Nunes, White House defiant as Russia controversy deepens The House intelligence chairman says there's no reason for him to step down from probe into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Embattled House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes on Tuesday rejected calls for his recusal, questioning why he should step aside from leading the panel’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election and possible collusion between Russian officials and President Donald Trump’s associates.

“Well, why would I not?” Nunes (R-Calif.) told reporters when asked whether he’d continue to lead the investigation. “Why would it not?” he said when asked whether the probe could continue with him at the helm.


Top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, called on Nunes to recuse himself Monday after his office confirmed that he was on White House grounds the day before he publicly claimed to have evidence that members of Trump’s transition team were inappropriately monitored by intelligence agencies. Nunes returned to the White House to brief Trump on his findings after making his public statement, but Democrats on the panel have said they still haven’t had any access to Nunes’ information.

Asked about the growing number of Democrats who have expressed concern over his ability to lead a credible, independent investigation, Nunes, who was a member of the Trump transition executive committee, told reporters to “go talk to them.”

“That sounds like their problem,” he said. “You know, my colleagues are perfectly fine. I mean, they know we’re doing an investigation, and that will continue.”

Democrats have suggested that the information on which Nunes briefed the president may have come from the White House or someone within the Trump administration. Nunes said Monday that his source was an intelligence official.

Still, the minority has expressed skepticism over Nunes’ sequence of events, including his decision to go to White House grounds to review classified material he likely could have seen inside the Capitol.

The White House is “not an internet café,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the intelligence panel, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “You can’t just walk in and receive classified information.”

Swalwell said “this is done because the White House wanted it to be done,” adding, “This is what a cover-up to a crime looks like.”

The House Intelligence Committee was scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday morning with testimony from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, but the hearing was canceled last week. Nunes, who initially told reporters twice on Tuesday that “nothing has been canceled” and urged them to ask the Democrats, indicated that he believes the committee can’t move forward until it hears more from FBI Director James Comey, who testified publicly last week.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Trump administration tried to prevent Yates from testifying by having the Justice Department inform her that a significant portion of her testimony would be blocked because the topics are covered under the presidential communication privilege.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer blasted the story as “entirely false,” arguing that the administration hasn’t taken any action to stop Yates from testifying. DOJ “specifically told her that it would not stop her, and to suggest otherwise is completely irresponsible,” the statement said.

Spicer recounted the timeline of events at his daily briefing, where he doubled down on his earlier statement and encouraged Yates to testify.

“I hope she testifies,” said Spicer, who quipped at the tail end of his briefing that “if the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection.”

Schiff has called for the hearing to be rescheduled.

“Whether the White House’s desire to avoid a public claim of executive privilege to keep her from providing the full truth on what happened contributed to the decision to cancel today's hearing, we do not know,” the California Democrat wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “But we would urge that the open hearing be rescheduled without further delay and that Ms. Yates be permitted to testify freely and openly.”

California Rep. Jackie Speier, another Democrat on the committee, said she was “outraged” when the hearing was canceled and found out about it through media reports. She accused Republicans of trying to “shut down the visuals” of the committee openly talking about connections between Trump associates and Russians. Nunes’ conduct, she continued, has been “profoundly inappropriate,” and the bipartisan nature of the committee “is out the window.”

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“It smacks of a hunkering down by the White House and the chair of this committee to shut this committee down and its investigation. I am very convinced that that's what the game plan is right now,” she said. “I don’t think the president wants this investigation to move forward. It could implicate his campaign, even him, in the Russian meddling of our elections.”

Democrats were joined in their criticism Tuesday by two Senate Republicans.

“If he’s not willing to tell the Democrats and Republicans on the committee who he met with and what he was told, then I think he’s lost his ability to lead,” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who likened Nunes to inspector Jacques Clouseau from the “Pink Panther” series. “My belief is the House is off track and probably can’t get back on track.”

Arizona Sen. John McCain said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” that Nunes has “a lot of explaining to do.” “I’ve been around for quite a while, and I’ve never heard of any such thing,” McCain said. “Obviously, on a committee like an intelligence committee, you’ve got to have bipartisanship; otherwise the committee loses credibility. And there’s so much out there that needs to be explained by the chairman.”

Nunes said he would brief reporters when the time is appropriate but won't disclose his sources.

“We will never reveal sources and methods,” he said. Even to members of the intelligence panel? “Nope. Never.”

Louis Nelson and Kelsey Sutton contributed to this report.