Also complicit is Trump's own legal team. It's now abundantly clear they are taking actions to defend Trump and his campaign from criminal charges. Shame!!
5
The question to ask Devon Nunes is:
"But for Wales, Richard? For Wales?"
3
If Democrats were acting like this we'd never hear the end of it...
3
ANDREW JANZ (D), a prosecutor who deeply understands this crime, is running against Nunes. Read his thoughts about this on his website, Facebook and Twitter.
1
Is Devin Nunes obstructing justice? No duh. Is Trump obstructing justice? Duh. You don’t need a law degree to figure that out, just common sense. Paul Ryan is obstructing justice, and so is Mitch McConnell; the two of them are arguably the most disingenuous people ever elected to Congress. For Republicans, the list is long and embarrassing—pick any one of them. The question is: What are we going to do about it? Continue the daily whine? Tom Steyer has the answer.
7
It appears to be difficult for the various Trumpists to undestand this article, so let me help: it doesn't say that Nunes is guilty of obstructions of justice.
It lays out what the conditions would have to be for him to be guilty of obstruction, or even credibly prosecuted.
Briefly put, the man's obviously a shameless toady; we just don't know yet if he's done anything illegal or not, so here's what you need to do to figure that out.
3
Mueller has all the transition emails from Nov 2016 on and likely has found incredible evidence of obstruction or self dealing from many stupid people caught on those emails. These alleged conspirators range from politicians like Nunes, certain other Congressional "leaders" and Senators to GOP "advisors" and "party elders" looking for ambassadorships and cabinet posts to certain media figures who toe the Trump line as it changes from moment to moment.
The accumulating evidence from the emails and other evidence hangs over all of these conspirators and explains all their crazy behaviors over the last 18 months in Congress, . This is bigger than Teapot Dome and that's why so many GOP leaders, who know what the evidence is, have announced they aren't standing for re-election. They are the miner's canaries for what will be the biggest political scandal in a century or ever. Mueller and those who follow him to deal with the accumulated evidence will be busy for years to come.
3
So what about taking a political opponent’s unverified opposition research laundered through a third party then presented as bona fide intel to make the majority of the case for wiretapping a worker for the other party without revealing the origin of said intel? Maybe it’s elements of the FBI who have perverted Justice?
I think it's pretty obvious - he is! And he and his staff should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. He took an oath to the people - if there is no consequence to violating that oath - its useless.
2
Devin Nunes reminds me of the Scrooge that stole Christmas. He's sneaking around cherry picking presents and loading them on his memo. And he has somehow convinced himself that he must be invisible (or invincible). Is he obstructing justice? Is someone who trips on their own feet and falls down in the road obstructing traffic?
Asking if Nunes is obstructing justice is like asking if Nixon ever told a fib. If the widespread obstruction of justice being coordinated by the White House and the Nunes committee of one wasn't so dangerous to our democracy, it would be good fodder for a new installment in the Pink Panther series. Nunes would make a great Inspector Clouseau.
The troubling thing is I have no confidence anymore that our checks and balances are working. I'm beginning to think that Trump just might have found a window in time where he could con enough of the voters who show up at the polls to vote, to swallow his lies and half truths and elect him yet again. Our country is sleep walking into swamp that hasn't been drained for quite some time.
1
Let's not over-estimate Trump and Nunes, and ascribe to them any cunning plans.
The fact is that they both have a talent for putting their foot in it.
For example, Trump's interview with Lester Holt after firing Comey. And, not content with that, telling the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador, in the Oval Office, that firing "nut job" Comey had eased pressure from the Russia investigation.
Talk about grist for the mill for Mueller.
1
I wondered about this.
Contrast the behavior of the two men involved with this memo since its release. One, Trey Gowdy, who has legal expertise and the other, Devin Nunes, who does not.
Nunes charged off to produce other memos while giving lawerly answers about whether his staff worked with the White House on this one.
Gowdy went on TV to clarify that in his mind the memo has nothing to do with Meuller's investigation, which he insisted must continue. Then he announced he'd be leaving politics.
Is the difference that Gowdy sees that intent is the main thing separating Nunes's actions from obstruction, something Nunes does not see?
2
very far from Fresno, CA, rep. nunes has been truely, protesting too much- in his tirelss efforts to stop the Mueller investigation. that effort it and of itself, smell too much like an obstruction of justice. we DO KNOW : the Mueller investigation
has been authorized by Congress. Nunes' attempts to interfere with it is NOT acting on behalf of the people of California ( yes, im a Californian). its clearly acting on behalf of trump. Nunes needs to step aside not only for his actions on behalf of trump, but, and maybe if even more so - for failing to fulfill his pledge : to represent and protect the interests of the people of CA.
8
Of course! That was the entire motivation for the memo. It’s blatantly, unashamedly obvious.
7
When FBI leadership is corrupt, their opinion is tainted and should not be overly relied upon. The courts have ruled that Nunes should be free from oversight, per precedent and should not be subject to questioning from Special Prosecutor, Mueller.
1
When Committee leadership is corrupt, their opinion is tainted and should not be overly relied upon. The Constitution and the Courts have ruled that at least some action on the part of congressional leadership is subject to legal limits. Nunes may have transgressed those limits.
what court decision might that be? a link please.
1
Remind me again why Nunez is still chairing this committee. Didn't he recuse himself a long time ago? How do Republicans get away with this sort of shenanigans?
11
we must rely on the republicans for truth - really?
5
"Harvard’s Laurence Tribe Has Become a Deranged Russia Conspiracist: Today Was His Most Humiliating Debacle" by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, 2/12/2018
It was fun to read that even prominent Harvard professors are not immune to the glamour of fake news
1
The Republicans and this jerk president are essentially playing their last desperate hand. After 2018, everything will change
5
Nunes was in direct violation of the Rules of the House Intelligence Committee back when he decided to go running to the White House to share the wonderful information he thought he had on the FISA violation. Take a look at page 12 of the rules document from this link:
https://intelligence.house.gov/about/committee-rules.htm
Unfortunately, he's the chair and I can find any information on how to remove the Chair. At this point, I don't find him obstructing justice as much as committing treason.
4
No. He ran to the White House to view classified information in a type of secure facility that the Congress doesn't posses.
Please get your facts right, at least. There are a number of thing that Nunes has done that can be critiqued, but this is not one of them.
It's unwise to accuse someone of treason based on a lie.
Colluding with the people you're investigating is only a crime if you're not a Republican. Remember, if the President does it (or you are a Republican), "it isn't illegal"!
Innocence via a "technicality" is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
The "sewer" has never been bigger, or wider.
2
Nunes is acting like a naive puppet. What is wrong with him. He is shady, guilty of obstructing justice and highly pro stupidity. I remembered when our country had national pride and was willing to defend the democratic causes.
8
Answer to this article's headline-YES!! Liars beget Liars.
5
Obstruction? Seriously?
I am saddened that Larry Tribe, once a great legal mind, would endorse such a reckless and damaging legal attack.
Consider: Rep. Devin Nunes released work product (political or not) reflecting a year of research by the House Intelligence Committee into potential abuses by the Obama administration, and the top tier of our FBI and CIA, who allegedly illegally obtained a "wiretap" on a US citizen, all in an effort to damage the candidacy and presidency of their political opponent.
If Congressional oversight is required at all, it is required most clearly in such circumstances; let's have the Democrats make their best case, so we can sort out who the liars and crooks really are.
This attempt to criminalize Congressional oversight is dangerous to our Democracy.
Under this bizarre line of reasoning, Norm Eisen is "conspiring" with Adam Schiff to obstruct justice, too.
5
I am saddened at the lack of truth and facts in your comment. If you were informed, you would know that Carter Page had been under surveillance long before association with the Trump campaign. The premise that he was surveilled to get at Trump's candidacy is simply wrong. Under your bizarre line of reasoning, the CIA and FBI must be time travelers.
7
Please let's stop pretending any of this is normal or has a perfectly innocent explanation that's just too difficult for mere mortals to understand. If a presidential campaign and its candidate wanted to bank on their debits and credits with a hostile foreign government, and if an overzealous us rep wanted to curry favor with his idols in power to cement some dream of higher office, this is exactly the script they would use. The GOP memo had nothing new in it. It was a rehash of known information that simply added a few exclamation points to it. His midnight ride to the White House is a shoe-in for this year's Alexander Butterfield Award.
Observation does not equate to surveillance or investigation.
And remember, without the Clinton campaign-produced dossier, a FISA warrant would not have been submitted.
You know, of course, that "evidence" used to authenticate itself is about as inadmisible as evidence could possibly be, and anyone who makes such an attempt is doing far more to "obstruct justice" than anything Nunes could possibly have done.
Nunes needs to be tried for treason.
13
Why is the header for this Op-Ed even a question? Of course there is "collusion" between Nunes and the White House. And, as is common knowledge, Nunes supposedly recused himself from anything related to the Russia investigation after his 2017 midnight encounter at the White House. I am hoping the NYT is able to obtain the entire FISA file to air the truth once and for all. It is only in the attachments to the various FISA applications that the truth will be known - it appears that the Republican memo conveniently sloughed over the facts under the guise of FBI "oversight" and protecting the rights of poor Carter Page. The obvious end is to protect the president, who, were he innocent, would have nothing to fear. At this point he appears desperate - lots of smoke, and most likely plenty of fire.
8
Yes. Nunes benefits in two ways. Power through his unabashed stroking of Trump’s ego. Nunes has also found a cash cow. He ran unopposed for his house seat but received over two million dollars in campaign contributions. Nunes is another self agrandizing politician who has found a way to grab pork chops from his voters.
8
The right question is "Is Devin Nunes himself implicated in the Russian investigation"? Would go a long way towards explaining his behavior, and he was in the right place and time (Trump campaign and transition team). Just sayin.
9
Devin Nunes acts like a teenager who drank all of the vodka and replaced it with water thinking no one would notice. Make no mistake, his constituents have noticed.
13
It is up to the people in California to decide whether Rep. Nunes (R-CA) stays or goes like Alabama decided whether Roy Moore would be a US Senator.
9
It should be evident to all who are paying attention that Nunes has far and away exceeded his level of incompetence. He may have been a good dairy farmer in his youth, but he has miserably failed as an adjudicator
5
David Nunes is exhibit 17 that we are in a constitutional crisis.
6
"... if the House leadership cares about credible executive branch oversight..."
Oh. Well, then never mind.
5
Nunes is obstructing democracy. His actions may be treasonous.
9
Did you mean to ask "Is Nunes obstructing justice again?"
8
"As public scrutiny exposes deep flaws" --- hahaha is that how we are now measuring obstruction. Nunes is un-covering malfeasance at the FBI, DOJ and maybe more. Why are the authors and the NYT not interested in investigating all the evidence sitting on the surface? The text msgs are outrageous. Please.
4
You know what is more outrageous than some nasty text messages? MEETING WITH RUSSIANS IN TRUMP TOWER TO COLLECT DIRT ON AN AMERICAN.
5
you'll have a long, hard search for ethics in Washington these days, when the President sets the tone, demanding "loyalty" and "protection" like a mafia don.
4
My daughter is a huge Star Wars fan. I like the franchise too. I cannot help but see it as a giant metaphor of what's happening in this country (perhaps the world) with Trump as the secret dark Sith Lord Palpatin, who takes over the Republic and Nunez is just one of his lackeys. I'm not quite sure who would fit the role of Darts Vader. Bannon would have been good. Perhaps, John Kelly or Kushner, although he's such a little sneaking dandelion. I can't quite see that. I'm usually deadly serious about all of this. It gives me acid, headaches and loss of sleep. But I made a decision last week that I have to regain my Spiritual focus and meditate, relax and pray about it. So I interjected some lighth-heartedness. I hope you will indulge me and maybe don't worry too much yourselves!
6
This scenario and Nunes prior behavior certainly fits with Trump's all but foregone decision to release the memo before seeing it as he commented at the State of the Union to a supporter, and his immediate and canned comment that the memo "totally vindicates me".
3
Remember what a leader of the Republican party commented (in what he hoped was a private setting). He said he thought Trump and Nunes were taking money from the Russians. He probably was right.
6
Trey Gowdy was recently asked why he is retiring from Congress. His response was that he preferred to return to a career in the justice system rather than stay in politics because justice is driven by legal process whereas in politics the end justifies the means. I'm, therefore, surprised that someone like Laurence Tribe, who is not a politician, would advocate on behalf of a predetermined political end. Of course, Adam Schiff and the rest of the Democrats want to discredit Nunes and ultimately Trump, and will use any means to do, but that Tribe should try to pretend that the case law stands on their side is absurd. The legal arguments put forth in the article are extremely specious and weak. Nunes's memo represents the majority opinion of the committee which he chairs. It was voted on and released in accordance with the rules. It may be politically motivated, but to characterize it as obstructive of justice is itself political in nature. Why Tribe would lend himself to this charade and become a political tool of self-interested Democrats on the committee is beyond me. Let the political process sort itself out without mixing it up with specious legal justifications.
3
The article precisely describes the circumstances under which Nunes’ release of the mremo would constitute obstruction of justice. If, for example, President Trump and his lawyers were by and large the authors of it , as they wer3 the Don Jr. statement on Air Force One regarding the Trump Tower meeting with Russian agents. If Nunes in fact coordinated the contents of the memo with the subjects of an active investigation, yes, that would b3 obstruction of justice.
6
Bottom line: do you yourself not believe it to be conspiracy to obstruct justice? I think you do, too.
2
If if If .... Now lets put the shoe on the other foot. What if Hillary fed information to Steele for his dossier? What if Obama interfered with the FBI investigation into the charges of Russian collusion? You don't like the suggestion, do you? So don't try to coat your political bias with a veneer of legal mumbo jumbo.
1
Yes. It is very clear. I have heard he is also being investigated for ties to Russia as well.
4
What confounds me is that Trump admitted he fired Comey to provide relief in the Russia investigation, why has he not already been charged with obstruction?
9
I agree with you, however Mueller is a consulate Professional by all accounts. He knows the scope of this investigation. I believe he knows far more how serious these crimes are. He knows all that Flynn and Popodopulous, and probably now Gates is givibg up. This is a BIG deal. I think he wants ALL the evidence he can attain to paint the picture fully before he presents it. And we don't know exactly how that will proceed. But all who know Mueller and who have worked with him say he is meticulous, methodical and thorough. That is sure what is needed! But, it's hard to be patient when we see the harm being done to the country and the disgrace Trump has brought on the office of POTUS! Hurry Mr. Muller, we plead!
4
The Times ran an article on Devin Nunes' constituents. They are republican small government proponents . However they are very concerned about the water issues they are facing. I have a piece of news for them. Who do you think funds water projects? It is called GOVERNMENT.
I find it very frustrating when reporters gather information and talk to voters but never ask them what I would deem are crucial questions as for instance "how do you see the water issues being solved?" Likewise an NPR interviewer had a voter in the midwest who was a fervent supporter of Trump ( to the point of tears). However the reporter never asked them exactly what they were hoping for from this administration.
I for one certainly hope this particular congressperson has to spend a lot of money on lawyers.
8
Not only are Nunes and his staff now subject to potential criminal exposure and/or subject to questioning related to the investigation, he and any other congressmen who may be implicated should be barred from any potential impeachment proceedings.
6
There may not be any deep and dark conspiracy. Nunes, in his role on the Trump transition team, may have simply received from the Trump lawyers an outsized renumeration for his services which layed the groundwork for future loyalty. It would certainly be tenfold at least the Stormy Daniels payoff.
4
Yes, to put it succinctly, Nunes is obstructing justice.
I think it is painfully obvious for anyone who is paying attention to factual news - and that excludes propaganda as presented by Fox News, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, etc.
6
Nunes acts like someone who is working to cover up his own guilt as much as his master's. As a member of the transition team, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he actually participated in the same conduct that the committee was supposed to investigate.
6
It's time we had a frank discussion of what happens next. What do we do if, as has been mooted here, the end game is for Trump to fire Rosenstein and install a successor who will fire Mueller and quash the investigation?
I would hope that members of Congress would publicly state that this is a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. If Rosenstein is fired and if his replacement gets rid of Mueller, we will be living under despotic rule. The very mechanisms in place to safeguard this democracy will have been eviscerated.
What do we do then?
7
What do we do then? We fill the streets in DC and every city of the land in order to save the Democracy. These are perilous times.
1
This splendid portrayal of Nunes shows exactly why Trump says he will be deemed a hero. Yes, in his own mind and to Trump's perverted demands of loyalty. That's loyalty that violates the Constitution, the Rule of Law, longstanding ethical standards, and, at one time, Republican dogma. Nunes' popularity in his home district of Fresno, CA is catering. Yes, he diligently sought water source for the Central Valley farmers, but he tried to become an intellectual and he's not bright enough to play the games he's been pursuing.
5
The thing I find most disappointing is the conspiracy angle has not gotten more play. We talk of "collusion" which Trump claims did not happen. What I suspect, and pretty strongly, is there is and has been a conspiracy on the part of Trump and his subalterns to 1) steal the election, by 2) committing treason if necessary, and 3) obstruct justice to hide the criminality in 1) and 2).
I really wish we could drop the "collusion" talk and see this for what it is.
6
Devin Nunes, Chuck Grassley, Paul Ryan, and Jared Kushner, have obstructed justice and probably many more Republicans behind the scenes. Mueller is watching.
8
Great moot discussion.
Given the Speech or Debate Clause is a clause in the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 6, Clause 1), this is not obstructing justice.
1
Courts have held that this is not absolute. Intent matters.
2
Then take it to court and find out how you would fare.
My sender that you would be wasting your !Oney and making attorney Tribe look like more of a fool than he already appears.
It would be great if the Conservatives in this country would realize they do not have to support Trump's criminality and financial abuses. There is a respected place for both conservative and liberal thinking in this society. And decent conservatives and liberals share a justified disgust for Trump's thuggish and criminal behavior. Yes, it is painful that this thug tricked the conservatives and got himself elected, but let's clean it up and move on in a fashion that no one will be ashamed of.
9
After that fake memo he concocted he should be tried for obstruction of justice and he should be jailed. He is a corrupt self-saving individual who hopes to profit by being in on Trump’s conniving criminal activities.
4
Nunes swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. But his sole allegiance is to Donald Trump, whether Trump has violated the laws of this country or not. When did we start producing such small, ignorant men?
6
All these political games to discredit the opposition.... does anyone care about the truth anymore? Our media has become the fourth branch of our government - without clear checks and balances.
1
Oops Carl, you got confused. The political games come from inside the White House. And from Fox. Don't forget Fox.
1
If you allowed yourself to understand the situation you’d point out that Nunes was cleared after an ethics review. He then resumed that part of his duties from which he had recused. Next, Nunes went to the White House originally to review the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB), a compartmentalized intelligence report held ONLY at the White House location with no copies elsewhere. These were the reports that showed Obama personnel unmasked Trump campaign members and the unmasking did not have anything to do with Russia. That was the content of Nunes’ brief press conference after the PDB review. The only obstruction was on behalf of the Dems who created a false narrative that Nunes was collaborating with the WH and that resulted in the aforementioned ethics review. What everyone is refusing to consider is the more in depth Senate Grassley-Graham memo that supports and collaborates Nunes’ initial memo. This has been under reported in this paper and other main media. There is trouble coming for the DoJ / FBI. The ironic joke of this article is that it’s Adam Schiff’s minority IC that has obstructed the investigation at every turn, completely politicizing the process. Remember also the President is head of the DoJ, which includes the FBI, as they fall under the executive branch of government. Legally Trump can do anything he wants with Sessions, Rosenstein or Mueller. The mystery that I know all this stuck up in Canada while you people do not Is answered by this article.
3
I think your geography is wrong. Canada is about 4,000 miles or so eastward.
4
Thanks for keeping us up to date about Canadian conspiracy theories
1
... and you can all get on your unicorns and ride off into the sunset.
2
Besides politics and loyalty to his party, what's in it for Nunes? Google his net worth and perhaps a motive will appear.
6
For commenters who belittle the Democrats for raising the obstruction of interest issue. What they should keep in mind is that Devin Nunes and Donald Trump's behavior is so far out of bound of the norm that a blunt instrument is needed to remind them what is legally and politically acceptable and unacceptable behavior as a representative of his district, his State, and his Country.
12
The major "deep flaws" I saw in the memo were lack of more complete info on what the FBI based its case for a warrant. Whether die to cherry picking, as charged by Democrats, or redaction for security, there's no indication that anyone obstructed justice besides the FBI.
1
Really? You see all the day information of just what Nunes released?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
1
Shouldn't the question be, Why is Nunes doing this?
6
Its interesting that between his recklessness and his desire to put himself in jeopardy to save his boss (Trump) Nunes seems to be behaving the way you would expect someone to if they were compromised by Russia, and Russia was blackmailing them to behave a certain way. I find it hard to understand what Nunes would be getting out of putting himself in legal danger over and over again unless he had some very strong motivation to do so, coming from some unobvious/unseen place.
8
It's really obvious, isn't it? Man, people in this country are slow to catch on...
2
Conspiracy, yes. Vote. I’m not sure that will help in Pennsylvania. This Country is in deep you know what. Will anyone be able to afford the tolls on the way to vote?
2
Astonishing how many GOP legislators are scurrying around to compromise national security to curry favor with a president who would show absolutely no loyalty in return. Why are they protecting Putin's buddy Trump? They have one of their paisans, Mike Pence, waiting in the wings.
7
What's Nunes got to worry about? He has earned a presidential get-out-of-jail pardon squirreled away in a safe deposit box for his loyalty to Trump.
6
Unless Nunes is deliberately lying in he memo, he isn't obstructing justice regardless of how deluded the left is -- and it does seem the left becomes more delusional everyday. All he laid did in the memo were lay out some facts. No one has suggested that the points he produced were less than truthful. Of course we haven't heard from the dems but even the obviously biased authors here aren't suggesting the memo was a fabrication ( unlike the Steele dossier ) but are trying to suggest that somehow this is obstruction. Obstruction of justice seems to be the last resort of scoundrels who don't have a counter argument.
Sorry folks. The only problem with the memo is that it doesn't provide enough and wasn't electrifying enough. But the behavior of the FBI is clearly under close scrutiny and they have a lot to answer for re their actions during the 2016 campaign.
What is more believable -- that Trump colluded with Russia (an assertion that has no supporting evidence after over 18 months and that no one has offered a reasonable theory as to why either side would collude with the other) or that members of the federal bureaucracy would use the resources of their agency to further their political aims?
1
Dossier was never disproven. In fact, much of it was proven. Why don't you ask Don Jr. why he was emailing Russia for dirt on Hillary? Or why Papadopolous was bragging about working with Russia? In fact the supporting evidence is overwhelming.
6
You know because you've bugged Mueller's office? Lol...
Mike don't be silly. And remember -- they haven't disproven that the other side of the moon is made of green cheese, or that there are at least some healthy deposits of green cheese there. And Russia emailed Trump Jr., asked for a meeting. What he did was nothing compared to what HRC and the DNC did in funding the Steele dossier. And you might remember that everyone was talking about whether the Russians had hacked HRC's private server and gotten the e-mails she destroyed that she claimed weren't work related. I can brag about knowing about that too. Doesn't mean I'm colluding.
Truie -- the deeper of your comment eludes me.
The sad part of all of this is that Rs don't seem to care about the law any longer. The Ends Justify The Means is their new motto.
9
It's looking more and more like we can add "house intelligence" to George Carlin's list of oxymorons along with "military intelligence." Certainly, at least Congressman Nunes is looking a lot like a dim bulb.
4
Everyone should go and listen to this episode of Pod Save America. And, no, I'm not recommending the podcast as such -- the self-confident and almost unreflective liberalism of so many young Obama people miffs me: https://crooked.com/podcast/releasethepod-live-las-dolby-theater/
It is absurd the way this story has been covered not just by talk radio but by serious right-leaning outlets like The Journal. As is pointed out on the show, first of all, if Republicans are frightfully worried about FISA abuse, why'd they just vote to reauthorize it for six years? And if you can't have partisan information being the basis for an investigation, why'd they call for an investigation based on Peter Schweizer's book? Republican-appointed judges approved surveillance and renewed it more than once; and conservative news media is making it seem as if the whole thing was based on the dossier, which it wasn't. AND the "political origins" of said dossier were in fact made clear.
Republicans have an unnatural aversion to everything Hillary Clinton touches, and their hatred for her is out of all proportion to her real flaws. The only people who hate Clinton more than Republicans are the Bernie-backing revolutionaries on the Left -- non compos academics, Hollywood actors, and college kids -- who think her a paragon of neoliberalism (which just means anything other than out-and-out socialism) and war hawkery. When such people all concur, clearly the opposite must be closer to the truth.
4
Paranoia is running high, and for good reason.
2
Nunes isn't obstructing justice. He's just running hard for his next job: either in the Administration or on Fox. Nunes for FBI Director? The Devin Nunes Show? You have to get with the times to understand these guys.
5
#Nunez:
#MAGA:
Moscow
Applauds
G-Man's
Attacker ?
4
hhhh
Representative Nunes appears to be a dedicated Trumpist, but a very poor American.
21
Put them in jail already. How much corruption can they do and get away with it?
I am starting to have very little faith in Justice for all and that is truly depressing.
7
Half the country doesn't think they've done anything wrong. Americans are are pretty dense lot.
5
What is amazing is that the Op-ed page of the NYT has devolved into the comics section. One can certainly disagree with Nunes, and one can certainly believe that his memo was out of order. But to equate the memo with obstruction of justice sounds like something which is the norm in Communist China.
4
Tell us more about Communist China, Robert. Is it still communist?
3
What Nunes is doing is more like the norm of Russia, China or any tin-pot dictator.
2
Exaggerate much?
4
You all seem to think of “obstruction” as a residual category for “legal things (people?) I don’t like.”
4
Tell us how you reached this conclusion, Ed. The op-ed is certainly very cautious in its explanation of possible obstruction of justice. Why aren't you?
4
Far from obstructing justice Nunes is furthering it. The long hidden muck of the deceitful and corrupt Democratic party from the top on down is finally being exposed to the light of day for all to see. None of this would have ever have gotten out if Hillary had gotten elected, but now the country has been saved from her and Bill's evil lust for power and money. So thank you, Devin Nunes, for your brave patriotism. You stood alone in the fight for what is right against our country's enemies.
2
Get well soon.
7
Devin Nunes is a patriot...of the Russian Federation!
2
Nixon fired enough people to get his special prosecutor terminated. A few months later Nixon's presidency was terminated. Let US hope past is again prelude.
13
Just reported today, Nunes did link his facebook account to a fake news website,
called media/news company in its facebook description, however, the website was registered by Alex Tavlian of Sultana Media, which was paid $7,773 by the Nunes campaign for “advertising; digital advertising management.”
And while a google version of the site has the legal disclaimer "Paid for by the Devin Nunes Campaign Committee · FEC ID #C00370056" the facebook version doesn't not.
Clearly this is another effort to muddy the water from a man that has been working very closely with president trump while presiding over the Russia investigation.
And while some might see this effort as a political maneuver it does make a case for obstruction of justice, Nunes should be investigated by the Justice department and let the chips fall where they may.
15
What is politics? And what's a crime?
And what is aiding and abetting a hostile foreign power?
1
Exactly what Nunes is doing is politics and a crime! Does that answer your question?
Just one year of Trump and Americans already can't tell the difference. We are done for.
1
The headline would make a lot more sense if the word "Why" were added to the beginning.
5
Is Nunes obstructing justice?
Well, all you have to do is take a good look at him, and I believe the answer is vehemently YES !
Have you ever seen a more profound looking 'hand-in-the-cookie-jar' person?
Come on.....this guy needs a mask or a ski sock to cover up his obviousness.
Trust him at your own peril !!
7
You hardly have to be a brilliant lawyer to spot the affirmative answer to this question! It is time for the yards and yards of yadda yadda and time to figure out who can do what, if anyone or anything, about it. So far, we are drowning in a sea of words, when the answer is so obvious. Somebody DO something!
3
Get Mueller to indict Nunes and Nunes will fold like a paper tiger. Nunes is an American disgrace.
17
Is the Pope Catholic? Does the sun rise in the East?
Devin is hiding something, dunno' what or why he is a carrying water for 45. I sense he has some 'kompromat' hanging over him. He is not a lawyer, nor is he well versed in cloak and dagger stuff, all too much way over his head. I'm waiting for answers myself.
14
"Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?"
Is the Pope Catholic? Gee ... I don't know ... let me think about that.
5
We are going to need an extra large paddy-wagon for this lot. Wow the stink has drifted all the way up the I-95 corridor to NYC. Congressman Nunes do you think we truly believe you? LOL
We don't, it's quite sad and pitiful to see you standing there an spewing this garbage, these lies. Trying to rationalize your decisions, seeing on your own face that you don't believe the garbage coming out of your mouth and you expect us to believe you because you're a republican, and "conservative", a "Good Christian". HAHAHA. That dog ain't going to hunt sir! You and your colleagues are Hypocrites, so I guess in a way you are a good christian, cause I always say you show me an American Christian and I will show you a hypocrite.
6
Could Nunes be stupid enough to act in such an ignorant manner that could result in an obstruction of justice charge? You betcha. Could Ryan act in such a calculated way so as to throw Nunes to the dogs while saving himself through having Nunes do the dirty work? Lol, you betcha. The Republicans never blink an eye when dirty work needs doing--and have no compunction about throwing the lesser intelligent Republicans under the bus.
12
YES.
3
This is claptrap. Nobody, including the author, has any clue what obstruction is under the applicable law.
In the minds of most commenters, I am committing obstruction of justice by supporting Devin Nunes. Claptrap.
1
Saying "claptrap" twice makes your logic airtight?
14
No, you're just supporting obstruction of justice, not actually committing it yourself.
3
As airtight as saying obstruction over and over......
It's fair to say that there will be some need for reflection if Mueller has nothing major to report, when it's all said and done.
3
Mueller can report on the multiple indictments and convictions he's already gotten.
1
Ah, someone with direct access to the investigators findings! Lol!
It will be ironic when no crime is actually found yet everyone mired by the investigation will still be found guilty of something. I guess that's what justice now means these days.
I don’t think he’s trying to protect Trump.. rather he’s trying to protect himself. He was on the the transition team and something rotten happened there.
16
Trey Gowdy made the report - and he wasn't on the transition team. You may be venturing into conspiracy territory.
1
His role on the transition team was vetting the National Security team, which included Flynn, Page and Papadopoulus. You may have something there.
4
Law should be a set of rules, establishing and enforcing the rules of acceptable behavior. Trump and Nunes view the law as a means to bully, forcing others to do their bidding, and to enable them to harass and abuse anyone they are unhappy about.
This column makes the rules and intent of the law clear for Congressmen. Of course Nunes will hide behind his special protections. There can be no doubt that the terms "fair" and "honest" and "lawful" were never discussed during the drafting of the political hit piece Nunes alleges he produced.
Nunes is committing barratry, not practicing law or performing a legislative function. The clear non-legalistic intent of the memo is to cancel or curtail an investigation that has already obtained indictments and guilty pleas--and has exposed a vast amount of perjury by most of the Trump inner circle. The attack is to somehow claim that the person who approved the 3rd surveillance re-approval of a suspect with a well documented history of Russian collaboration had deliberately misled a judge by allowing information about one of many sources of information used to justify the surveillance to be in too small a font. For this offense, Rod Rosenstein , and he alone, should be removed from office.
Nunes is lawless. His motive is to subvert justice and the rule of law. Getting off on a technicality does nothing to show his innocence.
17
Denial.
The Dems asked for an investigation, and don't like the answer.
3
Answer? What "answer" would that be? Meanwhile, the investigation continues....
1
The news media has shifted its focus from unlawful collusion to obstruction of justice because no evidence of unlawful collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign has surfaced despite more than a year-and-a-half of investigation. However, it is unlikely that any obstruction of justice charges will stick unless evidence of a crime emerges. During the Watergate scandal, there was a crime to cover up. Operatives paid by the Nixon reelection campaign were caught red-handed as they broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters with the purpose of planting listening devices. The ‘Smoking Gun Tape” revealed Nixon ordered his aides to lie to the FBI about the break-in, making Nixon vulnerable to obstruction of justice. But what crime is Trump is covering up?
5
Actually, Flynn was convicted. Trump Jr. caught lying. Manafort and assistant indicted and under house arrest. No evidence you say? Get back to us when you've caught up.
9
I don’t know, William Case. You tell me. What crime(s) is Trump covering up? He certainly appears to be vigorously covering up something. I’m going with money laundering.
9
If there was no collusion, why does Trump want his Roy Cohn?
3
I think about this astute analysis by David Frum:"A president determined to thwart the law to protect himself and those in his circle has many means to do so.The benefit of controlling a modern state is less the power to persecute the innocent, more the power to protect the guilty.”
16
This is a pretty easy question to answer. Is Trump tweeting complaints about Nunes' job performance, or questioning his loyalty? If no, then he either is, or he's making a convincing effort to look like he is.....
4
The most disturbing line from the president - "You figure that out". Can someone tell me when it is permissible for a public servant to tell his employers (the people), you do the work? That is the first sign of complete and ignominious corruption. It is the statement of a corrupt mind with immoral intent.
20
Publically rejoining the investigation without an announcement and the agreement of the entire committee speaks directly to concerns that Nunes is deliberately obstructing justice, On what authority does Nunes use his access to confidential documents to undermine the investigation of which he “recused” himself.
Nunes should be removed from Congress on the basis of his violation of his recusal and accessing and misinterpreting discoveries.
16
Nunes never recused himself. He stepped down as committee chairman, but continued his committee work.
To many of us, when the Republican plumbers broke into DNC headquarters, it was obvious that the Nixon Administration and CREEP were implicated. That it took two more years of persistent investigation is a black mark on our history.
Similarly, the Trump Administration and its allies are working feverishly to stop the investigation into "the Trump-Rusher thing" and obstruction and peripheral financial dealings.
Once again, the investigation is moving at a glacial pace while Congress is slow-walking the investigative process.
Yes, Nunes, who should not be investigating his former boss, is doing everything he can -- in concert with the White House -- to stop the investigation.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
5
The Watergate investigation began with a crime. Operatives paid by the Nixon reelection campaign were caught red-handed as they broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters with the purpose of planting listening devices. In announcing his appointment of Robert Mueller as special investigator, Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein said, “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination.” As far as we know, there is still no crime to investigate.
Isn't the more relevant question whether Nunes is also colluding with the Russians? If not, why is he going to such lengths to the point where he risks exposing himself to an investigation by Mueller? Common sense suggests there is something much deeper and sinister going on.
15
If Devin Nunes is guilty of obstructing justice, then Adam Schiff is guilty of gross negligence with classified information; obstructing justice, and abuse of the FISA process, and falsifying witnesses, data and fraud.
4
How do you figure, Quantangles? Nunes already had to recuse himself earlier in the investigation.
5
How do you figure that?
2
I'm becoming skeptical that the Mueller investigation is going to yield any results. I believe that what we'll find out is a bit of money laundering which will all be brushed away by pardons, and calls for immunity from the GOP because of how wonderfully their leader is running things, etc. I'm not happy about this, but as far as Russia has meddled in our elections, I think they are free to do it again, thanks again to the GOP. Our only hope is to overturn the GOP from dominating congress later this year.
5
The extraordinary lengths Trump is going to to squelch the infestation begs the same question as his refusal to show his taxes, or protect voting from further Russian interference: What's he hiding?
15
As long as we frame this debate between liberals and the Trumped GOP we are not going anywhere. The tap root is Russian interference and its ancillary roots are the collusion, the obstruction of justice and the GOP house committee obfuscation. Let's keep focused on getting to the tap root. Everything else will fall in place.
5
Please deliver us from this vacuum of ethics Nunes has demonstrated. A democracy cannot function with opportunists of this kind who willingly undermine the objectivity of law.
13
I have never seen people on the left so scared in my life as they are about the revelations coming down the pike about the abuses of our system within the Obama DOJ and the FBI.
This truly crackpot op-ed demonstrates the length of distortions to which they will go to defend their only too precious Obama from any criticism.
But in fact the notion that Obama had no corruption in his administration was a lie, and an increasingly obvious one. And it was just these sorts of lies that rendered the corruption inevitable: everybody involved believed they would never be held accountable, because the media would never investigate and report anything negative.
4
I haven’t heard of any corruption in the Obama administration. Do you have some examples?
Anybody who attaches him- or herself to President Trump is tarnished. There are those like General Mattis and DAG Rod Rosenstein who put themselves in this position in order to defend the interests of the country and apply brakes on the president's excesses. There are others like Carter Page and General Flynn who were already sullied birds of a feather who naturally flapped towards Trump.
The third case, however is more puzzling. Devin Nunes is neither making a sacrifice on behalf of the country nor likely to gain anything personally from his antics. He, in fact, is Trump's patsy. He may be able to mitigate damage to the president (e.g avoid impeachment, prosecution or lesser sanctions). He himself will get nothing out of this. He will be dropped by Trump and left to fend for himself as soon as he has served Trump's purpose. He will have tarnished his name for as long as people will remember him. He will become an object lesson on how one ruins one's professional life. At the end of the day, everyone will be laughing at him, Trump, the Democrats, Republicans, everyone. It doesn't even matter if Nunes is censured for anything. He's a patsy.
9
In a vernacular sense he has certainly obstructed justice. Nunes was part of the transition team. He was apparently very tight with Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is presumed to be cooperating. It may well be that Nunes is desperately trying to protect himself, not Trump.
11
Devin Nunes is an embarrassment to the state of California, and, due to his insistence on putting himself at the center of controversy by continually choosing the wrong side, the nation.
13
I confess that I simply do not understand what this man is doing, or why, or what truly motivates him -- venality aside -- even if he even understands it himself. That's because he behaves not like the chairman of an important congressional committee appointed by the Speaker of the House but Johnny on the Spot, an unaware pizza delivery boy.
See Johnny run. First, he runs up to the White House and delivers a pizza there (which, it turns out, was mysteriously conveyed to him earlier by the White House, begging the question whether it was a fresh delivery or a return). Later, he runs back to the Capitol and delivers more pizzas there, begging the question of whether Speaker Ryan and the Trump White House are running pizza parlors on the side.
Kevin Nunes, just another delivery-boy running around town. Should he put one of those little "Dominoes" style signs on his car top, maybe even wear a white smock studded with polka-dots and curly-q's? And a clown nose?
I certainly hope the tips are good.
Begging another question: what happens to him in 2019 should he lose his House seat? Will he work somewhere in the White House "campus", serving his invisible patrons? Or, will he work on K Street, some cushy lobbying job serving those same patrons? Or, will he decamp to Fox News, where a lucrative position awaits him in the Amen Chorus? Or, will he retire to a Caribbean island and live in the lap of luxury financed by just a smidgen of that tip money?
I can only wonder.
7
Robert Mueller, when he was appointed Special Counsel, was praised by people on both sides of the aisle as being a man of integrity and irreproachable character. An honored military veteran, a highly respected government worker under both Democratic and Republican administrations and, at least to my knowledge, scandal-free throughout his distinguished career, he has gone about his work as Special Counsel quietly, without fuss, and without responding to any negative OR positive comments on his task. Yet this is the man toward whom so much effort is being expended in order to remove him from our midst and trivialize, if not criminalize his work. The President of the United States comes with a past riddled with controversy, scandal and dubious business dealings. The NYT, among others, has been keeping a tally of the number of times that he's lied since taking office, now likely approaching several thousand. Yet look who is being left open to attack and who is being protected by the likes of Nunes and his ilk, cheered on, or at least unfettered, by Republican members of both houses. Did someone mention alternative universe?
114
Alternative Universe is one way of putting it.
Another way is "support our team". Political affiliation has become about "our team, wrong or right" rather than the old "my country, wrong or right". All that matters is "the team" maintaining power, because "the other team" is now the real enemy, not any foreign power.
4
If Mueller had a shred of professionalism or cared anything for the country he would have resigned and allowed someone without all the baggage take over . Trump should have fired Comey, Eisenstein, McCabe and all of the other political hacks on day 1. He had and still does have the constitutional authority to do so.
What about Speaker Ryan?
4
Just one more GOP traitor to the USA. A lickspittle for the 1%.
3
What I find astonishing is that there is anyone who can’t see through the entire memo idiocy. DJT has behaved like a clumsy middle school bully who is in trouble. He got his lickspittle Nunes to forge a note purporting to clear DJT of guilt; he has refused to show anyone another note that apparently invalidates the note by Nunes (because then everyone will have to believe Nune’s note, right? Genius!); and Nunes has started his own propaganda site on the internet to fabricate more “evidence” of DJT’s innocence. This is conspiracy by Dumb and Dumber. At least Nixon was devious and smart.
15
The most amusing thing about Nunes is how he believes he's being clever and strategic while his bumbling antics make it so obvious that he is a fool and a fraud. He makes Maxwell Smart seem competent.
14
Yes he is and his cohorts who are pulling this party over the land, the people of the use, all complaisant in this cover up.
2
Yes. Yes he is.
7
Short answer to the title question. YES
5
Obviously! Its about the only thing that is transparent in this circus of Trump. Trump and his minions are hellbent on obstructing justice.
5
Shorter answer. Yes.
3
I just briefly saw an article of how our athletes are doing in the Olympics. The photo of the medal winners is so inspiring and uplifting. A beautiful picture of the best in America. Then you come back to reality and see what an individual like this is doing and what he dedicates his career to, uses his position for and you feel like taking a shower. Anyhow ... back to work.
3
This is just another example of GOP enablers allowing a fringe performer like Nunes to carry the false messages of Trump forward. This guy should be kicked off the "Intelligence" committee. He's obviously in a safe district as his outlandish lies would doom him to obscurity otherwise. The only cure is to get Democratic House control once more, and that would help decrease the influence of this cockroach, even if he remains in office.
6
Deep flaws in the memo ordered by Chief No Bears Colluding? Well, knock me over with a Russian Nesting Doll.
There's nothing empty about our adversaries' matryoshka or chinese boxes. Representatives Trey Gowdy (SC), Chris Stewart (UT), Will Hurd (TX) and Brad Wenstrup (OH) know this; and they are first Republicans jumping off the SS Nunes, a 'life' boat designed TO BE LEFT TIED to the Trumptanic.
From https://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/docume...
Here's the oath taken, before gaining access to classified information: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not disclose OR CAUSE TO BE DISCLOSED any classified information received in the course of my service on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, except when authorized to do so by the Committee or the House of Representatives.”
Chairman Devin Nunes is a spineless disgrace to his constituents by "cooking up" an attack FOR the White House. They ordered, he marched, and Donald F. McGahn II, Counsel to the President, was ready with his 2 Feb 2018 twisted justification: "in light of the significant public interest in the memorandum, the President has authorized declassification.."
Y'all will be remembered, for time immemorial, for going down with the ship.
4
I cannot believe this wild-eyed weirdo holds any position of power anywhere, let alone in Congress. He needs to be measured for an orange jumpsuit right away.
12
So now the conspiracy to obstruct a non-existent Russian collusion involves a member (s) of the House. Under this line of thinking, action could be taken against any elected official who questions anything about the probe or those involved. Heck, why not include media outlets that don't follow the NYT, WAPO, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC party line as part of a conspiracy of obstruction? How Orwellian!
3
Colluding with someone you know is a colluder would seem to the same crime.
3
Q. Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?
A. YES!
6
Trump has a long, well documented and bizarre criminal past involving the Russians. Just read former NY Times reporter's book, "It's Worse Than You Think" by David Cay Johnston. He's been reporting on Trump for 35 years.
5
Is Nunes obstructing justice? Is the Pope Catholic?
6
That's a rhetorical question, isn't it?
4
This is a question? Of course he is
2
If you like me want to get rid of this treasonous sycophant the only way to do that is to get out google the names of his opponents running against him this fall and write a check. If you live in his district, get out your walking shoes and your doorbell ringing finger in shape and go out and defeat him. Democrats running in a primary to face off against him are:
Bobby Bliatout
Ricardo Franco
Andrew Janz
Mallory Kremer
Jose Sigala
B. John-Michael Williams
Paul Vargas
Democracy is not free, it has to be earned every day.
11
Yes, Mr. Nunes is obstructing justice. However I don't expect any action to do anything about it. Rule of law is the thing that has made America great, and we diminish it at out own peril. And diminishing the rule of law a primary goal of the current administration. Their actions leave no other rational interpretations.
7
See also Sean Hannity, Rupert Murdoch, and whoever the clowns writing the WSJ editorials are.
9
Isn't there also a Congressional ethics issue here? We expect politicians to be partisan, but I would think obstruction of justice has a different level of proof than ethics. Shouldn't the House be investigating this investigator?
14
"according to press accounts" hearsay
"may be designed at least in part" speculation
The authors, distinguished lawyers but also political partisans, and asking for a political prosecution. The memo was a combination of opinion and history. Unless the history was intentionally false with intent to thwart legal process, it wasn't obstruction of justice. "clearing a path for dismissal" isn't obstruction; even explicitly asking for Rosenstein's dismissal isn't obstruction unless with the purpose of interfering with legal process.
The writers would turn any Washington controversy into obstruction of justice. That's not how limited government works. Obstruction of justice is concealing evidence or suborning witnesses. Political disputes should not be criminalized. This isn't covering up a burglary; it is political hardball.
4
Conspiring with President Trump to cover up a crime he committed is a crime. Working to impede or derail a criminal investigation is a criminal act.
3
Jonathan:
It is *DIRTY* political hardball.
Trump allows the Nunes nothingburger to be released over the objections of the FBI and DoJ, and then prevents the Schiff response from being released based on those same objections (and after the information that a FISA warrant to surveil Page has been made known by releasing the Nunes document).
What would you call providing the information to a wanted criminal that the police are patrolling a specific area, if not obstruction of justice?
Releasing the Nunes memo is doing the same thing, in cyberspace or in electronic communication.
In case you missed the significance of making knowledge of the existence of the FISA warrant public, it is that now anyone receiving a call or email from Page, or thinking about making a call to him or sending him an email, is on notice that the communication will be monitored. That is just warning off "the bad guys" from participating in such communications.
That act (warning "the bad guys" so they avoid electronic communications they would otherwise make) can be seen as a form of obstructing an investigation.
On top of that, conspiring with the White House to issue a deliberately misleading document that purports to impugn Mueller's investigation of the White House as regards the Russia connection so as to lead to the ending of that investigation, when the facts are not properly stated in the document, is itself an attempt to obstruct justice.
One act, two violations. A "two-fer."
1
Does it really matter if Nunes is obstructing justice?
The Republicans have been looting the country for about 40 years, and they count on the fact that no one ever holds them accountable.
Under George W. Bush, they crashed the world economy, and were rewarded with huge bonuses.
The Republicans have become used to the fact that when they break the law, no one will do anything about it.
We have become the proverbial frog in the heating kettle.
If we start putting these criminals in jail, maybe they might think twice.
16
For most reasonable people, there comes a time where there are so many facts and acts that so thoroughly undermine the integrity of the person they voted for that they come to the point where they say "ooops, I made a mistake." When can we expect Trump voters to admit they made a mistake? Probably never.
12
Utter nonsense.
The Nunes memo relates to how a FISA warrant was issued.
The Mueller investigation focuses on the possibility of collusion.
Separate topics. Related, sure, but separate nevertheless the less.
I expected something better from these authors.
5
Does anyone, based on Nunes's past conduct, seriously consider Nunes as being anything other than a Putin-Trump apparatchik? He would not have produced a memo trying to discredit the FBI if he was not intent on obstructing justice. Neither he nor Trump are interested in getting to the truth about the Russian interference in our 2016 election. Also, there is clearly no interest by either Nunes or Trump in preventing interference in the future.
15
Nobody really knows whether a President can be prosecuted while in office. Merely giving Trump half truths which he deliberately represents as proof of bias in the F.B.I. and by the FISA court judges may not prosecutable as long as it's Trump misleading people. Trump's contempt for laws and faithful civil servants who interfere with him is clear. His contempt for laws about conflicts of interest where he acts as the President while operating businesses which are affected by his decision as the President are clearly dishonest but as President he may not be obliged to be ethical as long as he is in office. Nunes et al are just exploiting the situation for everything that they can until they are faced with a Democratic majority in Congress and the Presidency, when they will quickly enact many laws to close all the loop holes which they and Trump are exposing. This kind of behavior is grossly offensive and unless voters expel these people from office, the end will be the end of our republic.
4
It's pretty clear that the purpose of the 'memo' was to interfere with the Mueller team's investigation of Trump. The question for me has always been why?
Why would Nunes participate in such a scheme when it would be easier for him to distance himself from the campaign's Russian ties? So far as I know, he has not been implicated as being present for any of the meetings with Russians.
I think that when we understand why Nunes would do this, overcoming the 'speech or debate' hurdle will be a lot easier. And it wouldn't surprise me if Mueller already has credible explanations for Nunes behavior.
13
Mr. Nunes’s actions to divert the Mueller investigation with his memo, coupled with his prior collusion with the White House to the same ends, coupled also with his refusal to answer the question of his colleagues about the role of the White House in drafting his now infamous memo merit at least a conversation with him, his staff and Mr. Mueller’s team. If there were improper actions, those involved need to be held accountable.
The independence of our three branches of government is the core of our democratic form of government and any collusion by Mr. Nunes and the White House to derail the Russian investigation would be intolerable.
96
Putin hacked the RNC as well as the DNC. The behavior of Nunes and his Republican enablers makes me wonder what Putin found in those RNC files. Perhaps Trump is not the only one vulnerable to "kompromat."
24
Devin Nunes is a good-looking man, but in every photo I see, his expression and eyes look like he is on the verge of exploding with rage.
5
Good looking? Huh? Not to me...not one bit. He looks as creepy as he acts.
1
Weeks on Benghazi. Months on her emails. 30 White House aides without security clearances, many with access to classified information. And the investigation will begin, when? If we didn't know better we might tend to think that Nunez is a Trump tool...
10
If he isn't he is certainly performing as someone who is.
5
This game is terribly dangerous. It has caused damage to the FISA process. Who will trust as an informant that their name and/or actions will remain confidential? Devin Nunes must step down from the committee. He cannot be trusted to keep the Nation's secrets. The Democrats memo should remain unpublished - they should quit advocating to publish it. Nunes and his memo have no credibility. The Democrats do not need to counter this.
If Nunes or his staff was collaborating with the White House to create a pretext for firing Rosenburg, they have become part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice, plain and simple.
13
I am pretty much agreeing with you, Debra. The fact that tRump will not let it be published is more damning to tRump & his cohorts. The Dems do always seem to take the high road...I just hope that at some point in time, that pays off..."bigly".
1
I suspect Mueller has much bigger fish to fry given the desperation on the part of the president and republicans. I have little doubt that Nunes is obstructing justice on a criminal level. I do have a secret weapon to deal with my anger and frustration. Nunes has a credible challenger for this years election so when Nunes gets under my skin I just give a few bucks to Andrew Janz
14
As Paul Krugman said, we have "Malice tempered by incompetence."
The biggest danger for America is that the Presidency will have somebody in it who is competent.
9
Nunes is on the verge of making the term "intelligence committee" an oxymoron.
...He needs to be removed.
11
White House: “not involved in actual drafting”
So, all they did was indicate what points should be made or how to frame the arguments or...
I can’t “draft” an architectural plan. But I can sure give some guidance to an architect as to what I want or need.
These guys are sociopaths! Deniability is baked in from the start!
Of COURSE they are Obstructing Justice!
15
Putin controls his asset, Donald Trump, more than John Kelly or the GOP can, that is certain. Trump owes over $1B in debt to Russia, He owes more than $300M and as much as $700M to China. That is just counting loans from these sources that have visibly emerged in filings related to Trump Organization properties. It is astonishing, frankly, that we are even having a national conversation about 'whether' Trump qualifies for impeachment. His conflicts of interest are unprecedented in our nation's history. nothing comes close.
Trump has hidden behind FSB anonymous troll comments to deflect such charges, which are hiding in plain sight, since he announced his 'presidential candidacy' and paid for extras to applaud as he and his Slovenian born controller and third wife, Melania, descended the escalator in Trump Tower like a pair of animated wax robots from Madam Tussaud's. Trump has been a Russian asset since he first sought and obtained bail out money from Russia and Russian Mafia in the mid-nineteen nineties.
The GOP has made not one bargain with the devil, but many. Their moral deterioration as a pay to play party has been mirrored by the Democrats, but less so. When the GOP decided in Spring of 2016 not to call Trump on being backed by Russian trolls (reference the sarcastic 'joking' exchange between Rep's McCarthy and Leader Ryan) this decay became complete. Now it has been reinforced by FSB's Komprimat protecting Trump. Pure evil in control.
20
Liberal fantasy & desperation. The GOP has facts. The DNC has hearsay and manufactured evidence. Criminal charges headed towards HRC and Obama appointee FISA abusers & their enablers.
1
As JwP comment says and your comment demonstrates - The GOP has the Russian Trolls out in droves. The visits from all the Russians are not 'fantasies' the allegations are simply quoting back Trump's own words, and the open notorious conflicts of interest and monetary corruption of our highest office! Your call for criminal charges against Trump's erstwhile political opponent and our judges is fascist and disgusting as well as groundless- off topic and, well, trollish.
5
Your comment reminds me of the kind of attacks supporters of democracy in Santiago used to endure from Pinochet backers. That was before they took us to stadiums and started killing us.
As Masha Gessen pointed out in the New Yorker - corrupting the judiciary - and oppressing the honest ones - as you propose by going after our FISA judges - who somehow 'conspired' against your pathological liar and spy Carter Page, You wouldn't happen to be "John Barron" by chance?
3
Nunes is a waterboy for Trump - why do Congressional rules even allow him to remain part of the House's investigation?
5
Our President is corrupt and Nunes is corrupt. And most of the rest of the Republican party doesn't care as long as they can cut taxes for the wealthy and cut social programs.
11
You, Sir, have it in a nutshell. November, 2018. We either begin to restore our country, or we let the GOP continue their treasonous assault.
3
Of course he is obstructing justice; we know it; trump knows it and he knows it. Nunes is as transparent as a Scooby-Doo cartoon villain. He has all the tell-tale signs of guilt, the shifting eyes and the nervous twitch leaving the impression that he is always looking for an escape rout. When the indictments start coming and the plea bargains come fast and furious, this guy will be on a plane to Moscow with a pre-packed bag and his Bank of Cyprus account number tattooed to the inside of his big toe.
12
I am enjoying picturing the whole scenario, as you describe it, Joe :)
I am not a lawyer, but the article focuses primarily on obstruction as it applies the investigation of collusion by the Trump campaign, and how Nunes behavior aims to tarnish the credibility of the investigators and prosecutors in that sense.
But in focusing on this one aspect, the article misses the "negative space" of his behavior. By that I mean the nation is being damaged because of what is not happening, that is supposed to be. In this sense Nunes is a traitor who is ruining an investigation into the hacking of our elections by our enemies.
The same behaviors by Nunes is the main reason we don't have a functional investigation. By weakening investigators, not working with Democrats, lying and sneaking, and breaking traditional rules that govern a democracy, Nunes is damaging our country. What are the remedies for a traitor?
15
Watch the movie Mark Felt... History is repeating itself.
The FBI is no doubt gathering info on Mr. Nunes...
8
Devin Nunes will be sad after his conviction. And unfortunately, the big boss will already be out of office and unable to pardon him.
Poor Devin.
3
Mr. Comey has already admitted enough in public to send himself to prison for a decade and Hillary to prison for a few centuries. Good thing AG Sessions never wants to raise a fuss about anything.
Read the Constitution of the United States
A member of the House and the Senate is immune from detention or prosecution for any act while going to, from, or sitting in a session of Congress.
Your remarks show a stunning lack of knowledge about our government, its institution, and its processes.
1
Hahaha! You and the owl up there pooping on your head are hilarious with your obsessions with Hillary & Comey. Go on and keep rooting for the orange dyed, wig-wearer with all his make-up, blubber and his Russian pals (owners). What, pray tell, will Comey be going to prison for? How many more times do you want to try to make Hillary guilty of SOMETHING, anything? You're so pathetic it is almost funny. Almost...I actually feel a bit sorry for you.
3
Nunes embodies the bad faith and poison partisanship that discredit Congress. May the wrath of his own voters, as well as that of the FBI, land on him like truckload of produce from the district he represents but ignores.
12
Everybody already knows the truth. The problem now is acquiring the power to prosecute.
11
Devin Nunes predicament has been come the same as all the Trump defenders and apologists . How far are they willing to lower themselves in the interest of Trump? In the end, we all know he will leave them hanging by themselves in the legal quagmire he has created.
9
Obstruction of justice as well as the fact that he removed U.S. intelligence information documents, or copies thereof, from their safe and secure location within the House Intel Committee. They were entrusted to the House Intel Committee and first time around Nunes took them without notification to the rest of the Committee who had no chance to see or review them. He did this under cover of darkness and in a partisan effort at self-promotion only.
Now he is trying to distract Americans from the Democrats rebuttal memo, and Senator Grassley had promised public release of Don Jr.'s testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his meeting with Russians in June, 2016 also attended by Manafort and Kushner. This meeting should not have occurred and was lied about to the FBI after they were told that Putin was conducting cyber warfare on our democracy and our U.S. elections. Treasonous actions.
The public release of his testimony is being busily worked upon and redacted by Trump lawyers and now has a further delay time for public release. A delay time of additional weeks while they work up their fiction. Nunes Nonsense memo was to distract from this plus the fact that nothing has been done to secure our votes in November despite all the warnings.
I hope all the states go to paper ballots as just think of the havoc Putin can wreak in November! He was already in 21 states' voter registration files.
4
Both Trump and Nunes are guilty of obstruction of justice, but it is doubtful either will ever be brought to justice. The U.S is the largest more powerful banana republic in the world.
1
What really galls me is that the GOP's mantra for so long has been that people who don't agree with their vision are unpatriotic. The President went as far as to allude to such disagreements as being treasonous. Yet, in Representative Nunes' partisan mind, it is necessary to quash an investigation into whether a foreign country has embedded itself into the most fundamental of American institutions: Voting.
I honestly cannot think of anything more unpatriotic than trying to undermine an investigate into whether the process of selecting of selecting our leaders was subverted. Especially, given the overwhelming intelligence of Russian involvement.
Well done Comrade Nunes.
8
Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Yes, for quite some time now.
9
The purpose of Mr. Nunes' memo was to mislead the American people about the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump camp and the Russians. Suppressing evidence which sets the record straight and refutes the allegations contained in the memo IS obstruction of the American people, of a democratic government, and of the legislative process. Rep. Nunes has shown that he has no limits or boundaries for his political agenda, notwithstanding his sworn obligations to his constituents and the American people. If he or his staff coordinated the memo with the White House, as it certainly appears likely that he did, then he should be removed from the House and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
7
We are watching The Grand Shell Game of Mr. Nunes.
6
Is Devin Nunes obstructing justice. No, not all. In fact he's doing a great job, a great job for his Californian constituents, and the nation at large. We need more Americans like him as lawmakers. Thank you.
3
@Southern Boy
Step away from the KoolAide and stop watching Fox. Please stop for one minute and think for yourself. Nunez has done nothing to help us get to the truth. He is doing everything but. Please sir, get a set and walk out of the echo chamber. Unless of course you want no one to follow the rule of law? Would it be OK if your leadership at work broke the law and you paid for it by getting hurt or losing your job instead of them? Would it be ok if your neighbor broke the law and your family paid the consequences and they got away with it? Ultimately, if you think about this, we as citizens and as a nation have so much to lose if this is allowed to go on without consequences if they are proven to be obstructing justice. You will be sorely disappointed if you think that you will gain anything by DT and his enablers being allowed to hide the truth and ignore the Constitution. This is the most important job that they have and that we trust them with when we elect them. They swore to God and they swore on the Bible to protect it. Doesn't that matter to you? Be a real patriot and support the truth coming into light so that we can survive as a Democracy. You and I both lose even more than we already have if that does not happen. Make them prove to you that what they are doing is lawful and for the right reasons. What would you do if it were Hillary? Don't be a sucker.
5
JDH,
What would you do if you were Hillary?" Please don't insult me like that. Please. I did nothing to desrve such a thing.
1
Rep. Nunes is attempting to obstruct justice, but so what? Will the Republican leadership discipline or restrict him? Of course not. Will the Justice Department question him, or indict him? Of course not. Will Fox propaganda lionize and praise him. Of course it will. Will voters in his Republican dominated district re-elect him? Of course they will. Justice means nothing to those willing to do literally anything to sustain political power.
7
Nunes's staff has a history of coordination with the White House. Two of his top staffers (Kash Patel and Doug Presley) travelled to London without informing the embassy in order to intercept and interrogate Christopher Steele about the memo. Patel was involved in the drafting of the memo along with Doug Nelson. Given Nunes's answers, it seems very likely that Patel coordinated with the White House, while Nunes tried to maintain plausibility deniability.
My question is why is Nunes going to such lengths to publicly defend Trump on a national basis. Unlike reps in some hard red districts, his district doesn't care about the issue (they care about things like water). Does someone in the Trump team have something on him? Is there a financial upside for him? Or is it a pure publicity play?
3
"Is Devin Nunes obstructing justice?"
Yes.
This has been clear for months. Nunes, a member of the Trump transition team and a longtime Trump campaign surrogate, who recused himself, has nevertheless interfered in countless ways small and large. No maybe about it. The intent of the latest memo was to help Mr. Trump end the investigation.
10
Nunes has enough smarts to know that Trump has proved that political power no longer is related to principles that support a popular democracy with a respect for people’s rights, it’s a struggle for power and to retain power, and to secure it with a monopoly of power. Law and respect for individual rights are for discussion but never to be allowed to interfere with what people in power actually do. Nunes and Trump represent the decay of our civilization.
5
I am convinced that Devin Nunes is obstructing justice and doing so because of a promise of something in return from the White House - a quid pro quo such as a cabinet position. His mysterious trip to the oval office in 2016 and his ensuing over-eagerness to help Trump make it obvious.
6
"The Supreme Court has explained that this immunity extends to legislative acts that are an “integral part of the deliberative and communicative processes by which Members participate in committee and House proceedings.”"
The entire process of writing, reviewing, voting to release and then releasing the memo was neither "deliberative" nor "communicative" with all members of the Committee or the House. This alone should be enough to prove Nunes' political intent to publish the memo designed to help WH discredit Justice Department and FBI.
3
Trump seems to be Nunes’ best opportunity to become a national figure and the source of a loyal base for his future political aspirations.
1
If Nunes is Obstructing Justice, and Paul Ryan continues to leave him in his committee position, is not Paul Ryan also Obstructing Justice?
11
There is no such thing as "obstruction of justice" for a sitting representative or senator.
The Constitution of the United States directly declares that fact.
This article is nothing more than the continuing barrage of hit pieces and public relations spin that has characterized the Democrats responses to this whole matter.
I, for one, am more than willing to take the Democrat's response at face value, and consistent with the necessities to protect state secrets and intelligence personnel, I sincerely hope that ALL of the information gathered by ALL of the committees of Congress be made public, and be made public at the absolutely earliest possible date.
Time for all of the senseless, time-wasting, diversional posturing to end.
This matter is too important for the personal political ambitions of our politicians to be treated with this level of disdain and deception.
5
Not quite correct. Their immunity from prosecution for actions in furtherance of their representation is not absolute, as you imply. Courts have found that intent does matter.
It honestly is about time the media started asking this question. Of course he is. he was part of the transition team, he has everything to lose.
7
Mr Nunes has put himself way out on a limb for this president, and for what? While many in his red congressional district still support him, other constituents are picketing him on a weekly basis and he is anathema to the rest of his state. His reelection war chest is already far greater than his opponent's, though the gap is shrinking precisely because Nunes is drawing attention to his race with his shenanigans. What does he have to gain for shooting his career in the foot, if not higher office? Nothing, as far as I can tell. Or nothing legal, anyway.
7
this op-ed piece plainly is correct. nunes likely is in the cross-hairs now. while we don't yet know--because nunes won't say--how much trump and white house staff participated in the creation of the infamous memo, the intent of the memo is not ambiguous: to allow trump to discharge people at doj who won't do his bidding and protect him.
6
The same sentence in the Constitution granting immunity that the authors of the article quote begins, "They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest..."
Since obstruction of justice or conspiracy are both felonies, it seems to me that Nunes and/or his staff would NOT be protected by the immunity clause and that Mueller would be perfectly within his rights to indict them and bring them to trial.
5
Mueller would expand his obstruction of justice investigation beyond the Executive branch to include the Legislative branch if he attempted to take Nunes’ statement. The. Republican-controlled House would explode. Mueller would be wise to wait until after the Democrats control the House in 2018 before he takes that otherwise risky step.
1
If Mr. Nunes is indeed obstructing justice, which seems to be the case, it should be noted that he has received aid, cover and even encouragement from Paul Ryan and the majority of the GOP. Can an entire political party be guilty of obstruction of justice. It seems the answer is “yes”, and may be guilty of more serious crimes as well.
5
@Charles
I find it interesting that your focus is conspiratorial in nature. There is no conspiracy. There is though, a very publicly known and witnessed pattern of obstructive and less that patriotic behavior from the folks who wish to protect him. This provides a reason for Mueller to act within the law. That two people are already charged with crimes, and a third who is cooperating with Mueller to avoid being charged is a significant tell that DT and his crew have a problem with being lawful. The cry's of foul and conspiracy theories pushed in the echo chambers of Fox news and Brietbart are another indicator that the truth is secondary. I don't want Trumps head on a platter. I want him to be a good President. He doesn't have to be perfect. No one is. At some point, people, D and R, need to grow up and stop with the useless hate of the opposition and actually want the truth. Based on what I have seen so far, I believe that our President is vehemently against making sure that happens. He does not understand that being President does not mean anyone is faithful to him. He is supposed to be faithful to us and the Constitution. His statements about the Justice Department, the FBI and our Intel services clearly indicate that he is only concerned about himself. The AG is not there to "protect" him. The AG is there to protect the rule of law and the Constitution. The examples are far too many of his total disregard or understanding of his role as POTUS, or the Constitution. VOTE
3
Devin Nunes should be prosecuted and jailed for disclosing secret information, obstructing justice and above all: deceiving all of us who except better from those we elect to public office.
1
Perhaps Trump's extraordinary, inconsistent, and obstructive behavior can be explained as the result of a debilitating fear that the Democratic memo contains or points to evidence that the "hotel videotapes" of TGrump in Moscow really *do* exist. In the current climate of resistance to male sexual assault and harassment, they would jeopardize his presidency--not to mention his third marriage.
3
Who's trying to kid who? Nunes might not be unbiased? Might be partisan? Might be dishonest?
His midnight run to the WH to "give" them information it had actually given him wasn't enough to get him out of office? He's still here ? In office? With power? Drafting a memo that is taken seriously? By anybody?
5
The answer to the articles' question is easy. Of course he is doing his best to help out Trump in his time of need and, under cover of the GOP, he doesn't really care if he obstructs justice in the process. I thought he had recused himself. No? The question many of us have is, why is Speaker Ryan allowing this cartoonish character that reminds me of Inspector Clouseou to run amok.
4
Half of the GOP is obstructing justice. Party over country is the GOP motto. The untold story by the mainstream media is the GOP's descent into radicalization over the last quarter century.
7
Who created and handed off the "theory of the case" that Nunes Memo was supposed to prove, prior to it being crafted to do so:
1) White House to Nunes to Hannity; or
2) Hannity to the White House to Nunes; or
3) Nunes to the White House to Hannity?
This is Nunes' second effort at trying to dupe the public to cover for Trump.
Nunes' actions cannot be allowed to stand without full investigation; otherwise, a precedent is set that can/will be used to politicize the workings of Congress and the operation of any government department, by people of bad faith. White House-directed secret police squads combing through "whatever" searching for clues of non-loyalty to the president or cherry-picking to malign the previous administration.
2
Anyone who can put two and two together and not come up with three, know that Nunes and/or his staff have been committing obstruction of justice.
4
Beyond corruption and beyond obstruction. The entire Republican Party has put their political agenda in front of their country. There will come a day when they regret this, but not the bunch we now have. They're complicit in every way.
4
Paul Ryan can do something about interference or obstruction by Nunes; remove him from his job as chairman of House Intelligence Committee.
181
Ryan won't do any such thing because he's the "flim flam man" sucking up to a fat, balding, misogynistic, money laundering Kremlin stooge who has deemed Nunes an American hero. That's right, Nunes = hero. McCain, not so much. Porter = good guy. Porter's ex-wives = no counts. Roy Moore = misunderstood underage teen "observer". Gadsden Mall security = misinformed.
5
It would be even better to remove Ryan in November and eradicate the GOP in 2020...
What to do with Trump in the meantime?It will depend on the results of November; perhaps impeachment would then be available.
After you will have to start to rebuild your democracy, your unity, and your country...YES YOU CAN
Best and Goodspeed from Canada
7
As for Paul Ryan: Don't hold your breath awaiting conscientious, responsible, or ethical behavior from him. The Speaker of the House seems to have willingly slurped down the Kool-Aid -- and sworn a pledge of allegiance to Trump.
Ryan's turned out to be as shamelessly partisan -- and, I'm afraid, as much in cahoots -- as Nunes.
4
Piercing speech or debate immunity is relevant only if there is some real predicate act of obstruction, which seems implausible here. Rosenstein is a joint player in the FISA warrant situation and the Mueller investigation, but his hand in the Mueller investigation does not suddenly immunize him from being accountable for prior acts. True, the FISA situation and the Mueller investigation are discrete, and to suggest otherwise is suspect. But such politicized characterizations are different from actual obstruction.
4
Whatever culpability Devin Nunes may have, the real villain in the House is Paul Ryan. He named Devin Nunes to the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee and he can remove him or circumscribe his authority. That he has not, coupled with his refusal to move forward legislation that does not have the blessing of President Trump, are strong indications he is managing the oversight power of the House not to act as a check on the Executive but to act as its facilitator. When someone writes the sordid history of the Ryan-Nunes connection in this case it will be incomplete without reference to the Nunes-Trump ties going back to the 2016 campaign and the Trump-Ryan deal whereby Ryan backed Trump's operative in the House in return for Trump slashing Medicare, a long-cherished goal of Ryan, in the next budget. This is where Paul Ryan has made the bargain to waive his Constitutional obligation to exercise oversight of the Executive in return for Trump in return for Trump's action to start weakening the safety net. Ryan continues with his obsession to impoverish Americans while in this case President Trump conveniently forgets the promise of the 2016 campaign to protect Social Security and Medicare. Odd how he must continue a hard line on immigration because that was a campaign promise while the campaign promise regarding Medicare vanishes. But the linchpin here is Paul Ryan, manipulating Devin Nunes to sabotage the Mueller investigation; no wonder he widens his smirk!
12
This POTUS has the depth of a puddle on the sidewalk. It's quit obvious by Nunes refuse to answer direct questions, he and/or his staff coordinated this propaganda memo (as it contains many assertions with little to no fact) with the White House. Nunes and Trump are incredibly ignorant and/or brazen to believe the construction of this unsupported false memo constitute obstruction of truth (read justice).
12
My question is, if this claims made in this article are correct (and there are no no reasons not to think so) why Nunes and his henchmen are so reckless and stupid? Their actions should have first been cleared with lawyers well-versed in this specific area of law.
4
Being so desperate to cover up for trump, you have to wonder if this fool has been compromised by Russia. Regardless, this guy MUST go to jail. Preferably after trump is impeached to avoid a pardon. But either way he MUST go to jail.
16
Yes, and in doing so he became a traitor to his country.
15
Yes, BIGLY! And he must be removed from the House Intelligence Committee immediately!
20
Yes. Yes, Devin Nunes is obstructing justice.
17
Is it just me, or does Devin Nunes always looks like he’s done something sneaky? Every photo seems to show him sliding into a room, or looking from side to side like he has been caught doing something wrong.
15
I know! He is almost like a cartoon villain...only creepier.
1
A blind man can see that Nunes has been and continues to obstruct justice. It's hard to find an example of a more partisan political hack than Nunes. The man has no shame.
21
If it can be established the the White House has been coordinating with Sean Hannity and Fox News to undermine public confidence in the probe, then shouldn't they also be investigated?
17
Nunes in cahoots with a White House undermining an active investigation into the president. Had served on the Trump transition team.
President hopes memo will allow him to fire Rob Rosenstein. Nunes wouldn't answer investigatory questions if the White House was involved in that memo.
Never in our history has a president been so tied to a foreign government that also infiltrated our elections. Christopher Steele, former MI6 spy, delivered memo to FBI that Trump’s team agreed to Russian request to "dilute attention on Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine." 4 days later Trump publicly stated he'd recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Republicans on the RNC platform committee were already on record complaining Trump took out a pledge for military assistance to Ukraine against separatist rebels in the east of the country. That same day, Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The dystopian nightmare of future dictatorships was described in George Orwell's "1984" as well as in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World."
Orwell feared governments would deprive us of information. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
Our English teachers warned us,
12
Of course he is. It's part of what may be the biggest cover-up In America's history, that America lost a cyberwar to Russia in 2016, the result of which was the election of Trump. Defeat is hard to face; but every delay in facing the hard facts makes matters worse. This is no time for parades. It is time to put this vicious, corrupt mob away.
13
Oh, what a tangled web we weave... Nunes is, apparently, too stupid to understand much about the import of his half-baked actions that have culminated in his release of a memo that has made many members of his own party quite uneasy. One wonders if the man can even vaguely grasp the possible consequences of his actions, as so cogently detailed and interpreted in this fine article. One thing not so difficult for Inspector Clouseau to get: that all those who have, like Nunes, played the willing fool for Trump are eventually abandoned, deeply humiliated, and left in isolation to deal with their own folly - which for Nunes could include serious legal issues. As for Trump, the man has no doubt existed in terrifying isolation for years and years, and which he appears determined to project onto our country's standing in the world. How long he can continue to hold the stage is another matter. One that we can only hope is impacted by Robert Mueller's completed investigation.
10
I've been claiming this for a while now. Hopefully Mueller's net is cast wide enough to get this malefactor.
5
YES.
In answer to the title question.
4
It is becoming increasingly clear that Trump and the Republicans who are allied with him will be undone because they lack intelligence, experience, or both. Trump has always believed that he could bully and lie his way through life, and like lemmings, various members of the Republican Party are following his lead. Nunes is at the head of the pack of lemmings jumping off the ethical cliff.
7
It seems as though the Donald's financial transactions are the key. If th Mueller team simply investigates how this con man made his money, the rat will panic and expose everything.
5
This entire construct is a riduculous overreach... a perfect examle of wishful thinking, and a waste of the reader’s precious time.
4
This one is easy: YES!
5
Good article.
And the answer is yes. From all the reports on Devin Nunes actions while on this Committee, is crystal clear he is obstructing justice.
Paul Ryan should grow a spine and remove Nunes who is obviously a bumbling fool and making Ryan look complicit in the
obstruction efforts.
5
I'll stipulate that this is a well-considered examination of the light reflected from the many facets of this disturbing little gem. But it's all merely warm-air, because the authors don't actually approach the heat source. They go round-and-round about whether Trump and/or his staff have "engaged with" Nunes and/or his staff in order to achieve a specific end, which is to defang or derail the on-going investigation. I say, get off the merry-go-round, and look at the bigger picture; stop looking at what it could be, and look at what it is.
We could define the memo as an attempt to persuade an audience about misfeasance and malfeasance, and we could argue for months whether the fruit that the warrant produced was tainted (that argument should rightly be held after the investigation completes, so as to avoid tainting it), but its entire purpose is to obstruct the justice that is the investigation itself. Whether the memo ultimately succeeds at being an impediment large or small is also a discussion that could be had later. The memo is an obstruction of justice, whether or not it succeeds at achieving its end. Nunes produced it, and Nunes released it. He should be arrested and charged.
There's much nuance to the arguments about conspiracy, and debate immunity. Bah! Nunes' actions are not legislative. He isn't looking to reveal new information; he threw a piece of trash (his memo) from his car as he ran a red light, and the camera took his picture. #ReleaseTheHounds
2
Mr. Nunes has already shown himself to be a willing lackey in the service of a President willing to do and try anything to evade justice. Therefore Nunes must be considered complicit in this charade and be held accountable.
6
Devin Nunes might want to heed the subtle warning this article provides: Do not, Mr. Chairmen, release any further memos. Clearly Nunes and his staff have come close to running afoul of the “speech or debate” clause which could land them in the crosshairs of Robert Mueller.
I concur....posted this a couple weeks ago. The feckless Congress has enabled Nunes to co produce with the WH and Fox News these episodes of their rality TV show "Gaslighting Mueller." We don't have an imminent Constitutional Crises; we are in the midst of one already.
10
This is one of several recent essays suggesting that Nunes might be complicit in obstructing justice: http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/371779-mueller-should-call-nunes-... . Other essays appear in Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, USA Today, Chicago Tribune...and the list goes on. The NY Times had another essay on 3 Feb discussing the problems: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/opinion/memo-nunes-trump-obstruction.... .
I have no doubt these are partisan: the initial act was partisan. But that does not mean all these voices are wrong. Maybe we will find out as the Mueller investigation proceeds.
2
A: Certainly looks like obstructing.
2
Wasn't Nunes recusing himself from further involvement in the Committee's work investigating Trump? This after the disgraceful stunt he pulled last spring, when he made a trip to the White House to pick up supposedly alarming evidence of use of wiretaps in Trump Tower? He clearly is a partisan hack. And as chair of the one committee that has to remain objective, he resembles Inspector Clouseau.
Nunes is in way over his head, and, at best, may not realize he's obstructing the course of justice, or, more likely, is a co-conspirator.
2
The media was criticized for supposedly fawning over the North Korean delegates, and not fawning enough over Donald Trumps daughter. I know its a slow Monday but this fake news on the internet was surprising.
I think of how this elected officer Nunes is running around trying to destroy American justice system. There little report was written in the fashion of a sixth grader and the belief that the American public is so ignorant that we couldn't see the truth behind the paperwork. Stand up for America and stop supporting your party first and the country last. To support Russia,Trump before the country is very pathetic, even if your base thinks you are doing nothing wrong it is unAmerican
1
Where does one even begin?
Nunes, Speaker Ryan, Sen. McConnell and most of the Rs in Congress WILL go down in history as aiding and abetting one of the most lawless administrations in our country's history. Trump actually called out for Russia to hack his political opponent's emails. And they stayed mostly silent.
In the meantime, we have the party of "law and order", of "family values" and such, virtually blindly, unquestioningly staying silent on child molesters, wife abusers, sexual harrassers, Russians and their bots. Same with "Christian leaders." No fan of his, but Reagan would weep.
That's what Trump does and has done in his business life and now in politics, soil and cover with filth, most people who associate with him.
Yet, his hard core supporters will stay with him. And in their insatiable thirst and craving for power, most of the Rs, stay silent, evade, justify the increasingly egregious behavior. In no well functioning democracy would a member of the President's transition team (Nunes) be allowed to head this committee, write this memo casting doubt on the integrity of Mr. Mueller with distraction and distortion. The main folks speaking out against this cancer that Trump and the Rs (and their plutocrat funders) are those who have decided to retire. And even those folks, tend to vote lockstep with Trump on most everything.
How do these people look themselves in the mirror each morning?
Our country will survive this abomination. It MUst!
3
Wow! Corruption personalized in a conflict-of-interest matter where Nunes purposefully muddled the healthy, and necessary, independence of the legislate branch from the executive, especially when obstructing the Special Investigator's mission to rule out (or in) collusion of team Trump with Russian meddling in U.S. elections, and allowing Trump to assault the presidency. If Devin Nunes has two working neurones that recognize moral turpitude, he would do well in recusing himself from the House Intelligence Committee...and avoid more than the shame of his actions (and going to jail thereafter, if found guilty of obstruction of justice). Vulgar Trump is, beyond any doubt, the most unscrupulous, and venomous, thug in the Oval Office, who still thinks the White House is his private property, and he can go on, unrestricted, to bully us around by his motto 'my way or the highway'. So, Mr, Mueller, hurry up before it's too late for remedy...for this ailing democracy, and to restore some trust and decency in politics (the art of the possible, an impossible task as long as the 'ugly American' is at the helm of misrule).
The real criminal here is Paul Ryan who obviously knows how the memo was drafted and of Nunes "collusion" with the White House. The whole charade of letting the Dems release their memo was merely to get the onus off the house and allowing Trump to block it for them. Drain the swamp!
6
Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?
Yes.
2
As a Democrat I am dismayed by the lame approach the Party is taking to deal with the vermin in the WH and their kin in Congress.If there really is concern about obstruction of justice amongst moderate Republicans, legislate to protect Mueller.Similarly, make this THE message in the upcoming mid terms, not collusion which too many Americans don't care about.The message that will resonate with enough Americans to potentially change the balance in Congress relates to financial malfeasance and breaking or obstructing the law.This needs to be woven into every comment, particularly those addressing statements made by the WH about legal issues concerning immigrants or the support for safety/law and order.A focus on Dreamers and Russia is certain to maintain the status quo ,whether those of us in the NE echo chamber like it or not.
4
"Collusion which too many Americans don't care about": I BEG to differ!
We THE PEOPLE do CARE @ Trump / Republican Collusian with RUSSIA.
2
"it is fair to surmise that his staff, perhaps at his direction, may have..."
fair to surmise....perhaps....may have
WOW! Our liberal lawyerly triad have without a doubt, conclusively, beyond a shadow of a doubt, uncovered the smoking gun.
Nunes done it. Nunes obstructed. Nunes is guilty.
Lynch Nunes for the sake of Justice.
3
The actual smoking gun is Trump's admission to Lester Holt that he obstructed justice by firing Comley. That's all anybody will need to convict.
1
Nice try, frank.
Nunes and the other Republican sycophants propping up this outlaw regime have settled on a simple rationale: the ends justify the means.
3
Nunes' actions are aimed at giving aid and comfort to Russia - an enemy of the United States. That's treason. He should be prosecuted for just that.
3
To answer your question, "Absolutely yes!" Devin Nunes is clearly a co-conspirator. Remember THE Memo is the second stunt he's attempted to obstruct justice. Last year he clearly coordinated with The White House in the "unmasking" fiasco. I've been waiting for the Special Counsel to sub poena him. That will provide the real answer to your question.
And the reason to conspire to obstruct? Possibly, the Russians?
1
Here we see writ large the problem of “a govt of men” not laws:
When relationships to a demogogic sociopathic Cabal supersede the norms and separations of powerful institutions, the Constitution is mocked.
When total allegiance to him is required of legislators by a needy narcissist in the White House, the Rule of Law is mocked.
When such relationships combine to undermine and circumvent the Justice Branch, Obstruction of Justice is a byproduct. A Feature. Not a bug.
1
I'm a lifelong Democrat (though I did vote for Mitt Romney for governor in 2002) with growing and growing dismay at the traitorous actions and outright cowardice of the Republican Party. There is nothing "new" about Trump and his minions as each day just perpetuates the disgracefulness of the previous day, etc. Yet, I am also mindful that ours is a country where some 40% of the people are barely getting by on a day to day basis, are greatly influenced by Fox News or some other right wing nonsense, and will most likely never be swayed to see Nunes, Trump, or any of them in a negative manner. For most of us Times' readers, these opinion pieces (and please keep them coming) "preach to the choir". Please, keep hammering home how stooges like Nunes conspire to undermine our nation of laws, our democracy. But somehow, someway, the message just doesn't get through to so many in our country, their eyes affixed to their phones, their lurid Facebook nonsense, the total stupidity of "reality" TV. But we have to keep trying in the face of the Republican capitulation to Trump.
Of course he is obstructing justice and the question is, "Why is he getting away with obstructing justice?" He should be arrested and charged with...wait for it...obstructing justice!
“Are you now or have you ever obstructed Justice?” Sound familiar? If someone finds evidence of partisan bias in the FBI and slanting evidence in order to get a court approval for wire tapping a presidential campaign, that is not obstruction of justice. Despite the intense rationalization of obsessed collusion conspiracists, who are so convinced of that Trump committed crimes for which there is no evidence of, the law is still the law and such legal speculations are nonsense. The left is starting to sound like a lynch mob whose mind is made up and who are trying to come up with even the flimsiest pretext to render justice “frontier style”. Good luck with that and careful that it doesn’t backfire on you.
18
Carter Page began his attempts to work with Putin in 2013 and U.S. counterintelligence informed him that he was being courted by Russian agents. Some of Page’s Russia associates were later arrested for espionage. Page was later invited to join Trump’s campaign despite his ongoing interactions with Russian agents.
24
There is a world of difference between FBI agents having partisan biases, and they letting those biases affect their work. There is absolutely no evidence of the latter, or that any wiretaps were issued without due process. There is, however, a mountain of evidence that Trump’s team is hiding facts about his dealins with Russia. Any honest, objective evaluation of the facts would lead a person to conclude there is far, far more smoke on the Right, and even already a bit of fire (in the form of obstruction of justice).
163
Are you concerned AT ALL that Trump has no concern whatsoever about foreign interference in our election? Isn't this a national security concern that "Trump's" his own personal ego and agenda? Is he not tasked with taking this seriously on OUR behalf? I don't care whether his actions fit into a specific criminal definition. His failure to protect this country is serious enough to be impeachable. (Remember, we felt impeachment to be the proper consequence for a President lying about sex!)
26
Apparatchik doing work in the Ward.
2
In a word, "Yes".
1
Thick as thieves are Nunes and the White House.
1
It is almost useless to ask why a moron like Nunes is in the House. Why call him a moron ? Because he thinks that the outcry against his little memo is a sign that he is "getting closer to the truth" (as he said). Also because some of his fellows are calling him "stupid" and "ingratiating". But it is not pointless to ask why is this moron so ironically the chairman of the House Intelligence committee. What does it tell us about those in the House who elected him in such a position ? Can the House representatives undo their mistake and get rid of this moron someday soon ? Can the intelligent people in the House stop this propagation of moronicity, where a few morons elect other morons to a higher level ?
1
I think the Dems should let Nunes write and release as many memos as he'd like. If they are anything like the first they will serve the exact opposite purpose as desired.
The Trump mob is arrogant and stupid with Nunes at the top of the list. He's an idiot. You don't have to do anything to him or them. Just give them enough time and rope, they'll hang themselves. They're cheerfully mounting the scaffold steps and sticking their heads in the noose now. I say let them continue.
1
Immunity for impunity.......
1
Yes, he is.
5
This op-ed is nonsense. Written by rabid opponents of Trump whose lives have become devoted to destroying the President even if it means destroying their own reputations. They contort the law, filing lawsuits that are quickly dismissed in court, then moving on to the next outrageous accusation that gets media attention.
The media attention, including publication of claptrap like this by the NYT, poisons public debate by injecting foolish dead-end "legal" theories that will be quoted incessantly by other Trump-haters as gospel.
5
Poisons public debate? You must be receiving your "news" from Sean Hannity. Every investigative agency in government is aware the Russians interfered with the election. The denials by the Trump administration and its endlessly excusing sycophants cannot change reality. Whether or not there has been criminal behavior is yet to be determined. Keeping your head in the sand on this issue is not advisable.
3
I believe Devin Nunez is obstructing justice. The better question is why are so many republicans, silent and complicit? It is almost as if Donald Trump came into the White House with a briefcase full of Kompromat on leadership republicans.
4
Do you remember when a sitting president was impeached for refusing to admit on national news "OK guys, like GW (That's Washington) I cannot tell a lie, so yes I did grab this cigar but I did not inhale"? We were treated to the spectacle of full impeachment proceedings. Compare this to the current white zoo in the dark house. And please give me a break with poor Monica, SHE molested HIM!
3
48 people went to prison for their efforts to cover up Watergate. 64 total were indicted.
Nunes has decided to go down in the history of this sad corrupt treasonous affair with those type of people instead of the good and decent Americans who stopped it.
Nunes has actually launched an alternative fact "news" channel to further spread White House lies. Perhaps some intrepid reporter from the Times should have a look at where the money is coming from to run it.
3
Interesting to see the cadre of liberal op-ed writers dusted off in a feeble attempt to use HRC tactics of deflection, obfuscation and disinformation. This time there is no escape, as a majority of Americans now know that the State Department, FBI, IRS, and the DOJ were weaponized under the Obama administration to get Hillary elected, and the Russia, Russia, Russia crys are a travesty of a mockery of a sham. Criminal indictments lie ahead for the HRC enablers.
3
LOL. Nunes being attacked by three leftists for seeking the truth about the underbelly of corruption at DOJ, FBI and CIA means only one thing. He is getting perilously close to Obama. The panic and irrationality has set in. Stay tuned.
4
Of course he is. Don't be silly.
The liar in chief desperately needs people who are loyal not lawful.
4
I hope you will ask the same question of Brennan and Clapper - you know, the guys who lied to Congress about the dossier.
4
Devin Nunes. Darryl Issa. Two peas in a pod and from California, of all places. The rise of these cretins was profiled very nicely in "Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right" by Lisa McGirr. So true and so not funny.
3
Well, it seems Nunes has the nonpareil qualifications for the Trump administration: unmitigated gall coupled with stunning levels of incompetence and ignorance. All their nefarious intent is hobbled by gross stupidity.
Is Nunes also from a privileged background? Monty Python would call the bunch of them upper class twits.
1
I am more afraid of Republicans than I am of ISIS. Nunes: Lock him up, lock him up (along with Dangerous Donald)!
1
It appears the Left has replaced the race card with the obstruction card in its whining deck.
Not a hint of concern the FBI/DOJ might have exceeded their authority from these "constitutional experts."
4
Yes this person is such a disgrace he outta be "FIRED" he obstructed justice from the get go so he should be voted out in 2018! This guy is so biased it is pathetic. He is suppose to be investigating wrong doing and what does he do ?? OBSTRUCT. He is part of the "clown car" and needs to step down and lets us get to the truth which he knows nothing about. He has a conflict f interest BIG TIME!
VOTE HIM OUT!!
This is actually Nunes second obstruction. The first wound up with his recusal from the same investigation he is now obstructing again. He is a liar and a Trump Toadie, and should be arrested for obstruction! Lock 'EM up, LOCK 'EM ALL UP!
1
The press has failed to adequately cover the Nunes story.
The lasting damage is the politicization and unraveling of an important oversight committee for national security. It's work is far more important than any wall.
Ryan controls committee assignments so why has he gone to such lengths to protect an embarrassment like Nunes whose brazen stupidity only highlights Schiff's measured intelligence?
Ryan is dirty.
4
Well, Trey Gowdy is leaving. Those lawyers can get expensive.
2
He's in a quandary. Federal prison or Fresno? It's a tossup.
2
I'm no fan of Fresno (used to live near there) but should someone from Oklahoma City be asking this question?
Nunes must be knee-deep in this Russian scandal to expose himself so overtly in trying to fabricate cover up stories, now for the second time. That or he's hoping to head Trump's gestapo after he single-handedly discredit the FBI with flawed 3-page memos.
3
I've been googling nyt, wapo, atlantic graham-grassley and only get an opinion piece from wapo about it. I'm sincerely shocked that the NYT did nothing on it instead we get speculation on whether you could maybe get Nunes on obstruction of justice if Trump fires Rosenstein. This is partisan murder porn nothing else.
2
I actually found the article but its pretty limp and just says "republicans say the letter vindicates Nunes" or in other words a nod to the tribe to not take it seriously. The rest was about the persecuted Dem memo, sigh. I mean I don't think it invalidates the Mueller investigation that should continue until all the evidence has been examined and actual wrongdoing can be determined. However, it should concern any American that a court may use oppo funded research that had already been disregarded by major newspapers like the NYT as extremely dubious to essentially order a search and seizure of all your communications even if evidence is found of wrongdoing it doesn't justify a warrant gotten through ill means.
Legalism. This is what we resort to when nothing else works. The wig in the White House is, plainly, an improvisational narcissist contemptuous of humane values. That is obvious even to many of his supporters. His supporters may have the money to exploit and defeat the law but there may not be enough money, guns and hatred for them to win. Let's be content to just tell the truth about this and call it what it is: fascism.
1
Nuñes supposedly recused himself from the Russia investigation.
Except when he wants to meddle.
What a scoundrel.
3
I am sure Mueller has a list and, when the main show is over, he will finish by cleaning out the dregs.
It's a safe bet the Trump WH was directly involved in Nunes' nonsense. Why else would this Trump sycophant refuse to provide simple, straightforward answers to questions about what occurred. Let's not forget how, after denying any involvement, it turned out that daddy actually dirtied his filthy little hands to write Don Jr's pathetic and dishonest denial about his meeting with Russians in Trump tower.
1
I thought Paul Ryan was the weakest of the Trump weakest but Nunnes comes along! He will try and separate himself from his staff when obstruction of justice is proven.
This sordid toxic mess drags on and on, carrying with it elements of American democracy.
Oh Woe Betide!
2
Let’s start calling Nunes by name - he’s a traitor, co conspirator and treasonous. Enough of these people working against the American people. I have faith in our justice system and he will get his due.
3
If not having your own alternative news site doesn't say enough!
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/11/devin-nunes-alternative-news-s...
Put this clown under oath. If he chooses to fall on his sword for Trump, so be it.
1
What a bunch of nonsense. Investigating and exposing our corrupt FBI and DOJ is not "obstructing justice." You guys are truly living in a bubble now -- one that is about to burst right on top of you.
2
Race-baiting is just so...2017...
Obstruction-baiting is going to be the new totalitarian mantra, till leaves again fall from the trees in 2018...
The double-standard by which the press judges partisan actions - which, on either side, range from benign and well-intentioned, to outright malice and spite and score-settling - is wearing thin...
And - your one-sided dialectic is becoming obvious...
GOP and right/center media shouldn't get into the schoolyard game of "Fact-checking" - where trivialities are spun and facts themselves are debased...
How about #Lack-of-fact-check...Where you in the MSM do the equivalent of a malevelont prosecutor who withholds exculpatory evidence - and then argues the conviction should stand because a jury decided...
Am just waiting for the "Democrat Memo"...They can either use ten pages to counter the "GOP Memo" points with 250% of the substance - or they can snipe and undermine, insinuate and imply, and shout down with snark...
Which ever path they choose - it won't change anything Trump and team did or didn't do...
Or anything Obama and team didn't do or did...
2
Echo on - progressivista...
There are sights and sounds out there, beyond the cave in which you've ensconced and entrenched yourself - and tried to trap the rest of us......
https://nypost.com/2018/02/10/peeling-back-the-layers-of-hillary-clinton...
2
Yes. Him and his entire Party. And the horse he rode in on...
2
He never forgot his background and what he is good at, shoveling manure around.
1
Folks, that Dossier was likely almost 100% spot on. Why else would you see so many minions (sorry, cute yellow minions, no offense intended) running around trying to discredit it?
2
Dear MOB,
"...likely almost..." That is not very definitive to me. What we know is that very little of the dossier could be corroborated since most of it came from sources in Russia that did not supply their names. Read the transcript of the Simpson testimony before Congress.
I appreciate the fact that President Trump is most unsatisfactory, but this article like your post is full of words and phrases like, "could be", "might" "could be construed".
I will wait from Mr. Mueller's investigation to complete its course and also wait for the ISG report. I hope we will find the truth at that point.
2
How fitting for him to be continuing his lap do role for Trump. Show both of them the door out of Washington and into prison.
All Nunes' efforts are doing is trying to shore up Trump's base and sway public opinion. I doubt Mueller gives a flying fig about either. Yet the amount of time and effort modern politicians spend to basically 'get Likes on Facebook,' to get reelected, rather proves how shallow they are and how little of substance they really have to offer the country.
What was that old line about not being able to fool all the people all the time? Did they think they could just throw whatever they wanted at us, and we'd just ... acquiesce? I think Nunes (et al) believeability may have finally run out. At least I can hope so. He works for a man who has never been able to shake rumors that he's been tight with organized crime since the 80s (and since we haven't been able to prove it, though everyone around him gets caught, he mocks us). I say Nunes works for Trump, because there's no other explanation. I don't have any patience and faith left for Republicans, but if they truly wish to have any relevancy (and I don't care what numbers of seats and offices they control; control is not the same as relevancy), they need to clean house. If that means that 75+% of them 'retire' early, then another old saying comes to mind - "Don't the door hit you on the way out."
I can't quite figure out if Nunes is just unbelievably stupid or unrepentantly arrogant . He is definitely not a student of history, for if he was, he would understand that to tie your motorboat to a sinking ocean liner is madness . This is incidentally why so many Republicans of presumably greater intelligence are not running in the next election. They know that they will be defeated, and probably by a great margin . Nunes must've thought that this was his ticket to a higher floor in the building, but as of now he still doesn't realize that the building is on fire.
I can't wait to never see Nunes, Mulvaney, Ryan, McConnell, Pence, Pruitt and Zinke again. The people who voted these useless, morally corrupt "christian" men with their hypocritical destructive ideologies into office are complicit in ruining our country. Democrats have their issues with Neoliberalism and corruption but there is nothing worse than a Republican. #Bernie2020
If Nunes thinks he's some sly fox beholden to Trump who is so adept at surreptitiously creeping around DC, pulling the wool over people's eyes, he's doing a simply awful job of concealing his collusion with the Idiot In Chief.
Nunes is a Trump mole who has no hole to hide in. He's as blatant an apologist for Trump's obstructionism as if he had rented out a neon sign in Times Square announcing his collusion as such. There shouldn't be an ounce of doubt of Nunes' culpability. The real culprit and co-conspirator in this canard is Speaker Ryan. The Wisconsin Badger put him there, for a reason. He has the power to remove him. It's not a heavy lift. Ryan knows exactly what Nunes is doing, and he's supporting it. And so, come November, those Wisconsin citizens in Ryan's District will have the ultimate power. To decide whether Representative Ryan indeed represents them or not.
DD
Manhattan
2
It's time that Republicans should be called out for what they are: poorly educated, racists, chauvinistic, hypocritical megalomaniacs.
1
In the event California voters kick Nunes out of office in November, the Justice Department should come after this traitor with everything they have. He's earned it.
1
Kibbles 'n Bits Noodnik? Nah...what a ridiculous question. A better question might be why are any of these people still taking up space in DC.
It's the cover-up that will be prosecuted. Nunes and Trump are the dupes of Putin. Remember this investigation was supposed to be about the Russian interference in the 2016 election, until Trump, the narcissist, made the investigation about Donald Trump. No matter what the situation Trump always has to make IT about himself. So Pathetic !
That this question is asked, coupled with all of the debauchery and lawlessness in the WH, amplifies the term “White Privilege.”
2
Great pic! It really shows the "trapped rat" look well. Nunes not only obstructed justice, he committed treason as well.
1
Today is the birthday of our revered president, Abraham Lincoln, who never told a lie. Devin Nunes, on the other hand, is a weasel who lies and obfuscates for Trump, trumpeting his memo, for which he neither read the original FISA warrant materials nor actually wrote but had his lackeys throw together. He is a skunk who tries to cover up for Trump with his overpowering stench. He should go back burrowing escape tunnels for the GOP liars.
2
Of course he is obstructing justice. Is there anyone out there who can't see that? Trump supporters want justice obstructed and they have found a man craven and stupid enough to be Trump's willing water boy.
1
Nunes in a nutshell:
1. Shill for the President about fake wiretapping, relying on information from a man who lies more than half of the time (Lyin' Donny). Result: forced to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling.
2. Craft a misleading nothing-burger of a memo in an attempt to defend ... wait for it ... Carter Page, with help from Lyin' Donny. Since Carter Page is being watched as part of the investigation into Russian meddling, it appears that Nunes forgot about (1).
3. Invoke a clause in the Constitution that has NEVER been invoked to release the nothing-burger memo, complete with the now obviously absurd #ReleaseTheMemo meme retweeted by Russian bots.
4. Deny the opposition party the same rights demanded in (3) through the requirement that Lyin' Donny is empowered to refuse to release secrets ... that have already been released by Nunes.
Carter Page, who represented himself as an agent of the Kremlin to hawk his own experience and value, a man who met with agents of the Kremlin and said he was eager to help them, appears to have permanently provided probable cause for surveillance. If this case is the best Nunes can muster of his deep state conspiracy theories, his dissembling about who actually wrote the memo is not cute ... it is treasonous, and a clear abuse of his power.
The Republicans should remove Nunes from the leadership post that he makes no attempt to fill. This lays at Paul Ryan's feet, not at Mueller's.
Lock them all up and throw away the key.
1
Forget "obstruction of justice," Nunes was part of a conspiracy to commit treason. Why does the media no longer view that as a crime? It is the ultimate crime, one committed in plain sight over the past two years. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you find Hilary's 33,000 missing emails!"_Donald Trump. "If it is what you say it is, I love it!"_Donald Trump Jr. on Russia's promise of "dirt" on Hilary Clinton. “I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump told Russian officials IN THE OVAL OFFICE. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
1
Dumb question. Of course he is.
1
You live in a tyranny now. Justice is what trump tells you it is.
Either shut up and obey, or get out. And take your state with you.
#calexit
Who does this guy think he is? Joe McCarthy? Is he already working with the Roy Cohn of the White House: Stephen Miller? Might work for a while, until a Joseph Welch shows up.
1
The only lingering questions are in the minds of the NYT boardroom. You have become an opinion sheet for your own leftist cause. There was a time when readers could open the NYT for fact and unbiased reporting. That seems like ages ago. I am embarrassed for you and can only hope for your rapid demise.
4
Is he obstructing justice? Only because the NYT says so.
4
All you have to do is drive through the Central Valley of California to understand exactly where Mr. Nunes gets his warped thinking. This is the land of billboards with "Abortion causes breast cancer", "Congress Created Dust Bowl," and "Impeach Clinton and her Husband Too (from the 1990's)." I am not surprised at all that this part of the country elected someone of Mr. Nunes ilk. He is right up their alley on the way to twisted partisan truth bending.
Nice NYT cultural Marxist "thought": "Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?" Only if the truth doesn't matter, i.e., FBI was used by Obama's administration to coordinate with Lynch-Comey's Hillary "the matter" campaign to win the White House.
Seems FBI was using FISA to the DNC Politburo's advantage. J. Edgar would have approved.
5
Others that should be prosecuted for conspiracy to obstruct justice are Lindsey Graham, Shawn Hannity, Chuck Grassley, Thom Tillis (N.C.), David Perdue (Ga.), James Lankford (Okla.), Tom Cotton (Ark.)
From your pen to God's ear. Nunez has been a disgrace. And in a typical Trump situation, others reputations, careers and bank accounts are destroyed.
I can't believe our country is putting up with this.
2
obvious obstruction of justice by Nunes.... and Ryan.
3
Nunes has been running interference for #45 for a long time. I'm curious as to what this lackey thinks will be his reward from #45, other than being thrown under the bus with the others who have outlived their usefulness to Trump. Be good to see "Renfield" / Nunes do some serious jail-time, along with "the master" and his vampiric family.
1
Look, The Times should be looking at Nunes connections to Joseph Mifsud, including Nunes travels abroad and meetings with Luding.
There have been 31+ instances in which Trump team members met with Russian operatives yet, in each, failed to disclose, denied or attempted to conceal the meetings. One of those meetings was between George Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese academic known to be a link between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Also at that 3/24/16, meeting was Olga Polonskaya, a wine merchant (after the meeting Papadopoulos called Polonskaya "Putin's neice" because of her family's extremely close connections to Putin). Both Mifsud and Polonskaya have "disappeared" and are believed to be in hiding. Mueller would love to speak with both. Polonskaya also is closely associated with Luding, Russia’s largest trading company specializing in alcoholic beverages. Founded in 1993, the secret of Luding's success has been its proximity to Putin, which allows it to control the nation's channels of distribution for alcohol.
Nunes' winery also has close connections with Luding and Polonskaya and his winery seeks to control a sizeable portion of the resurgent Russian wine market (the seventh largest in the world). Luding distributes Nunes' wines throughout Russia. Derailing Trump derails Nunes.
Ask Mr. Nunes about his ties to Alpha Omega, Luding, Polonskaya, Mifsud, Papadopoulos and Putin....that is your story NYT.
1
Thank you Rex! This is "THE STORY" that to date our 'Press' choses to ignore. The extremely pertinent facts about Nunes' close connections with Luding and Polnskaya go along way to explain why Nunes' would choose to obstruct justice.
1
Yes, repeatedly.
If America actually had a Department of Justice, Devin would be behind bars in stripped pajamas.
2
We hope that the hypocrisy of Nunes and his helpers on the committee will soon feel the bite of the double edged sword of justice that Mr. Mueller and his helpers are sharpening in preparation for battle with this deceitful and barbarous horde who have temporarily sullied America.
For an administration--and a party, for that matter--with nothing to hide, they sure are hiding an awful lot.
1
Since when do erudite columnists at NY Times believe corruption and politicization of US law enforcement and intelligence agencies do not warrant Congressional oversight? I suppose these agencies should just run amok, shredding the Constitution and violating the rights of Americans without exposure...Is that the point?
Was that the position of the Church Committee, the Watergate Committee, or of journalists who broke the Pentagon Papers case so glamorized in the current Hollywood movie? The only difference in these
investigations/disclosures and this one is the refusal of a single partisan participant (in the Democrat Party) to break ranks and stand against malfeasance and misuse of power.
Chairman Nunes discloses facts in the traditions of Senators Church, Ervin, Baker and Cohen...while the hapless Representative Schiff throws up a wild, noisy fusillade of doubt and lies for a massive cover-up of wrongdoing.
Liberal observers appear too dense to recognize Democrats are the distinct MINORITY of the House Intelligence Committee, while the MAJORITY writes the official findings of the investigation...the one Democrats demanded so stridently only a year ago but now seek to demean, obfuscate, and ignore.
3
The know-it-all commenters would do well to look at the credentials of the writers of this piece. They clearly are qualified to speak on the law.
1
I read somewhere one time a commie leader saying " the Americans will someday hang themselves, and we'll sell them the rope". With Trump and friends at the helm, it looks like it just might come true. Nothing has been done to stop the Russian meddling in our elections...why? Could it be because Trump figures (or knows) that they already swayed the election in 2016 and he could use some help this November? This would explain a lot of his non actions, wouldn't it?
1
Everything Nunes has done since day one of the House Investigation has been coordinated with the White House, you would have to be quite a fool to believe otherwise. That the aim of that coordination has been to obstruct and obfuscate is also perfectly clear. Clearest of all is that Nunes is a pitiful excuse for a good American and a disgrace to his office and the district that elected him.
2
Nunes is a creep, granted. But I fail to see how articles like this one, microscopically parsing legalese and liberally salted with "ifs," get us any closer to the goal of seeing justice delivered.
2
Nunes' behavior is suspect and hopefully the press is investigating his personal finances to see if he has also been the recipient of Russian oligarchs' money. Many reports indicate his vineyard in California is suspicious as well as his open advocacy for Herr Drumpf. Something is rotten in Nunes' estate and hopefully the citizens of his district will start to ask questions about his fitness for office based on his Inspector Clouseau impersonation.
1
Is Mr. Nunes obstructing justice? Is the ocean damp?
2
Meanwhile, that man in the White House sits on the Democrats' "memo" on the same issue. He has the usual chutzpah to call it "political" and demands that the Dems redact it to his liking. Somewhere Devin Nunes is smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
In a word, Yes. No interest in facts, truth, rather partisan talking points to provide cover for 45.
1
For me to take this headline and article seriously, I would have to believe the bumbling fool and Trump toady Nunes is capable of effective, purposeful action. I'd believe one of those - maybe - but not two. If he's obstructing justice, it's by mistake.
Of course they are all obstructing justice, virtually all of his sycophants. But what’s the point, until congress is controlled by democrats nothing will come of this. We are no longer a nation under law. Only an armed revolt or a massive voter turnout this November can stop these corrupt traitors. I have no faith in either or our nation. Putin wins.
1
He needs to be investigated by the FBI and CIA.
Does he even remember taking on oath of office?
I have no sympathy for Trump, and I certainly did not vote for him, but this is really absurd: specifically, to suggest that Nunes is or may be guilty of obstruction of justice. Do people even have a clue as to what that really means? Are we now at a point that if we do not agree with what some one else is doing, we just mindlessly spout " obstruction of justice?" No matter how learned your editorialist may be, he so blinded by his disgust for Trump, we now have to endure this baseless obviously partisan accusation. This is the proverbial red meat for many or your readers, but some of us like to seem a least some honesty in what we read in the NYT.
3
Why was that question not asked of the Loretta Lynch involvement in the Clinton email investigation. You don't just land at an international airport, spot a plane, walk over and knock on the door for a casual visit.
1
Nunes is the epitome of what’s wrong with our Government. He is a self serving
conservative that disregards our laws & should be indicted for obstruction of Justice, along with the rest of the Trump gang.
2
Dem or GOP Congress must recognize Nunes has been trying to protect President by Nunes violating the protections set SCOTUS.
His lie of breathlessness from the Midnight ride Rep Nunes. One by land (by foot), two by land (by car), three by scam - no need to take the memo to WH at midnight at all (the Truth is Coming, To Arms ( well, signing hand)).
Nunes is a dupe, doing whatever the Pres wants, with no regard to law, rules of Congress, and the on-going Mueller investigation. Perhaps, he will be the first person charged with OBSTRUCTION, even though he is following his hero to he must have pledged eternal obedience.
Is there anyone in government chain of authority who resign WHEN the Pres orders AG Sessions to fire Rosenstein REFUSES the order? No Elliott Richardson this time. A co-conspirator is the AG - the reason voters loathe elected officials and their appointees.
The article sets-out the precendential argument that Nunes could be charged.
Maybe if we enter into buy-out Trumps next 3 yrs like football teams buy-out contracts of players. Maybe $5,000,000,000/yr for his life to go away.
(As Emily Latella said "NEVERMIND!')
Lots of collusion between the Dems and the Russians starting to show up. Mueller is going to be busy.
2
Democrats on various committees have run interference for corruption for years starting with the venal and duplicitous Clintons through President Obama’s misuse of the IRS, DoJ, and it appears the FBI (a subset of the DoJ, of course) to trample on political opponents. That couldn’t be done without a biased media and academia.
Don’t like the Nunes memo? Read the Chuck Grassley version out of the Senate. The one the MSM has essentially ignored. No doubt we’ll be reading a deconstruction of that document soon. The bottom line? The entire collusion narrative against the appalling Donald Trump is nothing more than a Clinton campaign dirty trick.
2
Nunes seems like such a corrupt slime ball. I don't know what his angle is, but there is no doubt personal gain is written all over his obstructionist behavior. I consider myself an independent, but have never seen anything like this. What makes matters worse is people are getting so used to this unstable administration that this will open the flood gates to a slew of new candidates that care more for self interest than they do for the interest of the country. Some day we will look at history and this period will be the time when America began to lose its way and we will have a huge expensive wall on the border to remind us.
1
The basic ethical obligation of the legal profession is to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety. Beyond winning elections professional politicians have no ethical restraints nor guidelines.
As long as there are Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, a Republican President and staff in the White House and Republicans in charge of the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. whether or not Devin Nunes is obstructing justice is an academic exercise in intellectual mental masturbation and outrage with no relationship to any governing political realities.
Deputy USAG Rod Rosenstein, USAG Jeff Sessions and White House Counsel Don McGahn all actively participated in the charade cover story that Donald Trump fired Jim Comey for his unprofessional unethical mishandling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail server matter. When obstruction of the Russia investigation was Trump's sole motivation. Neither Rosenstein nor Sessions nor McGahn nor Comey have covered themselves in ethical, moral or legal glory.
Winning governing political power majority elections is the only credible way to prosecute any one for obstruction of justice or for any underlying criminal acts.
1
He is soooooo far out of bounds, he has no idea! It is very possible there will be prison time for him, too, once the indictments of Trump come out.
The Republican clown car keeps rolling down the tracks. The Republican party desperately needs to take a deep breath and push the reset button.
1
The “memo” has been depicted as though it had been sitting on a basement shelf in the justice department for years, until Nunes somehow discovered it, thus saving America- not to mention Trump - from the scoundrels of the FBI. People appear to be unaware that Nunes wrote the thing, much like having your none-too-bright buddy forge a note from your parents after you ditched school. I’m surprised anyone complicit in this malarkey can keep a straight face.
The White House was "not involved in the ACTUAL DRAFTING" is suspicious. Does this mean the WH provided direction and input but didn't actually write the memo? This verbiage indicates a technicality.
Nunes belongs in jail right next to Trumps.
1
Also Politico reported that Nunes is behind some website that's pushing fake news to counter actual facts.
Is Devin Nunes obstructing justice?
You betcha!
3
To title this Op Ed with the question “Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?” is either incredibly naive or world class snark.
2
Well, it's about time this very obvious conclusion regarding Mr. Nuñez´s behavior
was expressed in black and white. This entire administration and it´s enabling stooges act as if the law were meant for (as Leona Helmsley would say) the ¨little people¨ but certainly not for King Donald.
2
Nunes is a real slim ball such if you shake his hand you will need to shower to remove any residual slime. Other analogies come to mind such as lap dog, worm, or one of those bugs you find under rocks.
4
Nunes is someone who belongs in an orange jumpsuit. Just like his boss.
5
Nunes wouldn’t be the first crook that got himself elected to Congress.
Of course! All these conspirators will soon be incarcerated. Treason and obstruction of justice plus various lesser crimes. Why do you think they are fighting so hard and are so desperate?
4
Forget this footnote named Nunes and his self serving obstructionist memo
WHERE ARE DJT TAX RETURNS
WHAT IS HE HIDING
WHY WILL HE NOT RELEASE THEM
3
“All the time they were playing the Queen never left off quarrelling with the other players, and shouting 'Off with his head!' or 'Off with her head!' Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and under sentence of execution.”
1
Trump and Nunes can collaborate all they want while they are sharing a jail cell.
1
Nunes is just putting “doubt” into the mix….his faux news is all that is needed to deflect the issue in the current era
There must be a tape somewhere of Nunes doing something untoward. I just can't see any other reason he would do what he is doing in the service of this administration. (Unless, of course, he is a Russian agent...)
1
Nunes is as corrupt as they come. He cares nothing for this country. He has repeatedly demonstrated the he believes the use of our government institutions is to protect the aggressive lawlessness of himself and his connected party members, and not for truth or justice. Try him for treason...apply the appropriate punishment. I'll be satisfied with that, only.
3
Don't tell me that Hillary didn't coordinate with the white house during the campaign! The left can try to destroy Nunes all they want but it's a sure thing Trump didn't get any white house help. The memo simply shows that Hillary and the democrats paid considerable $ for an unverified dossier that they intended to use against Trump all with the help of the FBI and the DOJ.
Even if your particular supposition is true, Ms. Clinton was a private citizen and she and the Administration were free to coordinate strategy, which has nothing at all to do with impeding an investigation. Nunes, on the other hand, is (nominally) a member of the Legislative Branch and as such is not legally entitled to pursue this type of collaboration, which by the way does involve criminal behaviors. Your note is long on talking points and entirely devoid of logic.
1
The White House coordinating with Clinton was legal. And the RNC hired Steele first, the DNC picked up where they left off. Please quote the portion of the memo that supports your claims.
1
His trial has been scheduled on November 6, 2018. Andrew Janz will be the prosecutor and the people of California 22nd District will be the jury.
3
The man looks perpetually haunted or hunted or both? What is compelling him to behave like those? What is hanging over his head?
1
Who is Devin Nunes? I wish the NYT would start at the beginning. Follow the money. This small time Fresno farmer made a highly unusual (for Americans) large, lucrative liquor distribution with Russia. The deal he's since removed from his website now calling it a mere exchange of a couple boxes of wine.
Replay and print the recording of the Republican's summer of 2016 meeting where Devin Nunes and Co. were caught laughing over Hillary and the hacks of the DNC and these Republicans pledged to Paul Ryan they'd remain silent even after Rep. McCarthy swore to God (twice) that Russia is paying Trump.
5
Far be it from me to defend a president who lies frequently and with ease, but Trump replied “You figure it out” when asked if he had lost faith in Rosenstein, not if he planned to fire him. Accuracy counts, especially if a misquote or exaggeration allows the WH to cry, “Fake news.”
All the article's picture of Nunes needs is him holding up a couple of Peace signs while stating "I Am Not A Crook!" and he would be the spitting image of old 'Tricky Dick' Nixon.
With just as much credibility and respect, as is due.
3
Why is the title in the form of a question?
2
"Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?"
***
Yes. He couldn't be more blatant if he said it outright.
2
There is definitely a festering airless flesh-eating bacterial infection that is spreading over the US, especially if you compare it to the prosperous fifties. And it is certainly a farce, if the first time around was history. What a bunch of tiki-torch jokers these kleptocrats are.
1
Article I, section 6 of the U.S. Constitution says, with respect to Senators and Representatives:
"They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place."
If Mueller determines that releasing memos warrants a felony indictment, does that eliminate the constitutional immunity in this section?
2
Donate to his opposition candidate. This guy needs to go.
The only reason that he's being so brazen is that he probably has a guarantee of a pardon from the man upstairs.
As Maddow says, watch this space.
2
I am reminded of what brought Joe McCarthy down. Not prosecution, but censure. If Mueller's report comes out after November (or shortly before, without leaving enough time for this Congress to act), then a new Congress could censure Nunes. If even a significant minority of the Republicans remaining in the House voted for that motion, Nunes would be out of the country's hair.
139
We in CA are actively seeking to defeat Nunes in the 2018 election, report or not. He is not serving his constituents well in any sense of the word.
4
Paul: we Californians promise to do our very best to ensure that censure is not necessary after Election Day, 2018.
4
I'll vote for that!
1
This is a case of obstruction from Nunes to Trump's refusal to release the Democratic memo that he says must be edited for security reasons. Since Trump refuses to read much of anything, I doubt if he's even read it.
One more case of the GOP putting party over country.
"Deep flaws in the memo." I've read the piece twice looking for a description of these alleged "flaws" and found not a word. I've also read expansive analyses of the memo in other publications and no one, not even Mr. Schiff, has pointed to any apparent falsehoods in this deeply troubling document. Rather than suggest some form of retribution for Mr. Nunes for releasing the document over the vehement objections of committee Democrats as well as the FBI and DOJ, why not focus on its contents?
It's easy to cherry-pick your facts and claim they mean whatever you need them to mean. How about if we focus on why the GOP can release its memo, but not the Democrats? Maybe, in the court of public opinion, we're seeing what the Republicans would do if they controlled the courts of law. "We can accuse you of whatever we want, and you can shut up!"
If you haven't noticed Trump could care less about precedent and norms. He bulldozes thru them daring anyone to stop him. And so far he's been successful. The boastful claims over the years about checks and balances are all hot air if the checkers and balancers are to afraid to do their jobs. To date that is the case.
1
Did Nunes obstruct justice? Is that a serious question? Questions like those are why so many moderate/independents like myself find themselves defending the almost indefensible and learning anew to loathe an increasingly anti-democratic, anti-due process, anti-free speech left. I really don't even care if Nunes or his staff did communicate with the WH. How would that effect anything? The WH had to review it anyway. Everything we read from rare non-partisan news sources and writers, shows us the obstruction has been on the other side, including within the investigation. Unless I hear Mueller address this convincingly, I can't put any faith in his findings without exceedingly certain proof.
May I ask Mr. Tribe - does endeavoring to stop a corrupt investigation created not to investigate a crime, but to try and create one, constitute obstruction? Especially if done by exercising legitimate and constitutionally protected duties? Let's hope not.
I rarely vote for either Ds or Rs anymore, and I have always been for minority control of at least one branch or house, but right now, based on the hysteria and "resistance" we face every day, I hope that somehow the Ds lose seats and the presidency, even if it means we continue to be governed by someone who shouldn't even be running a beauty pageant and Rs who seem to have no clue how to get anything done and even if I don't like many aspects of the administration. Because as bad as Trump is, the "resistance" is much worse.
1
"Endeavoring to stop an investigation, if done with corrupt intent, may constitute obstruction of justice. Plotting to assist such action may be conspiracy to obstruct justice."
That's entirely irrelevant, because the parties are acting publicly and with obvious political motivations. This OpEd is a failed attempt to criminalize politics.
I think the timeline of House Intel. Comm. activity refutes this hypothesis. Didn't they first try to subpoena the documents that led to the memo around September? An elaborate scheme to undermine Rosenstein back then would seem unlikely. It also seems unlikely that Trey Gowdy would be behind something like this.
1
None of this would be necessary had Trump released his tax returns like everyone else. If there were financial connections to Russia, Trump would not be President. If there were none, Trump would still be a vile human being, but it's not likely that there would be a probe.
1
Underlying all of this, Fox News has become a powerful enabler. The transition from a right-leaning news organization to a full-blown, state run propaganda / conspiracy theory / lie spewing, Trump defender at all cost outlet is in full view for all to see. Just today for example, Newt Gingrich is on Fox News spouting off about how HRC should be in jail due to long-debunked lies pertaining to Benghazi and the 2016 election. The host, Maria Bartiroma, is unquestioningly playing along. So much for the rule of law and objective reporting I guess. One day, when we look back on what went wrong with our democracy, I'm certain that a fair amount of blame will (and should) fall on Fox News.
6
People have a choice whether to listen to Fox or not. Sad truth is that a number of voters couldn't care less about the Constitution, law, justice or truth. They just want to "win". Trump and Nunes know this. So does Ryan, sadly, he provides scant leadership in the House beyond budget issues and tax cuts.
1
Well, the Republicans are constantly trying to get rid of all of the laws and regulations so that they can legally loot the country, but I guess that the next best thing is having laws that are never enforced.
3
"... if the House leadership cares about credible executive branch oversight"
Obviously they do not.
1
A little review, in summary: Again and again, all of this behavior also begs the question of why all the maneuvering that can protect Trump if there is no basis of his having any collusion with Russia to influence the "election." Also again, people have said that if there is nothing to it, why has a prosecutor even been needed in the first place? Oh, yeah, the Obama administration through the justice department found enough interference itself to impose sanctions on Russia. Then, of course, the remaining question would be about whether or not it had anything to do with Trump, who ended up not losing. Gee, I wonder? Nunes will be yet another moth who got too close to Trump's flame of multiple features of an untreated, dangerous mental disorder.
Mueller's office should interview each member of the House Intelligence Committee as well as others who have been accusing the FBI and the Special Counsel's office of wrongdoing. It will put them in a position of choosing to tell the truth or risk indictment for lying to investigators.
1
Nunes and his staff should be prosecuted for gas lighting the country at the expense of our national security institutions.
They are deliberately throwing up a smoke screen to give Fox & Friends an excuse to lie to viewers about Trump's Russia problem. It's a danger to democracy and ultimately national security if our institutions can be attacked -- not just for partisan purposes, but specifically to deceive.
The Trump administration apparently is doing nothing to protect the 2018 elections from Russian interference -- Tillerson says there's nothing we can do. Unbelievable. He's admitting we're not safe and saying resistance is futile.
We are in danger from a foreign enemy and our government is compromised at the highest level. When are we going to talk about treason and espionage in addition to obstruction?
2
Nunes is clearly obstructing justice. His frantic late night trips to the White House, his creative fiction writing under the guise of a memo from the intelligence committee, the removal of his security clearance all in attempt to provide cover so the President can fire the special prosecutor who is investigating him. How is this even a question?
264
"A Republican lawmaker from California has been reportedly operating his own news website.
Politico reported that “GOP memo author” Rep. Devin Nunes and his campaign were behind The California Republican, a website that calls itself a “media/news company” in its Facebook description and claims to have “the best of U.S., California and Central Valley news, sports and analysis.” According to Politico, however, the website was registered by Alex Tavlian of Sultana Media, which was paid $7,773 by the Nunes campaign for “advertising; digital advertising management.”
Tavlian told Politico he did not run the website and was not familiar with it.
The California Republican, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and was a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team, has been offline since the Politico report, but a version cached by Google contained the following disclaimer:
Paid for by the Devin Nunes Campaign Committee · FEC ID #C00370056
HUFPOST article today
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/devin-nunes-news-website-california...
Writing fiction isn't obstruction of justice. Suborning witnesses is. Find that, and you will have a case.
The entire GOP is obstructing justice. They want to keep control of both houses of congress and the presidency. The only way they can do this is to obstruct justice, any investigations that might bring criminal actions to light, and to re-open older ones that can make Clinton look bad.
12
Nunes is a very shady figure and at minimum he is obstructing justice - perverting the course of justice as the British call it. Since his constituents will not vote him out (or so it seems), I hope he goes out in handcuffs with the rest of the shady characters in this administration. The finding from Mr Mueller's investigation cannot come soon enough.
12
Rather than insuring transparency and accountability, he is hand waving and distracting like a Vegas magician.
Obstruction? You bet.
7
I am so tired of being governed by stunts, venality, disinformation and bad faith. What a demoralizing spectacle this administration continues to be.
13
Of course he is, Trump said jump, and Nunes asked how high
And to beat that, no one is doing anything about it. Nunes should be censured and kicked out of the House, but will probably become the GOPs 2020 nominee once Trump gets impeached
5
Devin Nunes' actions as head of the House Intelligence Committee have been questionable especially since he was a part of Trumps transition team. One could understand him wanting to protect a president he helped usher into office, but in that case, the right thing to do would have to recused himself from involvement in the Intelligence Committee. As it is, his actions in bringing forth this now infamous memo that proves very little about either the Steele Dossier (which had initially been commissioned by a group of Republicans), or that the dossier was the only evidence brought forth at the FISA hearings to survail Carter Page, who had been under the FBI's radar since 2013, seem very politically motivated. If there were White House staff who can place either Nunes or one his aides going to confer with the president, that might be evidence of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.
3
It rather matters on whom not what information is discovered.
The same perspective clearly is being applied to showing the public that information.
As a New Yorker I am dismayed that Representitive Peter King, whose politics I may have differences with but nevertheless consided an honorable guy, supported this Nunes memo "caper."
4
Speaker Ryan and the Republican House heavies are so far utterly indisposed to sanction Nunes in any meaningful way. The same goes for both houses of the GOP controlled Congress and the disastrous conduct of the occupant of the Oval Office.
4
I am hoping to wake up one morning and read the news of the next Mueller indictments, ones that include some information on the President so that it is finally on the record (not buried in some deep and inaccessible FBI or Justice department vault). I hope that Mueller is not waiting to have every i dotted though he needs to have the t in Trump crossed.
And Rachel Brand leaving the Justice Department is not getting enough press. She should have given 30 or 60 days notice, at least giving Mueller that window to make his decision, setting up another duck that needs to be knocked down before Trump can stop the investigation. Did you notice the big smile/smirk on Jeff Sessions face? Without anything to go on except my gut, I find it highly suspicious that Wal_Mart would throw her this once in a lifetime employment opportunity at this very moment in time. If Brand was thinking of her country (like Sally Yates for instance) she wouldn't have run out the door. There are many big companies that would give her a similar job when her work was done and this mess in Washington was settled.
Brand has chosen to step away at a critical point in these investigations. It will be interesting if she can hide away in the footnotes of history... Nunes on the other hand will be judged harshly as a stooge of President Trump, front and center. Nunes, Ryan & McConnell, the Three Stooges. If only three! Unfortunately America seems to have an unlimited supply...
5
Thank you to the writers for this analysis. Please keep writing and educating us on the laws continually broken by these Republicans.
3
Cannot wait until November 2018 when Democrats take over ALL of the Committees. It will be quite funny to see Republicans squirm as the are subpoenaed to answer questions that deserve answers. First to be invited: NUNES.
6
Despite Nunes's obvious conflict of interest and prior pledge of recusal, I doubt that he has to worry about obstruction based on a memo approved by his committee for release. You would have to indict the entire GOP - a partisan fantasy, for sure, but fantasy indeed.
1
I understood that Congressman Gowdy of South Carolina had performed the effort of reviewing the FISA court documentation on behalf of the Committee and Mr. Nunes as chairman and he has asserted that the Memo in question is not related to the Mueller probe but is focused on the warrant process and disclosures required to authorize surveillance of US Citizens. That may be the fig leaf protecting our real life Inspector Closeau.
4
Of course the Nunes memo is a shenanigan that does not stand up even within its own illogical inconsistencies. Nunes himself realized he had to sneak it out without scrutiny, although he may not have understood exactly how fatuous it is.
The Dems seem unable to get their vehicle out of the mud and back on the highway. Why can they not take Schiff’s clear statements and trumpet them? Where are their eloquent leaders? Where are their TV shorts? Why is there so little presence for good sense?
5
Our own Utah 2nd District Congressman, Chris Stewart, sits on the House Intelligence Committee. His behavior towards his Salt Lake City constituents suggests he is either actively colluding with Nunes to obstruct justice or is simply too ignorant and or naive and is merely a pawn. Regardless, he is unfit for public office.
8
"Such conduct could expose Mr. Nunes and his staff to liability for conspiracy to obstruct justice."
Oh, sure, it could, theoretically. But it will never happen, because every last Republican member of Congress is engaged in obstruction, too. So, what should be done to stop this charade? Bring them all up on charges?
Well, sure. That's fine by me. But it's not very practical. And there's no hope of any Trump impeachment being done, either, since not one of the Republicans in either house would support that. So, the only remedy is for Mueller's team to bring charges of obstruction and money laundering directly against Trump himself. That would be historic, certainly. But it is warranted, from the evidence already made public. And I would surmise that Mueller has tons of supporting evidence which is still private, too.
But if Mueller wants to do that, he better hurry up, because sure as shooting, Trump is about to fire Rosenstein, and install someone in that slot who would be yet another Trump toadie, like Mulvaney. And the question would then become, what then, Mr. Mueller?
And this entire situation goes to show how useless Jeff Sessions is. His recusal from the Russia investigation just handed the whole mess over to Trump himself to squash. This surely isn't the way the Founders envisioned America being run.
5
Yesterday Mick Mulvaney said Republicans had “paid a ransom” and accused the Democrats of increasing the debt! There isn’t a member of this administration who understands the nature of democracy. Their concept of “deal making” is telling the other party what they have to accept and resenting anything less. They use projection at every turn: accusing others of the very underhanded methods they have just employed. They open their mouths and lie or distort reality in ways that go beyond spin and directly into Constitutional violations of the spirit and the language of the law. The President’s own lawyers fear he cannot tell the truth in a courtroom (perhaps because he cannot remember or recognize it?). The members of the Cabinet are there to destroy the public nature of their agency’s working and to make them heel to a president who sees them as extensions of his own personal control, hence his need for “loyalty” to him and not to the Constitution or the people.
Nunes is but one of the Republican legislators who are enabling the destruction of the normal workings of the government. Both Ryan and McConnell through actions and words spit on the Constitution by daily deciding which of the rules of law they will follow and which they will not. Their fellow Party members are so lost in resentments and rigid ideology and fear of the Twitter that they go along in silence. Russia didn’t kill Democracy: greed, selfishness, lying and daily Constitutional violation did.
4
I have never seen a house member look more guilty or like they have something to hide. The Republican side of this house intelligence committee run by Mr. Nunes looks like a combination of the keystone Cops and Al Capone.
4
Am I on glue? It's OBVIOUS to anyone who can read that Nunes is obstructing justice. Trump is also blatantly obstructing justice, and Russia is invading our country, albeit cyberly.
Why are our elected officials not incensed by this? Why isn't our country?
8
At the very least Nunes has abused his power and violated his oath to uphold the Constitution. Mueller will likely answer all the questions.
1
The act of Robert Mueller calling in Nunes for questioning should cause quite a stir. Get Nunes under oath and on the record..
3
As long as Nunes can limit his visits for interviews to Fox News, he will be fine. His wild conspiracy theories have been sanctioned by Murdoch. The man is doing God's work in the eyes of right wingers and has become their new hero. God luck trying to get him on obstructing justice. Anyway Mueller has bigger fish to fry.
2
It's clear Nunes and his colleagues manufactured this memo for political points. Proving that the White House and, possibly, Hannity (given Mr. Hannity's relentless "deep state" rantings weeks before the memo, and Trump's proven communication with him) were involved in crafting the memo should not be that difficult to prove. Just have Mueller sit down with a few of the wide-eyed staffers who can't afford a lawyer and get him/her to sing.
1
We all know where this is heading. The memo, on surface, seeks to discredit a (politicized) FBI. The rationale...one FISA warrant. I would have one question for Nunes in all of this: Do you investigate, research, and report on ALL FISA warrants, and if no, why not?
2
I think "you figure that one out" is the equivalent of my teenaged nephew's reply "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you."
Translated, this means "I haven't thought about this topic any further than the opinion I just expressed." Or "I don't know."
Yes he is so stop beating around the bush. It is only a matter of time before someone close to the White House gives Nunes up to the MUELLER investigation.
Does any informed citizen believe that Mr. Nunes is acting in good faith in the interests of the rule of law? It could not be more transparent that he is not. If his Party continues to not restrain him, and to defend Trump at any cost, we will be truly in a constitutional crisis. And if Trump fires Mueller and successfully and cripples the investigation, we have become Venezuela.
This will be the final legacy of the Republican Party.
492
The problem the GOP has with Donald J. Trump is that the Donald has set himself up as too big to fail. An ego the size of Trump Tower with his wealth and freedom on the line, not to mention the GOP has tethered their fortunes to Trump. This strategy has worked for him in the past. I wonder if it will work again?
1
No, if Trump and the Repubs succeed, we will have become Germany 1942, replete with genocide (albeit to a wider spectrum of victims) as they gut the social safety net after unilaterally creating a huge deficit and using it as the excuse.
Remember Romney's "47%" remark: it implied 150 million fellow Americans were somehow "life unworthy of life." The "healthcare bills" proposed to strip healthcare from 22+ million fellow Americans. The non-funding of CHIP would strip it--and nutrition--from nine million poor American children.
So far as I'm concerned, and from Republican efforts to change Medicaid, today's GOP slogan should be "Work makes you free!" I remember that slogan--from the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Pity too many Americans never learned about it, or forgot.
10
No, but based on the comments here there are some people who believe they are well informed who believe this is all some liberal conspiracy. Unfortunately they are actually poorly informed and are getting their "facts" from very far right sources. Hopefully that base will shrink over time as the truth comes out.
7
Nunes should have been gone from this committee, and from Congress, months ago.
6
We may hope that this piece will echo throughout Washington and that the bloodhounds will take up Mr. Nunes's trail. His bizarre behavior over the past year has almost certainly included numerous violations of the law. If those transgressions came to light, it could restore some of faith in constitutional government that Americans have lost due to Trump's many assaults on our legal system.
5
This will be fascinating to watch. Obviously there is more to the story than we know today but two clear facts are indisputable. The first is that Nunes told the nation he recused himself from the Russia investigation. The second is that he never fulfilled his promise.
Why he was allowed to continue his involvement should be put to Speaker Paul Ryan. If he was allowed to continue, with Ryan's approval, then Ryan is as much to blame for this fiasco as is Nunes.
7
Choir boy Ryan? Mr. Blue Eyes - "I am just a humble servant"? Never going to happen. Would love to be a fly on the wall for his Sunday confession in church.
1
In reading some of the comments here, the Fox News crowd is pretty well convinced that this is still a giant "witch hunt." I guess it isn't the slam dunk that Benghazi was.
Still, we haven't seen Mueller's report. It is all well and good for Nunes to manufacture reports and try to buy Trump some time but when this investigation blows wide open, things tend to work a little too fast for the slow-witted people like Nunes. The conspirators turn on one another and in the great reckoning that will surely follow, they all walk off together in handcuffs.
This will not end well for Nunes. Gowdy had the sense to get out while the getting was good.
4
It is possible that Mr. Nunes tried to cover his tracks by further colluding with the White House regarding approval of the Democratic rebuttal memo. Could Nunes and the White House have had an agreement that Nunes' committee should recommend the Democratic rebuttal memo to counter charges of bias and appear even-handed, on the understanding that the White House would then decline to release it, after going through motions to evaluate?
1
Our occupations often require us to specialize in very narrow fields of study, but that does not diminish our interest in other topics. I deeply appreciate the NYT for soliciting and sharing the highly specialized expertise and opinions of others.
At the very least, Rep. Nunes appears to have forgotten that he is a member of the Legislative branch of our government, not the Executive. His activities as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee should therefore be totally independent of the White House. Instead, they appear to be coordinated with the White House. If the is true, the question is why? Why is Rep. Nunes putting loyalty to the Oval Office above his duty to the country and as a Congressional committee chair?
5
It might have been be easier for Mueller or a court to discount Nunes' latest "caper" (as Tribe et al. call it), had it not been for the first.
As it is, he has now given us not two hamfisted efforts to turn sows' ears into silk purses on Trump's behalf. In the first, he tried to convert the legal wiretapping of the former Russian Ambassador into a "wrongful unmasking of [the] American citizen" on the other end of the line and thus blow smoke on what that wiretap revealed--Michael Flynn's lie to the FBI about discussing sanctions with a key Russian representative. In the second he tried to transform the intelligence community's repeated wiretaps of Carter Page (identified as a possible Russian agent before Trump even announced his candidacy) into some kind of "dark state" abuse of a private citizen, thus tarring the entire community as nefarious and blowing smoke on the entire investigation.
The transparency of the White House involvement in the first--Nunes viewed the wiretap materials in a secure White House location--significantly substantiates the conclusion that the second was similarly orchestrated. And the lack of any but political motivation in either substantiates the notion of a conspiracy of corrupt intent. Nunes better be praying Trump does not fire Rosenstein and thus make their collective motive clear beyond cavil.
3
The article made a pretty clear case for obstruction. I'm thinking a skilled prosecutor would have no problems at all parsing that which is or isn't legislative action.
To my eye Nunes did this exact same thing in March 2017 and El Trumpo pounced upon it almost as if he had prior knowledge of the FISA court order ("Obama tapped my wires") which at that time he was alleging was focused on himself. When that sham was exposed they backed away from promoting it. It's clear now they just went bigger with the same scam working a little harder to hide the coordination between the WH and Nunes. Oh and that March 2017 sham was also an attempt to obstruct justice by creating a false proof that the investigation was not legitimate.
4
When Congressional oversight becomes Congressional interference in a federal investigation, that's obstruction, plain and simple.
3
That Trump supporters still, in the fact of an overwhelming public record of interference and obstruction of justice by and on behalf of the President, wave all this away is ample evidence of the need for in depth civics classes. Again.
That, along with impeachment and prosecution of the enables, would go a long way toward making America great again.
"Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?"
Of course he is.
But he doesn't care.
Trump promised him that if he gets indicted or convicted, Trump will just give him a Presidential Pardon.
So, no worries.
(Of course, anyone with a brain knows how reliable a Trump Promise is.)
1
Nunes is sharing the stage with 86 from "Get Smart". I can't help thinking he even looks like him as he bustles along, eyes darting about, making random statements, while we are wondering when the next shoe will drop. Is he obstructing justice? As for 86, no. I think he worked for our country. Maybe he switched sides and is working with Kaos?
3
Attempting to apply the law to those who write the law is more often than not a lesson in futility. There can be very little doubt as to the intent of Nune's actions. To imply that they exist as a result of partisan bias may be the understatement of the century. Modern day right wing congressional sleaze recognizes no value in pride or honor where the future of the party is concerned. If Trump goes down wealthcare will be close behind because along with Trump will also go those who supported his misaligned and devious efforts.
In other words in order to protect wealth care depravity has no boundaries.
1
What Nunes claims is oversight seems to focus SOLELY on targets of the Russian probes. Not credible
1
Nunes fails to remove himself from the Russian investigation contrary to his 4/2017 recusal. A factually dubious, cherry picked, pro Trump memo meant for the US public is authored by Nunes and staff and White House participation is left unclarified. The memo cast aspersions on the Mueller investigation. FBI and CIA vetting, briefing and input is denied. The release is passed on a party vote and approved by Trump who declares that it proves agency wrongdoing and undercuts the the legitimacy of the Mueller investigation. Publication of a Democratic response purporting to correct the memo's errors is held up by Trump.
Is any of this illegal? Is the abuse of Committee authority to lie to the public in the service of demeaning an ongoing investigation not a transgression? Even if it is clearly intended as a public relations intervention to obstruct justice?
For the sake of our increasingly fragile democracy let us hope that Congress does not have cart blanche to lie to advance a toxic constituency building exercise under legal scrutiny.
2
"If the House leadership cares about credible executive branch oversight . . ."
Are you kidding me? I have a one word answer for that, "Benghazi!"
The Republican House only cares about oversight of a Democratic executive. With Trump installed in the White House, not so much. All they want is to protect him, even to the extent of ignoring the meddling in our elections by a foreign adversary.
"Nothing to see here. Move along."
1
I think Devin Nunes is a shinning example of just how far the GOP is willing to go to obstruct justice in order to keep the status quo running. Nunes is so obvious in what he is doing that he's become a discredited joke and Trump’s personal House boy.
3
We are witnessing nothing less than the systematic dismantling of American democracy, something Republicans have shown great disdain for for quite a few years now.
2
We will know that Trump and his allies are closing in on total victory when they are able to close down or muzzle the free press. How dare these nosey investigative reporters start to reveal the truth about what is really going on in Washington DC?
1
Does Paul Ryan have the authority to remove Nunes from his leadership position? If so, he should do so immediately, since Nunes is obviously compromised and no longer credible.
1
Yes, Ryan does. By the way, when was Nunes ever credible?
Whether Nunes is obstructing justice or not distracts from the more critical and democracy-threatening issue: The president of the United States is obstructing justice, systematically and persistently. Could or should Nunes be impeached for inappropriate behavior and actions as member of Congress and chair of a Congressional committee? Sure, possibly, probably. But to what end? Distract from the more disturbing White House conduct? Replace him with an equally willing pawn of the White House administration.
Personally, I’d rather keep my eye on the prize - follow the money, to the highest levels of our government.
1
Jeff Sessions did the honorable thing and recused himself from the Trump Russian investigation though his actions may stem from the very hot water that plagues Nunes. Nunes can not claim that he is a separate agent from the White House while doing the President's dirty work. As agent of the House Intelligence Committee he is charged with getting at the truth of allegations rather than disrupting the investigation and releasing sensitive classified information that has only one purpose, to protect the President.
Devin Nunes is most likely a candidate for the AG or FBI Director replacement. He has to work hard to get it. And he does. I am sure he has already pleaded loyalty.
"Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?"
Is the Pope Catholic?
Are Conservative Republicans hypocrites on fiscal responsibility and deficits?
Does Donald Trump lie seemingly constantly?
Is Judge Roy Moore one creepy dude?
Seriously, while I appreciate the NYTs scholarship in articles like these, I also find articles like this to be of the "how many angels can fit on the head of a pin" in nature. Or, it is like watching the NFL referees trying to explain a play and whether or not what transpired met the definition a what is a catch. I am no legal scholar, but I know that Nunes whole purpose is to destroy the Mueller investigation regardless of any facts, which to most people is obstruction period. So, whether or not Nunes' actions fit the laws concerning whether or not he has run afoul of said obstruction laws does not change one iota what he and his partners in the Congress are trying to do.
1
YES.
It's about time that Republicans started worrying about their own liability in trying to bring down agencies pursuing justice for the country.
I have never been so sickened in my life by the behavior of politicians, and yes, I lived through Watergate.
443
I lived through Watergate too. As shocking as it was, checks and balances were still working then and have been up until this administration. I think this scandal is much worse than the Nixon scandal. Our Congress was interested in upholding the law then.
4
The very newspaper that published the Pentagon Papers argues here from the premise that was a criminal act, that Sen. Gravel's role in providing them was an unprivileged criminal act.
That is not what they said at the time, with the same shoe on the other foot. The NYT was quite pleased when that interpretation came to nought. Yet now it trumpets that as precedent.
3
Hi Mark.
Not sure if you noticed, but this is the Opinion section of the newspaper.
Nunes might be obstructing Justice. What concerns me is if oversight is obstructing justice you can make the argument that we don't have oversight. If we don't have oversight we certainly should be concerned about the civil liberties of US citizens. The FBI and Justice departments have been strengthened by both the FISA law and Patriot act. Without oversight we need to reconsider the power that these departments have over everyone.
If we take the Republican argument that the FBI and Justice department can run roughshod over a billionaire running for President of the USA. What does it say about their power over ordinary citizens and even none citizens?
On the other side as a progressive, I'm concerned that the Democrats are so interested in bringing down Trump (rightfully so I might add) that they are willing to give up oversight of these very powerful law enforcement agencies to do it.
We are in dangerous times...
18
I agree with everything except Trump being a billionaire. He owes more than he is worth and is currently paying the $25M fine to defrauded Trump "University" students. Why isn't this covered in the media everyday to remind Trump voters who they are supporting?
@HL,
You said, "If we don't have oversight we certainly should be concerned about the civil liberties of US citizens."
I would argue that the current ruling party doesn't care one whit about the civil liberties of anyone but their direct donors and the members of the donor class that support their cabal, and keeping that cabal in power whatever the cost.
Unfortunately the ruling party doesn't seem to realize that once they have outlived their usefulness to the donor class they will be relegated to the underclass, joining the rest of us mere mortals.
Not oversight.Overreach. Nunes carefully edited the report to support the WH, and he acted as a supporter of Trump - just as he did with the now infamous trip to the WH - not as the unbiased committee chair.
The way that Nunes is conducting himself makes me think that he has become another stooge for the Russians. I wouldn't be surprised if Dana Rohrabacher's, Trump's and the Republican's BFF there in Moscow has set up a retirement fund in some Swiss bank to reward Nunes for the work he is doing for the country.....and I'm not talking about the United States.
43
Let's add in Nunes's complicity in his Fake News that Obama wiretapped Trump -- and, while supposedly having been recused from running the House Intelligence Committee investigation, apparently exercised control over which witnesses would and wouldn't be called.
It's clear from Mr. Nunes's non-denial responses during the HIC meeting that his staff did, indeed, coordinate on the memo with the White House.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!"
Obstruction charges can't come soon enough!
55
I look at wire tapping of Trump tower to more generally be surveillance of Trump people including unmasking. If page communicated with a Trump campaign member was that captured? How about conversations with foreign abassadors(Flynn)? The bank server in Trump tower?
Since James Clapper's pre-Snowden testimony about mass data collection not occurring I realize we need to put raw data ahead of government claims.
Having read the Republican Memo, I look forward to the Democrat one. I am particularly interested if it was made chrystal clear to the court interested that:
1. HRC campaign and DNC funding ( not just a foot note mentioning politics).
2. That Steele was fired and if I understand correctly lied about leaking to the press.
3. The content of the cooperating article for Steele's dossier had come from Steele.
Independent of whatever else the Democrat memo shows, it is important those soliciting the Page Warrant and extensions made the above clear to the FISAC.
The explanation in this article combined with Nunes actions in communicating with the White House on House related investigatory materials appear to signal obstructive actions on Nunes part. His further actions to apparently impede the proper progress of the committee’s function after he was recused is another indicator of obstruction. If he also directed his staff to coordinate the memo writing with the White House, this is pretty clear evidence of involvement in obstruction. Nunes has forgotten the coequal role in Congress and appears to have made himself a pawn of a wishful potentate. Step up Congress and do your job! You swore to protect and defend the Constitution Nunes behavior is harmful to our constitution.
26
All roads lead back to Paul Ryan standing in the shadows for cover while supporting Nunes' actions.
Looks as though there must have been a lot of Congressional hands in the Russian cookie jar. The fact that they are clearly panicked about the fact that Page was wiretapped and are working so openly now to stop this investigation is evidence that this is one big "something burger".
As Mueller's team has moved quietly forward, the only thing that has changed since most of these Republicans gave their full-throated endorsement of Mueller is that more and more evidence has been uncovered and is pointing to a crime that is still in process.
2
Yesterday I happened to watch the darkest Twilight Zone episode, It's a Wonderful Life". Adapted from a Jerome Bixby short story, it tells about a small Ohio town which has been cut off from the rest of the world, all its inhabitants victims to the whims of a six years-old psychopath, who wants everyone to think good thoughts about himself, or else suffer terrible fates.
I had seen that episode before and marvelled at its bleak, hopeless view of the world. I understood it better yesterday - it was a perfect allegory of the Republican Party of today, whose only purpose is to allay the wrath of the six year-old leader, the President of these United States of America.
62
Devin Nunes walks like a felon, talks like a felon ,and acts like a felon. Therefore, in my estimation, Nunes is obstructing justice, and should be charged with a felony by the Special Prosecutor. He has done everything within his power to impede, divert, distract and obstruct the Mueller investigation. He has conducted himself as Trump's chief enabler and his behavior is as damaging to our democracy as former FBI agent and spy Robert Hanssen's behavior.
49
It’s a good thing that judges didn’t follow you legal methodology to render justice.
1
What difference will it make? Republicans, Fox News and the rest are unlikley to allow any prosecutions to go forward in the Trump criminal conspiracies, and even if they do, Trump will pardon everyone.
After all, when the Iran Contra conspirators were indicted, HW Bush pardoned everyone to save them, and himself, from prosecution and no one demanded accountability. In the age of Fox fake News and unbrideled Republican power, why would anything be different?
21
Yes.
And he has been for weeks, if not months.
10
This may be correct. But what underlies all of this is the fact that we as citizens could simply vote such people out of office. Most of us do not care if Nunes is prosecuted. We just want him to stop obstructing justice. And we need real legislators in office, working for the good of the country, not jerks looking for financial gain and for some sick power grab. Some of our fellow citizens should simply stop being lackeys of the cruel and mean-spirited flim-flam folks at FOX. Our government is not a "ratings" game or a sick rally of the angry. Sure, laws can save us. But shouldn't we save ourselves with some rational thinking, evidence gathering, and understanding of the choices we have? Vote, and get your friends and neighbors to vote. The vast majority of us (which includes many who do not usually vote) do not want a crooked dysfunctional government. It is our duty to make it right.
28
Agree and 2018 is critical since it is clear that they are working hard to ensure control even though they are fast becoming the minority by gerrymandering and allowing infiltration of our election systems.
1
A nice article, cute argument to pierce the immunity of Congressman Nunes and his gang but right now brutes are robbing us blind. What Trump and his ilk are doing is 'Machtergreifung'. He accumulates more and more power and the democratic institutions become subservient to him while we are watching. The Department of State, the EPA, Consumer Protection, Labor, the military, the FBI, our Intelligence services, everywhere is a hostile take-over. Public servants retire in droves because their life's work is trashed. There is a lust in the society to shake things up, to let this brute brake some dishes. That's why it is happening. Soon it will be a lust for blood.
19
So true. When one reads about how the Germans became brainwashed followers of Hitler and became participants in his atrocities - the parallels are stunning and very scary.
1
Nunes is clearly a Trump toady, but perhaps more. As a member of the transition team he would have close proximity to the activities of Flynn, Manafort and others creatures. What is his involvement with the Russian matter? Is he protecting Trump, or himself as well? Many of us believe he should be moved to target of the Mueller investigation. Is Ryan a facilitator? Is he obstructing justice? Imagine Democrats in the same position. Republicans would be calling for expulsion from the House. As was said about the Cavaliers' trades last week: They are clearing the air by blowing up the building? E tu Nues?
15
Make false accusations, if not try perjury, if not "obstruction of justice." Rinse, spin, repeat.
12
Odd. When I read this, I heard Hannity's voice in my head.
Perhaps time to step away from the 'National Enquirer' news network.
2
The fact of the matter is that Nunes is a Trump lap dog and is oblivious to the depths that he is involved with the seriousness of his actions. These "tea party" Republicans have only one thing in mind, and that is to destroy our democracy.
16
Oh no, Nunes is not obstructing justice. The entire GOP is.
35
The Attorney General of the state of California should launch an investigation into Nunes. Because we know that no one in the Trump administration will.
13
Nunes need not worry. He will prevail on a 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court and he and his merry band of Trumpsters will carry on.
5
As long as the Democrats keep dwelling on the memo, they will not learn the lesson of Watergate. By focusing on the scandal, they deflected from the catastrophic loss of the 72 election. Then came Reagan, then they lost the Senate, then the house.
The Russians spent $50k-$200k. Hillary and her cohort spent over $1B. And the so called party of the centre left lost the working class vote to a so called billionaire and is uncompetitive in farm and mining country.
76
The difference in 1972 Democrats were still being blamed for the War in Vietnam and the Democrats were in the process of losing the "solid South" due to their championing of civil rights.
3
We got Reagan because the Democrats, being Democrats, elected the weakest President of the modern era---Jimmy Carter. Like Hannibal, the Democrats knew how to win a battle, but not how to use it. The field was theirs in 1976: and they dithered, they hemmed and hawed, their agenda went nowhere because they didn't know where to go, unless led by disparate interests---Bella Abzug here, Sierra Club there, ERA and 55 MPH limits, hostages in Iran and inflation at home. What great idea, what unifying theme, did Carter and the Democrats proffer? Gas lines and Desert One?
Of course Reagan won, with a soft-focus lens of rural sunsets, flags on the porch, Main Street parades.
And the Democrats will do it again---watch. The populist surge will put them back in power---and Ms. Peolsi will abandon them as soon as she picks up her gavel, as she did in 2008.
2
And how much did trump, the GOP, Koch Brothers, Adelman, etc spend?
19
Adam Schiff, please distribute this editorial to every staffer who serves the House Intelligence Committee. It should be required reading and I would imagine that it might give more than one person a reason to stop and think about their role and responsibilities.
More broadly, I suspect it is a redux of what actually occurred during the Trump campaign. Dirty tricks and disinformation, planned and executed by dimwits. Mike Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Don Jr., and Jared, to name a few of the prominent players. Devin, the dairy farmer turned Inspector Clouseau, is just the latest example of this. The mantra is defend Donald, even if you have to sell your soul. And then when all the hijinks come to light, feign innocence by saying you were overwhelmed, inexperienced, acting under orders. Then wait to be derided as the low level coffee boy unknown to all, I guess.
I have concluded that Paul Ryan is part and parcel of the obstruction of justice, given his failure to address the Nunes antics, which have been ongoing for over a year. I for one, hope that the Freedom caucus takes him down. He needs to go.
40
I agree but I'd like to see a democrat replace him. My feeling though is that he will not seek reelection.
Easy enough to see Nunes doing his best to give cover for Trump,but nigh on impossible to prove obstruction. His staff may have done something,but he will have no problem throwing them under the bus. The question still remains as to what the Trump campaign people were doing meeting the Russians?
10
Nunes is a known White House stooge. The Nunes memo episode smacked of political artifice and ill intent. The Mueller team is right and obligated to investigate the whole episode to determine obstruction of justice and other breaches.
24
What is interesting to me is that Trey Gowdy has publicly admitted he helped in the drafting of the Nunes Memo.
Yet within days of its release Gowdy and one other Republican publicly stated the memo was meaningless vis a vis Mueller's investigations.
By all accounts, Gowdy is a very smart lawyer so what prompted his disavowal? Why distance himself from it?
Perhaps, the same thoughts occurred to him as have to Eisen, Frederickson, and Tribe?
"O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."
18
This is but a single element in the now obvious clash of rule of law, versus authoritarianism.
And it is happening before a deeply divided, therefore paralyzed, American public.
412
With every boneheaded move the authoritarians make, the public becomes less divided and more active.
2
This is what a slide into dictatorship looks like.
1
The big fat question hanging out there is will the resounding majority of voters hand the GOP it's pink slip in 2018 and 2020? Are there enough to save their country and democracy? We will find out this November.
It's not a stretch to suggest that the Speaker himself is also implicated in this conspiracy. The fact that he expressly told Republicans not to try to draw a connection with Mueller's investigation (link below) was such a thinly veiled attempt to allow members of the GOP plausible deniability: they can simply point to their public statements that they never said there was a connection, while the implication -- which they knew Fox News would run with -- was that the Memo directly undermines Mueller's investigation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/us/politics/secret-memo-mueller-russi...
10
I would think the question of obstruction on the part of Nunes would be directly related to the answer to the question: Did Donald Trump, or someone representing Donald Trump in the White House 'suggest' or directly ask Nunes to more directly intervene in subverting the investigation. Trump has apparently asked some in congress to intervene over the past year. If Trump asked Nunes to do so, and it resulted in the now infamous memo being released in attempt to justify a Mueller termination; at the very least Nunes is a co-conspirator in obstruction. One can only hope Mueller is investigating this aspect of suspected obstruction vigorously.
10
Again, Mueller has no more adavantage over a sitting Congressman than a sitting Congressman has over Mueller. If we want to defeat anti-democrats and Fascist nationalists and boodling opportunists we have to attack their values and their propaganda. All the lying we've seen from "our betters" in Congress and the White House must be attacked. It's not just Trump and Nunes, it's a whole lot of billionaires, threatened whites, gun freaks and misogynists who aim to undo civilized, just and functional government.
1
Certainly Mr Nunes is colluding with the Trumpsters to de-legitimize the Mueller investigation.
The important question is "why."
The implicit answer is that Nunes is compromised by either Trump or by the Russians who hold something over him. Whether that "something" is for past realities or for future promises is not clear.
Follow the money. It worked before and my guess is that it is working now.
19
Both Nunes and Trump fly too close to the sun. And Ryan is fully lax in his responsibilities by allowing Nunes to continue on the committee in any way, shape or form.
14
Ryan is even more openly corrupt. He was paid 13 days after passing the Tax Scam through the house by Elizabeth and Charles Koch $247K each. The number seems odd to me like it's either the rest of the payment or has some significance for regulatory reasons.
2
This analysis implicitly exposes why Trump is stacking the court system with right-wing justices at a rapid pace. G.O.P. leaders and Trump have very likely discerned that with a stacked court system, legal interpretations can be pushed 20, 30, maybe 50% out of any grey middle ground and into an authoritarian red. Neil McGill Gorsuch being on the Supreme Court was a coup for Mitch McConnell and Chief Justice John Roberts. Justice Roberts was highly remiss in failing to write an open letter to Senator McConnell demanding a full bench of 9 justices, rather than compromising justice in several cases by limping along with 8 SC judges for a year because McConnell refused to act on President Obama's legitimate nomination of Merrick Brian Garland. Nunes and his staff already have little to fear in the current circumstances.
In my view, Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan, and probably many others in the top-tier Republican "family," as Ryan referred to it, already may be guilty of misprision of treason, which is committed by someone who knows that a treason is committed but does not report it to a proper authority. There can be little doubt that people like Nunes are fully aware of obstruction of justice with the Trump administration. Roberts and Gorsuch and Alito and Thomas will never prosecute any of this.
7
The republicans have been stacking the courts since reagan. It is part of their plan to capture all 3 branches of government so they can impose what they want just as the wealthy did prior to the late 19th century.
2
Great point, especially given the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United that protected corporation campaign donations as free speech and opened the firehose for dirty money. That historic decision marked the day that our democracy was put on life-support.
2
Excellent piece. Substantive. The issues raised belong in investigative reporting, say, news. [I can't believe little birdie tweets make the news, when there are elephants to be herded.]
8
Asking if Nunes has been obstructing justice is like asking if there is any water in the ocean. It is a rhetorical question because of the mountain of evidence that supports a finding that he has been doing everything he can to obstruct justice.
23
How can Nunes, who worked on Trump’s transition committee and who was apparently in daily contact with General Flynn prior to his firing, serve as Chairman of the HPSCI to investigate his own compatriots and perhaps his own role? We didn’t he recuse? Why didn’t Ryan demand that he do so? Why therefore are we to believe anything he says in this matter?
17
The answer to your headline is YES, Nunes is obstructing justice and many House Republicans are also obstructing justice. Putin's hackers don't have to work very hard to disrupt our democracy because the GOP is doing it for them. By attacking the FBI and Justice Department, by complaining about the surveillance of a Russian agent, by branding real news as "fake news" and by trying to derail the Mueller investigation, Republicans have given the Kremlin more effective "active measures" than Putin ever dreamed of. Trump's enablers have not only allowed him to ignore the Russian sanctions they voted for last year, they have done nothing -- I repeat, nothing -- to safeguard our elections from further Russian meddling. If that's not treason, what is.
17
If the Mueller investigation does not indirectly result in Trump and Pence being removed from power, do we really believe that their Justice Department will actually investigate anything related to any of their corrupt cohorts like Nunes? Only if they want one of them to take the fall.
If Trump and Pence survive they will consolidate their control over the intelligence and investigative arms of the federal government and only their opponents will be subject to inquiry and exposure. Coupled with constitutional control over the military and you have the trifecta of complete power. As David Frum of The Atlantic so eloquently cited in his essay "How to Build an Autocracy", any mechanism of checks and balances will effectively end. Congress will be neutered out of fear of the "kompromat" regime and individual reprisal, even more so than now. And the Courts can do nothing without evidence and prosecutors willing to bring a case. At that point only a military coup de' etat will stop the social media dictator in chief.
9
It's clear that there is a conspiracy to obstruct the Mueller investigation led by the president of United States. Devin Nunes is clearly a participant in the conspiracy. Paul Ryan has the power to put a stop to Nunes but instead he and other congressional Republicans have been enablers. I believe there is also a second related conspiracy to derail the investigation into Russian interference in our election with the criminal objective of clearing the way for continued interference in the November midterms. The weak Republican response to Russian interference in the 2016 election tells me that they are secretly overjoyed with the result and they know they will need Russia's help again to blunt the coming voter backlash in November. The rule of law in United States is hanging by a very slim thread and there is a good chance that most or all of this criminal activity will go unpunished.
18
Is Nunes obstructing Justice? The answer is a resounding YES! Hopefully he will be ensnared in the Mueller investigation.
16
Yes! Mr. Nunes' actions have long had the noxious odor of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Corrupt intent underlies all his efforts starting early on in the administration when, instead of conferring with his committee colleagues (Republican and Democrat), the man scurried over to the WH under cover of darkness to huddle with WH operatives. He never left the Trump transition team. That someone who had been on that team even chairs a Congressional committee is very odd even if there were no Mueller investigation, to the extent the arrangement detracts from the separation of powers. And Mr. Nunes' consistent behavior as a Trump toady serves to underscore that oddity. If Mr. Mueller's team is now, as it should, also looking into Mr. Nunes and his staff, it is well- and long-deserved. Lock him up!
10
Robert Mueller’s "obstruction of justice investigation"? I thought Mueller's investigation was to see if Trump conspired with Putin to fix the 2016 election? Apparently since EVERYONE ON THE PLANET now knows that didn't happen, we're changing the purpose of Muller's investigation?
I'll let you in a on a big secret, when Mueller comes out and says Trump obstructed justice, but that he found no evidence of any conspiracy between Trump and Putin, the American electorate is going to (a) tell Mueller to go pound salt, because if there was no collusion then Trump's efforts were to stop a partisan witch hunt, and rightfully so, and (b) turn on the far left for wasting all of this time and making Trump's job much harder than it had to be, putting us all at risk, over false claims fabricated by the DNC. Then the Democrats are going to lose, lose, lose for a very long time.
5
Mueller's charge is to follow the evidence where it leads. It leads straight from conspiring with Russia to obstruction of justice by Trump and his cabal. Trump admitted on national TV that he fired Comey in order to halt his investigation of Russia's participation in the 2016 election. He then met with Russians in the Oval Office, with no aides present, and told them he took care of the "Russia thing". Every action taken by him, or on his behalf, since then on this issue has been to discredit, deflect and distract. Those who have noting to hide, hide noting.
Obstruction of justice is sufficient, even without the conspiracy. Are you old enough to remember Watergate? From what I've seen thus far I would say that both charges will be proven, but one can certainly stand without the other. Additionally, there could be a third prong to Mueller's investigation.
1
Hey, I'm on the planet, and I don't know that Trump didn't conspire with the Russians to fix the election. The investigation is still ongoing. And even if Mueller doesn't find evidence Trump personally conspired with Putin, it's becoming pretty clear members of his family and others in his campaign did.
3
Sorry when did EVERYONE ON THE PLANET find out the election hacking didn't happen? Because that's about the exact opposite of the general consensus. Also if you can't understand how investigating a member of the Trump transition team is directly related to investigating Trump for obstruction of justice you really nee some help. Or some education. Or to just stop eating paste.
Also randomly capitalizing words in the middle of a sentence is weird and childish.
The first step is for Californians to vote Nunes out of office in November.
Someone else can protect their water. The November election is a much closer and faster way to throw Nunes out on his ear than any legal proceedings about obstruction of justice. He can go to prison after he loses his election.
First things first.
10
If Nunes keeps his position as head of the committee, Paul Ryan should be "impeached " for dereliction of duty for not removing him and possibly calling for censure.
14
Nunes and Republicans supporting him are doing Trump’s bidding so openly that I don’t think they are concerned about obstruction of justice scenario at all. Even if they are indicted they won’t abide by the ruling. That’s how bad this has gotten.
They are all ‘in your face’
Reminds of the movie ‘ Catch me if you can’
4
If Nunes knew that his committee's staff was working with the Trump Administration to concoct false statements designed to impede or discredit the Mueller investigation, then he's guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
It is really that simple.
And, everyone in the Trump Administration who assisted in concocting false statements is equally guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
It boils down to the analogous First Amendment rule that the expression of opinion is protected, but a knowingly false statement of material fact is not.
And, our preeminent law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, has already established probable cause when it issued an official statement saying, it “has grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
14
It's good to see a controversial topic such as this one addressed by such legal titans as Eisen, Fredrickson and Tribe.
It would be interesting to have them comment on the limits of the term "treason" as defined under the Constitution in the present situation. In an age where direct war between major powers is rare, but proxy war and cyber attacks are the primary means of conflict, is state-sponsored, outcome-targeted interference in our election an act of war, committed by enemies of the United States? And if it is, would Americans colluding with such attackers to achieve that outcome be committing treason under the Constitution?
9
It seems that Nunes should have no standing whatsoever. He recused himself from this matter long ago. Shouldn't Paul Ryan require Nunes to stay out of any consideration of this investigation? How is this different from the Joseph McCarthy travesty in the "50". What Nunes is doing is clearly damaging to this country; couldn't decent congressman stop him?
5
In April 2017 Devin Nunes was forced to recuse himself from the House investigation of Russian interference in the Presidential Election. He clearly collaborated with the White House. How is it that he resumed his chair only to become embroiled once again in a charge of collaborating with the White House in an attempt to undermine the Mueller investigation. Have not we the people and the House of Representatives had enough of Mr. Nunes? Is it not time for him to step down permanently from leadership of the sensitive House Intelligence Committee, which for years has been an example of non-partisanship?
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He is being protected by Ryan, apparently. The Republicans appear to be protecting the flow of Russian money into their coffers via the NRA
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html
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Republicans don't work that way - morality it turns out, is not really their thing, and so we have Trump, and his crazy family and their nepotism, Nunes, Ryan (debt is killing us when not in power - okay now we are power, lets spend and give tax breaks, and the debt be damned...), Flynn, Porter, Bannon, and on and on....
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Remember, Mr. Raps, that the House Ethics Committee cleared Representative Nunes of all charges that were leveled against him.
That action clearly suggests that the complaints made were made for political purposes, and were, themselves, an attempt to obstruct the legitimate investigation of an important matter.
And since we have now learned that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, aided and abetted by known political dirty-tricksters, those complaints were nothing more than pathetic attempts by political hacks to evade having the truth come out.
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“orchestrating” rather than “legislating”
So much in the current political atmosphere between GOP House collaborators and the Trump White House seems to turn on “improper relationships” - ones that the Constitution would frown on, ones that flout Separation of Powers and seem more aligned with Trumpian expectations of Loyalty to him, rather than Loyalty to the Constitution.
Inability to draw boundaries is how I would phrase it. And we see these boundary violations all over the place in this administration. Whether “romantic relationships” among White House staff or self-dealing or nepotism or the apparent “orchestrating” between Nunes and Trump via staff. It’s part of the cancer we see on this presidency. And it puts our Republic at risk.
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Trump allows the first memo because it is something he likes.
Denies the second.
Sounds like Trump is obstructing.
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Again.
Devin Nunes' intent was pretty clear even if his actions don't technically constitute a criminal act. The strange thing to me though is the poor handling of both the document's release and the oddly off-foot response to the resulting fallout. I'm not sure how anyone could fail see how the document was intentionally designed to establish grounds for Rod Rosenstein's termination. The fact that the argument was so poorly established and easily refuted makes the decision to release the document and hype the publication even more bizarre. The memo has Trump written all over it.
In which case, why wouldn't Nunes prepare an answer to the first question every reporter is going to ask: What did the White House have to do with this? As we've learned time and again under the Trump administration, lying to the press isn't illegal. Nunes could have flat out lied and said there was no communication. At the very least, he could have provided a misdirecting answer like "the House Intelligence Committee operates independently of the executive branch." That probably wouldn't have dissuaded Mueller's interest in the subject but at least Nunes would still control the public perception.
I won't even touch on Trump's decision to withhold the democratic rebuttal. You have to assume Trump's legal team was not involved in any of these decisions. This is another instance where blundering incompetence provides the most reasonable explanation.
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Dunes did not need to coordinate with Whit House to obstruct justice(it just makes case easier). Nunes, and for that matter Fox News which led the fake campaign to drum up interest and the release of the Memo, can be guilty of obstruction if they were attempting to hinder justice(getting the investigation terminated or weakened) for their own reasons(keeping a Republican in the White House)
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If Trump released the Democrats Memo maybe it would clear up these questions The fact that Trump did not do that adds to the appearance of Obstruction of Justice by Nunes and staff and the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee. The Republicans voted to release the Democrats memo knowing that Trump would not release it.
Maybe someone will be brave enough to leak the Democrats memo. That would give everyone something to ponder. Every day gets curiouser and curiouser.
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It's pretty clear that Nunes has completely abdicated his responsibility as the Head of the House Intel committee and is acting as a water boy for the White House.
He should have stayed recused from this sham of an investigation.
Now Nunes has started his own news site. You cannot make this stuff up.
Whether or not Nunes is obstructing justice as this article posits I'll leave up to Bob mueller and his team.
The GOP proves nearly every cycle that they are incapable of governing.
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Ideally, members of congress shouldn't be able to hide behind arcane rules to get away with actions that would probably be criminal if the average citizen were doing them.
Then Devin Nunes' and Kashyap Patel's conviction for obstruction would be a slam dunk.
So would other congressmen who conspired with them to discredit the FBI and DoJ in order to try to save Trump.
Jeb Magruder served 7 months in prison for nothing other than obstruction; that gives me hope that maybe justice will be served.
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Nunes colluding with Trump to undermine America’s democratic process is part of an increasingly common Republican theme.
Hurry, be quick; investigate Nunes, while we still can.
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If Trump makes a move against Rosenstein or Mueller prior to the election, there will be a great turnover. He may wait until after. Of course, Mueller may have completed his job by then. What disturbs me the most is Trump's failure to take his oath of office seriously, to protect and defend the Constitution. He is spending all his effort defending himself and less than zero defending the country. Russia continues its covert actions while Trump doesn't enforce sanctions enacted by Congress. He is a threat to this country because he is so self-centered that he doesn't see the interests of the United States as separate from his personal interests.
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The problem is, Trump thinks he is the State, in the same way despotic monarchs or dictators do....
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You seriously thought that an oath meant something to Donald Trump??
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How quaint a take on the Trump presidency, Rob. It would all make sense if you put a different lens on your camera: Trump, in hock to Russian oligarchs and cultivated, with or without his knowledge, as a Russian intelligence asset, is easily manipulated by his mental illness, being a mixed-type but mostly narcissistic personality disorder. Since the crocodile's tick-tock has haunted Trump since early in his presidency, eluding it is his most fundamental motive. He cannot--even if he wanted to--act in the interests of the United States unless they coincide with his personal interests. Since Russia is clearly a hostile power and there is no doubt in any rational person's mind that they are actively trying to undermine our government and leadership role in the community of national, Trump's personal interests and and interests of the country are fundamentally at odds. Since he is pathologically unable to take any action that does not garner to himself money, power, sex or adulation, he is unable to act in the interests of this country.
And that makes him a traitor.
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Ideology is probably not Nunes' sole motivation. If you get my drift. Nor will anybody in authority investigate, let alone prosecute - no matter what crimes have been - or will be - committed by Team Nunes-Ryan-Trump.
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Why has there been no discussion of Nunes' interaction with the White House and the distribution of a political "memo" over the objections of the FBI and DOJ, despite having "recused" himself. Such devious actions should have prompted Speaker Ryan to remove him as Chair of the Intelligence Committee.
Besides Nunes, AG Sessions has violated his recusal from the Russia Investigation with statements to Fox News last June, as well as insidiously inserting himself into investigations of Uranium One and the Clinton Foundation, as acknowledged in a letter from assistant AG Stephen Boyd to House Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte on 17 November 2017.
Such violations of recusal beg the question of what the GOP response would be if it had been a Hillary Clinton AG appointee and a Democratic committee chair obstructing an investigation of her campaign being assisted by a foreign adversary's intelligence agencies.
The double standards of the Administration, as well as the Republican Party as a whole, illustrate the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of both in their denials of their hypocrisy.
This is no longer the Nation I grew up in. The modern GOP is not the same party that elected Eisenhower, and assisted in determining that Nixon, Mitchell, Haldeman, Erlichman, et. al. had undermined the Constitution and obstructed justice.
The modern Republican Party spawned by a Fake News Network, the Mercers, and the Kochs, with assistance from Putin's FSB and GRU, is a danger to our Republic.
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It is high time that questions be raised re Nunes' integrity and character. It is obvious that he is diligently coordinating with the White House in its efforts to discredit not only the FBI at large and Mr. Mueller but also the Department of Justice. With each movement of this man, the silence of Speaker Ryan, and the vile spewing from Trump's mouth relentlessly, the thinking public is awakening to the corruption of our administration. Nunes is but one supporting actor in this horror film now playing on the national screen.
Nunes wants recognition? Well, he is getting it, his time in the spot light. This little man is desperate for fame, albeit infamously. He, too, has an agenda and perhaps something to hide. Whereas his constituents in his CA district may "shrug their shoulders", the majority in our state are horrified by this creature.
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Another attempt to bring down the government by "gossip.
Is it possible that this politically motivated onslaught by the left coupled with the willing participation and support of most media will succeed? Or will the Dems again throw away any chance to be considered worthy of governance and be crushed at the ballot box again?
Stay tuned!
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Is it an attempt by the left to bring down the government with gossip, or, to point out the foibles and failings of those who are to act in our behalf.
Is it “gossip” when there is evidence of wrongdoing that has been exposed to the light of day in reputable media?
If the present administration, and some of our elected legislators fall, it will be by their actions as reported by a free press.
Lastly, you question if the Democrats are worthy of governance. Given the actions of some members of Congress I offer that governance by any political party with the exception of the GOP would be a welcome change given how these members grovel at the feet of a dysfunctional “president”.
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You mean like the Reps are governing by destroying the government?
I beg you.
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What is politically motivated? The Nunes memo or the Democrats response? Do you not think the Nunes memo is politically motivated?
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Devin Nunes has been running interference for the president since Robert Mueller's investigation began. After House Intelligence Committee meetings with Democrats last spring, Nunes dashed over to the White House more than once to give the president a heads-up and the latest dope on the ongoing probe before an ethics investigation forced him to recuse himself, "temporarily", he said. Today, he's back on the job and riding shotgun on the president's behalf.
Nunes isn't working for the people of his California district who elected him to serve in Congress, he's leading the charge against the Mueller investigation. And, to hear him tell it, he's not done yet. Nunes is determined to blame the Obama administration for anything he can find. He alone believed the president's lie about his wires being tapped and spared no expense to investigate that matter.
It sure looks like the House Committee Chairman is blocking and tackling for the president. A fair question is just how far would he go to take a hit for the Chief Executive. As for obstruction justice, Nunes will just say "prove it!"
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Where have the House and Senate Ethics committees been the last year and change?
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If the legal arguments of this opinion piece are valid, it brings into focus the strategy of Trump and the Republicans to pepper the judiciary with persons, several of whom have been shown to be highly unqualified, who will rule in favor of them in any forthcoming court challenges. America’s rule of law will morph into a system of Kangaroo Courts, which will slowly undermine one of the key foundations of our democratic system of government.
Mr. Nunes is already forsaking his sworn responsibility to defend the Constitution in his role as an elected legislator by being a blatant shill to Trump, and not serving to support the role of Congress as a check on unbridled presidential power as the Founding Fathers intended. I can think of few things as un-American as that. But it will make little difference if obstruction charges are brought against this cabal if our judiciary benches are filled with Trump sycophants who render our laws, and our sense of justice and decency, irrelevant.
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When will Nunes and his ilk be held accountable for lying to the public? The FCC should have pulled Fox news license long ago or at the very least barred them from using any association with the word news. It is beyond Freedom of Speech since it perpetuates propaganda and lies in which Nunes and others like him can influence the public into believing lies are facts. This has created an irreparable divide in the country and also introduced mean spirited discourse into the national language. I'm sick and tired of reading about loopholes in the system that can protect Nunes's actions and the President's while ordinary citizens are held to a higher standard. No question he obstructed justice so did the members of Congress who jumped on the bandwagon. The purpose of every Cabinet has been dismantled by executive orders, interference in the electoral process by Russia is ignored, tax cuts are a sham. It is like living in the death rasps of our country, the air is polluted when they exhale and we in turn are suffocating by lies, propaganda and obstruction of justice.
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THE TRUMP GANG WAS ALLEGEDLY OFFERED A HUGE BRIBE FROM ROSNEFT TO LIFT THE SANCTIONS
(STEELE DOSSIER p. 30)
DON'T YOU THINK THE FBI SHOULD FOLLOW UP ON THIS TIP? PUBLIC CORRUPTION IS THE FBI'S "FIRST PRIORITY."
The Nunes Memo is an attempt to discredit tips from the Trump Dossier submitted to the FISC so evidence developed during surveillance can't be used in court.
On page 30, we read that Rosneft allegedly offered Trump's emissary Carter Page a bribe. In exchange, Trump would lift the sanctions. If sanctions are lifted, Rosneft stock soars. The stalled Rosneft-Exxon project is worth an estimated half a trillion dollars. The Trump Gang was allegedly offered 19% of the brokerage fee on the privatization.
Trump is not enforcing the sanctions: he is keeping his word to Putin. Next, Nunes is going to purge the State Department, so perhaps he will go after officials who monitor the sanctions on Putin's oligarchs. Sanctions were imposed on Russia for killing Magnitsky, invading Ukraine, and interfering with the 2016 election.
Nunes is orchestrating a cover-up of the underlying crime that may motivate Trump's obstructions by making sure that evidence developed during surveillance from the tips in the dossier (p.30) is considered "fruit of the poisoned tree" and can't be used in court.
The FBI must FBI follow up the tip on page 30 so they can find out if the tip is true.
Trump and his toady Nunes are purging our security agencies and outsourcing our foreign policy to Putin.
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Well said!!
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It seems pretty obvious that Trump's stooge Nunes has been obstructing justice since this whole investigation started. He runs to the White House consistently, forgetting the separation of powers part of our government. I wonder what position in Trump's ever changing staff/cabinet Nunes is looking at for his next job.
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Well, I should have seen this coming. Liberal and Democrats have determined that any obstacle in the way of frog-marching Trump to impeachment is now "obstructing justice." They are even willing to criminalize congressional oversight of the FBI and Justice Department. I doubt such an approach will pass Constitutional muster.
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Nunes is a toad. If he did coordinate with the White House, we'll need a bigger drain for the swamp.
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If 'oversight' of the FBI and Justice is what Nunes and his staff were actually doing, I'd have no problem with it.
However, his 'oversight' doesn't involve the entire committee, even so far as simply informing democrats what he's been doing for months, much less accepting their input. Even his fellow republicans on the committee are scrambling over each other to distance themselves from his actions.
As for frog marching trump to impeachment, that depends more on the outcome of the midterms (the voice of the voters at the ballot box. remember the voters?) more than the Mueller investigation.
Re-read your Constitution. Mueller doesn't have the power to impeach, only the House does.
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The question is what did Nunes know and when did he know it? Remember the midnight run? What did the WH show him that night that made him willing to do and say anything in defense of Trump? Is Devin actually on Mueller's target list? He was, after all, on the transition team. Devin being guilty of obstruction actually makes sense of his actions past and present. How about obstruction and conspiracy in the Russian matter?
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I can only believe the president's Daily "Executive Time" includes a reminder of his Powers of Pardon. Remember DJT is president and we aren't. So what who did or knew when doesn't matter.
I don't have the training to determine if he meets the legal criteria for obstruction of justice but I can certainly attest to the fact that he is guilty of woefully abusing his "authority" as Chairman in what was always intended as a "bipartisan" committee.
He is certainly guilty of attempting to deceive the American public. If everything he did was on the up and up, why does so much of what he does take place under shadows and misdirection?
Need I also mention that he has destroyed the House Intelligence Committee? Whatever power that committee had in the past has been ceded to the White House. It does not belong there.
Given what we suspect as his motives and if the Special Counsel's investigation gets impeded or canceled, we should demand that a criminal investigation be opened on Devin Nunes.
People are not just blasting norms to smithereens, they are breaking laws. Isn't it the GOP whose major arguments again HRC and other Obama officials been the illegal release of classified information?
Seriously, just imagine if this was occurring under Obama or HRC as President. They would already be behind bars.
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Really? The Congress is 100% bought. The guys that gave the rich 1.5 trillion of our kids money to them are not going to let Trump get arrested?
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Nunes is absolutely without a doubt seeking to obstruct justice. The only purpose for this memo was to setup the momentum needed to get rid of Rosenstein and then Mueller. It's a trumped up piece of hooey with bad information (lies) and innuendo with Rosenstein as its intended target. It's more red meat for the base, that must already be choking on all the all red meat all the time diet.
There's no room for misunderstanding trump's goal of destroying the investigation into him and his family's abuse of the presidential office. They have abused it and it's obvious.
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This is the second effort by Nunes to divert attention from the Russian interference investigation. The first was his midnight ride to the White House to gin up a bogus unmasking story. So, Mueller could look at pattern and practice.
On the surface, fairly read, the Nunes memo seems to be an attack on the FISA warrant process. According to the Nunes memo, the FBI relied on flawed information and didn’t inform the FISA judge adequately enough about the source of the information for the Judge to make the right decision. And the judge failed because he or she should have asked questions and ultimately not granted the application.
Of course the memo also sets forth facts independent of the Steele Dowhich would justify the grant of the FISA warrant. Which undercuts the notion that the memo was really about exposing problems in the FISA proces
And, given the hype about the memo before its issuance and the fact that it only highlighted one part of evidence for issuance, it is clear that real purpose of the Nunes memo was to cast doubt on the independence and integrity of the FBI and its role in the Russia investigation.
Whether or not Nunes and company meet the criminal definition of obstruction of justice, they are clearly not pursuing the Russian interference in past elections and ongoing threat. Nunes’ priorities are suspect. Speaker Ryan needs to remove Nunes from the Committee.
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Ryan is part of the same team, so don't count on it.
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The memo doesn't set forth facts independent of the Steele dossier that would justify the grant of the FISA warrant. The target of the FISA warrant was Carter Page. The memo noted that the "FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos."
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Trump, in his wildest flights of cheeseburger-induced frenzy, could hope for no greater gift than Mueller presuming monumentally to extend his authority to investigating members of Congress for that yuge failure to find direct crimes of ANYTHING – a prosecutor’s interpretation of “obstruction of justice”. If he did, I’m sure that a majority of Americans would DEMAND that Trump fire him summarily – and the only practical effect it would have, provided the economy remains strong through November and that Trump manages to continue checking “Little Rocket Man”, is that Republicans would crush Democrats in the midterms.
This argument is transparently an ideologically-interested attempt, by the usual suspects who have made their views on Trump well known, to criminalize politics with which they disagree. Apparently, any argument by Republicans that seeks to point out how ideologically-focused all this cahooting with Russians interest by Democrats has become, not to mention the expansion of the investigation to ANYTHING Trump has done with which Democrats disagree, is now a criminal enterprise worthy of a federal M-1 charge, a bag on their heads and a paralyzing agent running through our veins.
This may be the biggest problem with letting a constitutional law professor from Harvard get within fifteen galaxies of ANY question that affects our governance.
Is Devin Nunes playing politics, just as Dems are playing politics? Yep. Is he “obstructing justice”?
Giveth me a break.
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@Richard Luettgen
Conservatives seem to have perfected the art of outrage at their illegal activities being scrutinized. "How dare you question my integrity!" is the common thread. (Or variations on "giveth me a break.") Demands to limit the investigators' scope to protect the perps' follow. But over the long haul the facts will surface, whether via Mueller's investigation, the excellent free press or some other avenue, and people will go to jail. The Trump administration is running a criminal enterprise, and people who line up in support of it will be treated as part of the family in more ways than one.
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Why is it that just about everyone connected to Trump -- Nunez included -- has ties to Russia? Why are they handing our country over to Putin? And why does one third of the American public not care?
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"not to mention the expansion of the investigation to ANYTHING Trump has done with which Democrats disagree"
Republicans are fine with violations of the Emoluments Clause and money laundering?
I'm not surprised.
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Nunes the prime justice obstructor
A minion of Trump, the Conductor,
Devious, cunning,
Utter gall stunning,
To Beelzebub's schools an instructor.
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