes (@Rep_DevinNunes) June 1, 2017

The tweet from the California Republican, who served on President Trump's transition team, echoed a tweet that the president posted Thursday morning. Trump said that "unmasking" — naming his campaign aides in classified intelligence reports that were later leaked to the media — is "the big story" in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The big story is the "unmasking and surveillance" of people that took place during the Obama Administration. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017

Nunes' tweet came a day after he unilaterally issued subpoenas to the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency for information about how the names of Trump campaign officials were unmasked in classified intelligence reports from those agencies. Specifically, the subpoenas issued by Nunes seek information about any requests made by former CIA director John Brennan and former national security adviser Susan Rice for the campaign aides' names to be disclosed in those classified reports.

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.

Nunes' subpoenas were issued the same day that the committee approved, on a bipartisan basis, subpoenas for testimony, documents and business records 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. Those subpoenas were announced by Reps. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who is supposed to be leading the committee's Russian probe in place of Nunes, and Adam Schiff of California, the panel's senior Democrat.

Schiff said Thursday he believes Nunes violated his recusal from the House Intelligence panel's investigation by issuing his own subpoenas Wednesday.

"The committee rules provide that the chair (Nunes) has to sign the subpoenas unless that authority is delegated to someone else," Schiff said on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports. "That authority should have been delegated to Mike Conaway in consultation with myself. That hasn't happened yet. And I think that's a violation of the recusal by the chairman ... I hope that will change."

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Nunes has said that he did not officially 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.

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 such 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 he would step aside from his committee's Russia investigation and allow Conaway to take charge while the ethics probe is underway.

Schiff said Nunes issued three subpoenas Wednesday "without consultation" with Democrats.

"I only learned about this late the night before, and that's a problem," Schiff said. "And these were sent out unilaterally by the chairman. And I think they're part of the White House desire to shift attention away from the Russia probe and onto the issue of unmasking. But Mr. Conaway and I are determined not to lose our focus on the Russian investigation, and so we plod on, keeping our eyes on what has to be done, and unwilling to let this other stuff distract us."