As Rep. Devin Nunes continues to insist the Department of Justice turn over, among other redacted information, the identity of a U.S. intelligence source—a move that intelligence officials have warned could well endanger the life of that source—you are probably wondering where House Speaker Paul Ryan stands on this possible act of treason.
Don't bother. He stands with Nunes.
For the intelligence agencies, Nunes’s request threatened to cross a red line of compromising sources and methods of U.S. intelligence-gathering, according to people familiar with their views. Intelligence officials fear that providing even a redacted version of the information Nunes seeks could expose that person and damage relationships with other countries that serve as U.S. intelligence partners. [...]
On Tuesday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R.-Wis.) said he had not discussed the matter with Nunes but added that he expected congressional subpoenas to be enforced.
“We expect the administration to comply with our document requests,” Ryan said.
To be clear, it is evident that Rep. Devin Nunes only wants this information so that he can leak it. Even the intelligence community itself appears to be coming to that conclusion; it has, after all, been his role throughout the Russia investigation, going so far as to scurry to the White House itself in the early days to loudly leak information he believed would undermine the probe. Information given to Nunes' committee has been regularly, and speedily, leaked throughout the process. Nunes' reasons for going so far on Trump's behalf remain unclear, but at the least his actions continue to tip potential targets of the investigation, including those close to Trump, as to just what the Mueller team has or hasn't discovered.
It is almost certain that the identity, or hints as to the identity, of the intelligence agent being protected here will be leaked once information is provided to Nunes and his allies, which is why the Department of Justice is so far adamantly refusing to provide it. Nunes isn't willing to accept their refusals, and Speaker Paul Ryan is still backing Nunes in his efforts to sabotage the Russia investigation at apparently any cost.