Devin Nunes (R-CA), the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has often been in the news because of his opposition to investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Readers not familiar with the representative can find details in an op-ed published March 7 in a local paper, the Visalia Times-Delta: "Nunes is in way over his head."
Usually our own long-serving Congressman Devin Nunes keeps a low profile not saying much, and that keeps us from having to explain his fecklessness, inept leadership and general all-around lack of effectiveness….
The author, Joe Altschule, explains that Nunes’ time in Congress since 2003 has been “devoid of any real achievement”:
He did involve himself in a major and nasty fight with the Pentagon starting in 2012 trying to have a major defense installation moved from Britain to the Azores at an additional cost of $1.2 billion. Nunes bitterly called the military “clueless Pentagon lackeys ... spewing out garbage.” Ultimately, he lost that three-year battle in 2015.
Apart from that, Nunes has failed to pass significant legislation, instead spending much of his time pushing unworkable water bills and ranting against climate change often saying, “global warming is nonsense.” Nunes’ failure in working with others to achieve any meaningful water legislation has been due in part to his stubborn extremist views. A third-generation dairy farmer, Nunes seems to favor protecting cows and attacking fish, views that have been the hallmark of his Congressional tenure....
Regarding Nunes’ recent work as chair of the House Intelligence Committee:
Nunes’ current refusal to allow an investigation sadly demonstrates his short-sighted, party-before-country viewpoint.... His statements, his attitude, and his inept leadership decisions, at this point are an embarrassment to all of us, especially those of us who are his constituents...."
For more about Nunes from a different source, see this summary of his voting record:
Representative Nunes opposes taxing businesses, consumer protection, funding education, environmental protection, financial sector regulation, gun control, humane immigration policy, labor rights and wages, lgbt rights, poverty amelioration, racial equality, increasing revenues, taxing the wealthy, a robust safety net, women's rights and supports big business, disaster relief, hawkish foreign policy, taxing the middle class, military spending, avoiding default, domestic surveillance. politicsthatwork.com/…
[A chart at the link reveals Nunes’ votes on various issues.]
UPDATE: Here is more information from the op-ed and other sources which gives a clearer picture of the congressman. The author of “Nunes is in way over his head” writes:
In saying, “We still don’t have any evidence of their talking to Russia” Nunes put his narrow, protect-the-President-at-all-costs viewpoint on full display for all to see. Nunes’ declaration comes without the review of any documents or investigative reports. It comes, strangely enough without calling even a single witness…. www.visaliatimesdelta.com/...
On Feb. 17 the Fresno BEE had a scathing editorial about Nunes being a paper tiger, esp. when it comes to the issue of Russia seeking to influence the 2016 election:
When you look at Nunes’ service in Congress since he was first elected in 2002, he is a paper tiger – not someone with the fortitude to serve the people and get to the bottom of something as serious as the Trump administration’s friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia before and after the 2016 election.
….Republican leaders in the Senate affirmed last week their commitment to conduct a legitimate investigation into Flynn’s dealings via the Senate Intelligence Committee that is now examining allegations of Russian influence in the 2016 elections.
Nunes? He’s steaming mad about leaks to reporters and Flynn’s forced resignation.
Like we said, the congressman – despite all of his fire-breathing rhetoric – is nothing more than a paper tiger.
www.fresnobee.com/...
Wikipedia has a long article about Nunes, including this paragraph revealing his extreme right-wing views:
He has been an unrelenting critic of the American left, particularly San Francisco Bay Area liberal activists and the environmental lobby who he calls "followers of neo-Marxist, socialist, Maoist or Communist ideals." During the debate over President Obama's health care bill in the House of Representatives, Nunes said of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "For most of the 20th century people fled the ghost of communist dictators and now you are bringing the ghosts back into this chamber." Nunes wrote in April 2015 of "environmental extremists" and the damage he charges they have done in pursuit of an environmental utopia. He also called Obama administration officials "wimps" for opposing enhanced interrogation techniques but using drones to attack terrorists. en.wikipedia.org/...
A New York Times article (3/11) says Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are bracing for fights over subpoenaing witnesses and documents
since Republicans have balked at an outside, independent inquiry into what intelligence officials say was an unprecedented intrusion into an American election by a foreign power….
Democrats are already wary of moves by the committee’s chairman...to undercut the purported Russian connection. Mr. Nunes has belittled news stories about the Russian links of Mr. Trump’s associates and has pledged — along with Senator Richard M. Burr, the North Carolina Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee — to examine Mr. Trump’s accusations, made without evidence, that President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of Trump Tower….
Democrats expect the first major test of the investigation — and Mr. Nunes’s stewardship — to come on March 20, when the committee holds its first public hearing. www.nytimes.com/...
UPDATE 2: Representative Nunes avoids town halls with his constituents (who accordingly held a mock town hall for 250 people in front of his office last month www.dailykos.com/...). He does, however, frequently respond to letters and emails. I received this on March 14:
Letter from Nunes, March 6, 2017
Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the ongoing debate on Russia. I welcome the opportunity to respond.
For years, I have been deeply concerned by the national security threat posed by the Putin regime, including its prolific cyber-attacks. In fact, for nearly a year, I have been repeatedly asserting that the failure to predict Putin’s plans and intentions has been “the biggest intelligence failure since 9/11.” The House Intelligence Committee, which I chair, warned the Obama administration for many years that the United States needed to adopt stronger policies against Russia. Unfortunately our warnings were ignored, and the administration only seemed to grasp the threat after the Democratic National Committee database was hacked.
Russia is a pressing national security issue that the committee is following closely. However, I am disturbed by the rush to denounce U.S. citizens as conspirators with Russia solely based on unverified press reports. For example, although I made inquiries within the Intelligence Community into a New York Times story alleging that three U.S. citizens involved in the Trump campaign had close contact with Russian intelligence officials, I have not yet found any evidence to support those allegations.
The House Intelligence Committee has expanded its long-running inquiries into Russian intelligence issues, and we are now running a bipartisan investigation of Russian actions related to the 2016 U.S. election campaign. We will follow the facts wherever they lead. If any evidence comes to light that the three individuals named in the New York Times story, or any other U.S. citizen regardless of political affiliation, including President Trump, was conspiring with Russian intelligence agents, then the Committee will investigate it. I intend to lead a thorough, bipartisan investigation. However, I will not join a rush to vilify U.S. citizens solely based on sensational media allegations. The House Intelligence Committee’s investigation, I should add, is running concurrent to an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee as well as one in the executive branch, where Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from the investigation and will be replaced by Acting Deputy Attorney General Dane Boente.
UPDATE 3: Fresno BEE editorial, March 26, 2017: Russia-Trump probe is in chaos, and Nunes is to blame
By our yardstick, Rep. Devin Nunes had a terrible week fulfilling his duties as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence….Nothing he did last week served the nation’s best interests.
First, with millions of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, wanting the committee to provide clarity on Russia’s involvement in the election and whether members of Trump’s campaign conspired with the Russians to weaken Clinton’s prospects, Nunes tried to steer the committee’s focus to identifying leakers of information embarrassing to President Trump.
It is an old trick in Washington, D.C., and one that rarely, if ever, works. Just ask Richard Nixon.
Then, Nunes – a Trump transition team member – betrayed the Constitution and its separation of powers by running like an errand boy to the White House to share with Trump classified information that he had received.
Before going to the White House, however, Nunes held a news conference at which he announced that the communications of Trump transition officials – possibly including President Trump himself – may have been “monitored” after the election as part of an “incidental collection.”
Nunes also said the intercepted communications did not appear to be related to the ongoing FBI investigation into Trump associates’ contacts with Russia or any criminal warrants.
These events Wednesday ambushed other committee members. Nunes had not shared the information with them before spilling his guts to the president and to House Speaker Paul Ryan….. Nunes’ defenders say that he did nothing wrong and that President Trump deserved to have the information. But Nunes himself exposed the emptiness of that argument by privately apologizing to his Democratic colleagues on the committee.
Americans can distinguish between a hard-nosed fact-finder and a surrogate who shares information with a White House under FBI investigation.
Bring on the bipartisan special select committee – as was done with Benghazi – and a special prosecutor.
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article140687833.html
UPDATE: March 31 Republican Consultant Rick Wilson writes this:
Devin Nunes Is Just the Errand Boy in the Trump-Russia Scandal
For a week, Washington has stared slack-jawed at the antics of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Flopsweat), the clown prince of the Trump-Russia intelligence and influence scandal….
Nunes’s manic flailing left a chain of confused, exhausted reporters trying to parse his daily lies, revisions, walkbacks, and pushbacks. His use of amateur intel slang was as cringeworthy as it was unconvincing. He did everything but show up in a fedora and trenchcoat. As he tried to change the subject from Russia and its influence over President Trump to the evil NSA’s boundless perfidy in “tappping” a poor, innocent, hard-working New York real-estate developer on behalf of that evil Kenyan Muslim Barack Obama, it became increasingly obvious that Nunes didn’t get this information from the intelligence community, but rather from the Trump White House. www.thedailybeast.com/...