The chair of the House Select Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes (R-CA) just yesterday assured reporters that there was "a lot of nothing" in the reports of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn's calls with the Russian ambassador weeks before the Trump administration was a thing. There was so much nothing there, Nunes said, Flynn was sure to keep his job.
What's he saying now that Flynn has resigned? He's following popular vote loser Trump's lead. It's not about Flynn and how Russia has compromised the administration. It's about the leaks that Flynn and his Russia connections have compromised the White House.
That's bad. This is worse.
That's not how it works. "Executive privilege" is what the White House claims in order to stiff-arm congressional investigations. Congress doesn't get to pre-empt itself by declaring that privilege for a would-be adversary.
Okay, this is maybe even worse than all that. “The big problem I see here,” says Nunes, “is that you have an American citizen who had his phone calls recorded.” Flynn’s phone calls were recorded because he was fucking talking to the Russian ambassador! Can the chair of the House Intelligence Committee really not know that the Russian ambassador’s phone calls are being recorded?
Here's a point worth remembering, though: Nunes was on the Trump transition team. He was simultaneously chair of the intelligence committee and on Trump's team when Flynn was having phone conversations with the Russian ambassador.
That's a massive conflict of interest for Nunes. A big enough one that he should recuse himself from this issue, drop the "leaks" investigation, and let the committee do its work without him.
