The first public hearing of the House intelligence committee brought some astounding testimony as FBI Director James Comey revealed that Donald Trump’s “wiretapp” claims were a total fantasy, but the investigation of the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia were very, very real. It was riveting, significant, and … of course, it had to be stopped.
Since committee chair Devin Nunes successfully derailed the House investigation with his from-the-White-House to-the-White House circular logic train, the number of hearings held by the committee has been exactly zero. Instead, the nation has been treated to an increasingly loud conversation about “unmasking” in which absolutely standard practice within intelligence operations has been painted with dark shades of paranoia. That distraction has successfully kept the House from creeping even one inch closer to an actual answer about the actual topic they are supposed to be investigating.
And according to Nunes, that’s not going to change for at least a couple of weeks.
Nunes (R-Calif.) said “it’s possible” that the committee could interview witnesses in “that week after Easter” when Congress is scheduled to be on the second week of a two-week recess. Nunes would not say whom the committee planned to interview or what the format of the interviews might be.
Note that these are closed interviews. Nunes has cancelled the rest of what was to be a string of public hearings, and made not a peep about when they might be restored. But even the interviews that are “possible” in two weeks are far from a sure thing, because Nunes has tangled the committee in a trap of his own design.
The committee’s Russia investigation effectively ground to a halt last week after Nunes said it would be difficult to schedule interviews or depositions before FBI Director James B. Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers returned to Capitol Hill for additional closed-door testimony, following open testimony they gave two weeks ago. …
Nunes said Monday that the Comey and Rogers meeting has still not been scheduled and that the holdup was “with Comey, not with anyone else.”
If Nunes means the holdup in which Comey says he was never invited to testify, then the hope for progress seems low.
Of course, there’s absolutely no reason that it has to be Comey first or nothing. Nunes inserted that rule, then did his best to make sure that Comey would not come.
As of last week, Nunes was claiming he had invited Comey, while Comey was saying otherwise.
Then, Tuesday, Nunes said that he had invited Comey again to come testify before the House intelligence committee. A Nunes spokesman said that discussions between House intelligence staff and Comey staff have been conducted over phone and email, but did not immediately say if a formal request had been sent via letter.
Comey said he would not testify without a formal invite, a spokesman for Nunes told CNN.
Nunes is not saying whether Comey now has a formal invite. He’s also not talking about the information which he took from a trio of top White House officials then returned to “brief” the president. He’s not even saying whether he will schedule any hearings to address the Russian connection he’s supposed to be investigating rather than the “unmasking” distraction invented to slow that investigation.
He also would not say Monday whether the interviews he hoped to schedule later this month would be on the subject of those unmasked reports or would be related to the allegations of potential ties between Russian officials and members of the Trump team that the committee has also been probing.
In truth, there no longer is an investigation in the House. That investigation started, showed that there was a serious reason for concern in the Trump regime, and was immediately kicked to death by Nunes in cooperation with Trump officials. Republican leadership, specifically Paul Ryan, has been unwavering in support for Nunes’ stonewalling.
It’s absolutely clear that nothing like a fair or complete investigation can be conducted with Nunes at the helm. It’s going to take work on the Senate side if discovery is going to move forward. And while they’re at it, they should add another name to their witness list—Devin Nunes.