“I don’t believe he can remain on the committee,’’ said Speier, who is the first member of the Intelligence Committee to call for Nunes' removal from the committee itself. | AP Photo Speier on Nunes controversy: 'Absolutely convinced it started in the Oval Office'

SAN MATEO, California — Rep. Jackie Speier, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Saturday she is “absolutely convinced” the White House generated the bizarre scenario that has embroiled committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes — in which he reportedly obtained information from administration officials regarding foreign surveillance of Trump campaign officials and then presented it to the president.

"I am absolutely convinced it started in the Oval Office,'' Speier (D-Calif.) said of what she called the resulting "wild goose chase" in the three weeks since President Donald Trump launched an unfounded tweet accusing former President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower.


“There’s no question in my mind that the president, with the aid of his national security adviser staff, came up with some kind of a ruse to try and suggest there was some kind of validity” to his accusation, which has been debunked by intelligence officials, Speier said after a town-hall event in which she and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul examined Russia-Trump connections.

McFaul, in his appearance with Speier at San Mateo City Hall — a standing-room-only event that drew some 200 people inside the council chambers — agreed that he had never witnessed such behavior by a House Intelligence Committee chair and that the actions of Nunes, and of Trump and his White House associates, make it even more important to "get to the bottom of this."

In an interview with POLITICO, Speier leveled blistering criticism at the intelligence chairman, saying Nunes' apparent desire to play “Maxwell Smart” — a reference to the bumbling TV secret agent — and to present to Trump information that he received from the White House itself constituted “reckless behavior.” Saying that he has “ruined his career,” which is now “tainted,’’ Speier said it is no longer enough that he should recuse himself from the investigation.

“I don’t believe he can remain on the committee,’’ said Speier, who is the first member of the Intelligence Committee to call for Nunes' removal from the committee itself.

“This wasn’t done to him,’’ she said, adding Nunes voluntarily “took an action that impeded his credibility.”

Asked what she believes may be driving the Intelligence Committee chair, Speier told POLITICO that the Republican congressman from Tulare, in California's Central Valley, “came here [to Congress] very young, and he is enamored with the klieg lights and being close to the president.“

After Trump fired off the tweet about Obama, she said, “the president clicked his fingers and Devin went running over,’’ apparently to assist him in validating his accusation.

A New York Times story Saturday reported that two White House staffers relayed intelligence information to Nunes that Trump and some of his associates were "incidentally swept up" in foreign surveillance also relayed to American spy agencies. That story came days after Nunes set off a firestorm with what critics like Speier have called "cloak and dagger" activity — diverting an Uber ride, heading to the White House, and obtaining classified information about the surveillance, then giving a news conference about it before he even informed fellow committee members.

Nunes, in interviews, has specifically denied he received intelligence information from White House officials, a statement that Speier said shows the chairman has "been infected with the same virus the president has about lying." She added: “We have a president who makes this a full-time job."

Speier, in an April Fools' tweet, jabbed at the president — who on Saturday alone issued four tweets denouncing the media for focusing on what he has called a "fake news" story related to his links with Russia.

"I will be introducing a bill next week which will prohibit @POTUS from posting unsupervised tweets,'' she tweeted. Speier later added in a retweet: "Wish I could introduce such a bill. #aprilfools."