Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the former CIA Director John Brennan said Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) role in the FISA memo was an abuse of his House Intelligence Committee chairmanship.
Brennan said, “I’ve had fights with the Dems over the years when I was in the Obama administration, including on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the interrogation program the CIA ran. But I never ever saw the Democrats do something like this that was so partisan, so reckless, and really just laid waste to the protocols that govern committees. And Devin Nunes, over the past several months, all the way back to spring of last year, I think has been engaged in these tactics purely to defend, make excuses, and try to protect Mr. Trump.”
He continued, “The fact that Devin Nunes and Republicans denied the ability of the minority, the Democratic members of that committee to put out its report is just appalling. I think it really underscores just how partisan Mr. Nunes has been. He has abused the office of the chairmanship of HPSCI. And I don’t say that lightly. I think over the past year he has demonstrated he has engaged in these tactics purely to defend and make excuses.”
He added, “If there are issues related to the process involving FISA and if there are concerns about how forthcoming the bureau is, and I think the bureau from what I’ve been able to tell was very forthcoming. This was a renewal of FISA. He could have hearings. He could bring in the members of the FBI and others and to really seek what needs to be done differently, but he didn’t do that. He just put out publicly one side and a very selective cherry picked memo.”
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