House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes confirmed this morning he viewed confidential information about intelligence gathering that swept up Trump associates on White House grounds.
Nunes last week created a crisis of confidence in the bipartisan committee he heads, when he gained access to intelligence reports showing Trump transition officials were in contact with people under U.S. surveillance, and took that information directly to Trump, rather than to his committee.
Nunes confirmed this morning he was on White House grounds the day before he invited himself to the White House to tell President Donald Trump what he had learned. And a rep for Nunes went further in a statement, saying Nunes was at the National Security Council offices, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, situated on White House grounds, in order to view classified information in a secure room.
Nunes’ behavior last week had led to speculation he’d been provided information by the Trump administration in order to provide cover to Trump, who has accused former President Barack Obama of ordering his Trump Tower office wiretapped during the election cycle. Nunes has declined to rule out he got the intel from the White House, saying he wants to protect his source.
Committee members tells cable news outlets this morning Nunes has yet to brief them with details of the information and has cancelled today’s regularly scheduled intel-committee meeting. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said in a statement he still has confidence in Nunes as chairman of the House Intel Committee.
Nunes last Friday canceled Tuesday’s public hearing at which Obama administration’s, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, and acting Attorney General Sally Yates all had agreed to testify publicly before his committee on what they knew about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
