As House Republicans have tunneled down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole, Senate Republicans have been remarkably silent, which has been a serious problem. But the dam just might be starting to break. On Thursday, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, John Thune, pushed back against the fervent desire of House Republicans to release Devin Nunes's sham memo immediately and in a bubble of secrecy. Thune spoke to reporters from the GOP’s retreat in West Virginia and began by highlighting the fact that House Republicans haven’t even allowed Senate Intelligence Chair Richard Burr to review the mysterious memo. The Hill writes:
“I think the Senate Intelligence Committee needs to see it, for sure. Sen. Burr would like to see it and hasn’t been able to yet,” Thune said, arguing that the Senate Intelligence Committee should be apprised before the document becomes available to the public.
“There are important national security considerations they need to weigh, and hopefully they’re doing that,” he said.
Thune also said that Nunes should heed the concerns of FBI Director Christopher Wray about divulging information about the agency’s sources and methods.
“They have to take into consideration what the FBI is saying, and if there are things that need to be redacted, I think they need to pay careful attention to what our folks who protect us have to say about how this bears on our national security,” he said.
This is a good bit of pushback from Senate Republicans and marks a notable break in the approach of the two chambers. Thune is a company man and you can bet he isn't speaking out of turn—Mitch McConnell surely unleashed him to weigh in.
Whatever misinformed illusions Paul Ryan and the House leadership are working under, Senate Republicans seem to be working to separate themselves and potentially insulate their caucus from the tumult this memo could well cause.