The top two Democrats on the House Ethics Committee appear to be compromised when it comes to the panel’s probe of House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Breitbart News has learned.
Evidence demonstrating a preconceived bias against Nunes—from before the onset of an official investigation—has clouded the supposed impartiality of Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Yvette Clark (D-NY).
Both of their offices have refused, when contacted by Breitbart News, to answer whether the members will recuse themselves from the investigation.
Earlier this year, Nunes recused himself from the House Intelligence Committee’s probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election in 2016 after allegations that he may have released classified information.
Nunes’ recusal does not take him out of the chairmanship of the full House Intelligence Committee, but it sidelined him for the committee’s most important work—meaning someone who could impartially look at this whole matter was taken off the playing field.
Nunes always intended to return to the helm of the investigation as soon as the House Ethics Committee cleared his name—which it is expected to eventually do when it completes its probe into Nunes—but the Ethics Committee has been slow-walking the investigation, per a report from the Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo.
Citing multiple sources, Kredo wrote last week that Democratic leaders on “the House Ethics Committee are charged with intentionally dragging out an investigation into Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes in what multiple sources described as an attempt to influence the Intelligence Committee’s sensitive Russia probe and promote their own political careers.” Kredo wrote:
Nunes (R., Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which is handling the Russia probe, was sidelined from his leadership role in the probe more than three months ago after the Ethics Committee began investigating allegations that he disclosed classified information in comments alleging Obama administration officials had accessed classified intelligence reports in order to gain information on Trump associates. Democrats are said to be blocking efforts to advance the Nunes case in an effort to discredit the top Republican and keep him sidelined from the sensitive Russia probe, which Democrats have increasingly used to score political points against Trump and boost their own political profiles.
One of the most important revelations in Kredo’s piece, however, is how the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee appears to be compromised in this probe.
Kredo cites a March interview that Deutch did with National Public Radio (NPR) in which Deutch “appears to have pre-judged the case in the media,” preemptively determining that Nunes was “guilty” of something before it ever was under investigation.
Deutch said in the NPR interview, indicating his bias:
It’s hard to see how the Intelligence Committee can move forward and do the job that it needs to do on behalf of the American people when the chairman behaves in a way that seems to put partisanship above getting all of the facts here. When the chairman of the committee decided to share some information, first with the speaker, then rushing to the White House to share it with the president—information that appears to be classified information—it makes it hard for people to have confidence in his ability to move forward. That’s why there needs to be an independent investigation.
It turns out, as Breitbart News can now reveal, Deutch is hardly the only Democrat who appears to have pre-judged the case and is compromised. Clarke, in a number of social media postings—both before Nunes recused himself and after—appears to have taken herself out of being considered an impartial observer by pre-judging the case.
On March 31, before Nunes recused himself from the House Intelligence Committee investigation, Clarke posted a New York Magazine piece on Facebook. With it, she included a deeply political comment on this matter—casting aside the notion that she could be even remotely objective. Clarke wrote:
Chairman Nunes is compromised and should recuse himself. His bizarre actions over the past two weeks have proven that he is incapable of conducting an honest, credible and impartial investigation into President Trump’s ties to Russia. We need an independent, bipartisan commission that is insulated from political interference to investigate possible ties between the Trump campaign & transition team and the Kremlin.
https://www.facebook.com/repyvettedclarke/posts/1379308855464923
What’s more, on April 6 when Nunes did recuse himself, Clarke hit him again. She said on Twitter that Nunes “finally steps down after weeks of chaos & confusion” and that he “should have stepped down weeks ago.”
She also cast doubt on the integrity of the original investigation, further demonstrating bias against Nunes.
Interestingly, at this time, as previously mentioned, neither Clarke nor Deutch are answering whether they will recuse themselves from the House Ethics Committee probe in which their public statements indicate bias.
Meanwhile, while the biased Democrats continue to delay clearing Nunes—as it is expected he will be eventually—there is no action on a similar complaint, Kredo wrote, against the House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who has appeared on television per the White House at least 123 times since Trump’s inauguration to bash Trump and is alleged to have released classified information in a serious complaint filed by Judicial Watch. The complaint against Nunes was pushed by politically motivated groups like the George Soros-funded MoveOn.org.
Kredo wrote:
Meanwhile, the Ethics Committee has thus far declined to investigate similar claims that Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the Intelligence Committee’s ranking Democrat, wrongly disclosed classified information to the press when he publicly discussed the contents of a reported phone call between former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The Ethics Committee has ignored the matter, despite public testimony from former acting attorney general Sally Yates, who, when asked about the content of that call by a Senate Committee, stated that she could not answer the question because to do so would disclose classified information. The original complaint that spurred the investigation into Nunes was filed by MoveOn.org and Democracy 21, liberal advocacy organizations closely tied to the Democratic Party. A complaint by the conservative-leaning Judicial Watch calling for an investigation into Schiff has not moved forward.
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