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    fox-news/person/devin-nunes

    Nunes letter to ICIG demands answers about whistleblower complaint

    House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., demanded answers Saturday from the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office regarding the whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    Nunes sent a letter to ICIG Michael Atkinson raising several questions about the complaint, which ultimately led to Trump’s impeachment, and repeated requests for information that he said went unanswered for months. While several officials met for closed-door sessions to answer questions following the complaint, Atkinson’s testimony has not been released to the public.

    “He’s the only one of all the star chamber games that were played in the basement of the Capitol, with the secretive interviews. The only one that’s not released is the one with the IC Inspector General. That’s unacceptable,” Nunes told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

    HOUSE INTEL REPUBLICANS INVESTIGATING INSPECTOR GENERAL HANDLING OF WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT

    Nunes, along with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., previously had sent a letter to Atkinson in September 2019 in which they raised a number of issues related to the whistleblower’s complaint. Nunes’ new letter claimed Atkinson’s office has not responded satisfactorily.

    Among Nunes’ main concerns: the decision to revise a form for whistleblower complaints that removed the requirement of first-hand information in order for a complaint to be relayed to Congress.

    Nunes’ September letter had inquired about the update to the form that had left out the first-hand knowledge requirement, and how it had been dated August 2019 despite evidence that it was created on Sept. 24, 2019. Atkinson’s office later claimed that the form had been backdated in error because it had received preliminary approval in August. Now, Nunes is asking that if that was the case, why it took until late September for it to be posted alone.

    “What he’s claiming is, essentially, ‘We’re just dumb, we made mistakes, it was a huge mistake,’” Nunes said Sunday. “That’s fine if you want to claim incompetence, but you need to have the documentation, the evidence to prove that you were indeed incompetent.”

    FISA SELECTS FORMER OBAMA ADMIN LAWYER, LEFT-WING BLOGGER TO OVERSEE FBI’S SURVEILLANCE REFORMS

    Nunes’ letter asked for information regarding all revisions to the form since May 24, 2018, as well as who approved them and copies of each revised version. Prior to then, the form stated that first-hand knowledge was required.

    After media reports first noted the form change, Atkinson said in a lengthy statement that the whistleblower had actually filled out the older version of that form, which retained the requirement that whistleblowers have first-hand information. The ICIG revealed that the whistleblower had said he or she had first-hand information, as well as second-hand information, but it was unclear what the first-hand information was.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The letter also sought ICIG policies regarding “the criteria for making a credibility determination” in cases where complaints have been deemed an “urgent concern,” such as the complaint about Trump’s call.

    Nunes said he specifically wanted to know if Atkinson’s office changed its assessment of the whistleblower’s credibility in light of “incorrect or incomplete information” provided.

    Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo contributed to this report.

    Nunes letter to ICIG demands answers about whistleblower complaint

    House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., demanded answers Saturday from the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office regarding the whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    Nunes sent a letter to ICIG Michael Atkinson raising several questions about the complaint, which ultimately led to Trump’s impeachment, and repeated requests for information that he said went unanswered for months. While several officials met for closed-door sessions to answer questions following the complaint, Atkinson’s testimony has not been released to the public.

    “He’s the only one of all the star chamber games that were played in the basement of the Capitol, with the secretive interviews. The only one that’s not released is the one with the IC Inspector General. That’s unacceptable,” Nunes told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

    HOUSE INTEL REPUBLICANS INVESTIGATING INSPECTOR GENERAL HANDLING OF WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT

    Nunes, along with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., previously had sent a letter to Atkinson in September 2019 in which they raised a number of issues related to the whistleblower’s complaint. Nunes’ new letter claimed Atkinson’s office has not responded satisfactorily.

    Among Nunes’ main concerns: the decision to revise a form for whistleblower complaints that removed the requirement of first-hand information in order for a complaint to be relayed to Congress.

    Nunes’ September letter had inquired about the update to the form that had left out the first-hand knowledge requirement, and how it had been dated August 2019 despite evidence that it was created on Sept. 24, 2019. Atkinson’s office later claimed that the form had been backdated in error because it had received preliminary approval in August. Now, Nunes is asking that if that was the case, why it took until late September for it to be posted alone.

    “What he’s claiming is, essentially, ‘We’re just dumb, we made mistakes, it was a huge mistake,’” Nunes said Sunday. “That’s fine if you want to claim incompetence, but you need to have the documentation, the evidence to prove that you were indeed incompetent.”

    FISA SELECTS FORMER OBAMA ADMIN LAWYER, LEFT-WING BLOGGER TO OVERSEE FBI’S SURVEILLANCE REFORMS

    Nunes’ letter asked for information regarding all revisions to the form since May 24, 2018, as well as who approved them and copies of each revised version. Prior to then, the form stated that first-hand knowledge was required.

    After media reports first noted the form change, Atkinson said in a lengthy statement that the whistleblower had actually filled out the older version of that form, which retained the requirement that whistleblowers have first-hand information. The ICIG revealed that the whistleblower had said he or she had first-hand information, as well as second-hand information, but it was unclear what the first-hand information was.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The letter also sought ICIG policies regarding “the criteria for making a credibility determination” in cases where complaints have been deemed an “urgent concern,” such as the complaint about Trump’s call.

    Nunes said he specifically wanted to know if Atkinson’s office changed its assessment of the whistleblower’s credibility in light of “incorrect or incomplete information” provided.

    Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo contributed to this report.

    Jason Chaffetz: Democrats are working to weaponize government power against their adversaries – It must stop

    The alarming revelation that Rep. Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee obtained and released telephone records of a journalist, another House member and President Trump’s lawyers is just the latest in an escalating pattern of abuse by Democrats.

    Democratic attempts to weaponize government power against their adversaries have largely gone unpunished, leading to ever more brazen offenses.

    Having once held the power to write congressional subpoenas myself, I am familiar with the restrictions on Congress. For instance, the courts have not allowed Congress to compel documents from private entities unless the information informs legislation.

    NUNES TELLS SCHIFF HE NEEDS ‘REHABILITATION’ AFTER IG REPORT: ‘ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM’

    There is no legislation under consideration that requires Congress to view call records of the president’s lawyers or the media.

    Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff, D-Calif., has weaponized the subpoena power of Congress to collect data to which he is not entitled.

    There was no justification for Schiff to use his subpoena power to obtain and publish the records of telephone calls by the ranking member of his committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Nor was there adequate reason to spy on a journalist or legal counsel for the president.

    Though this is uncharted territory for the House, partisans in Congress and the media have bent over backward to defend Democrats’ spying.

    More from Opinion

    Schiff’s abuse of power follows a much more audacious violation by a politicized FBI, as revealed by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. His recent report detailed numerous egregious abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by Obama administration bureaucrats.

    In one example from the FISA report, we learned that the FBI in 2016 sent an informant to ask whether the Trump election campaign was planning an October surprise. That is information that wouldn’t be particularly relevant to a criminal investigation, but would certainly be relevant to political espionage.

    Though this flagrant perversion of the FBI and the FISA process may yet be prosecuted, thus far Democrats have gotten exactly what they wanted from their Deep State allies – a thin pretext upon which to derail the Trump presidency with years of negative stories in the media.

    Where did the Democrats get the idea they could get away with such overreach? Perhaps from the success of past attempts to spy on adversaries and weaponize agencies.

    Democrats have certainly not had to worry about prosecution by their allies in the bureaucracy. Hillary Clinton famously destroyed her smartphone with a hammer and wiped her hard drive with Bleach Bit – despite congressional subpoenas – to prevent investigators from legally accessing evidence of wrongdoing. She got away with it. Why would anybody expect to be prosecuted?

    But the spying even candidate Trump and the Clinton email investigation. In 2013, we learned the Obama Justice Department had spied on journalist James Rosen, accessing his emails, tracking his movements and collecting his phone records.

    The spying on Rosen was revealed just weeks after reports surfaced that Associated Press reporters had been spied on when phone records of more than 20 lines were secretly obtained.

    Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder made a show in 2014 of signing new rules to assure journalists the Justice Department would abide by written guidelines. But no one was fired or disciplined by Holder.

    Just two years later, the Obama Justice Department would change tactics, this time using the FISA Court process to spy on political adversaries,

    Concurrent to the Justice Department spying on the media, the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative nonprofits for unprecedented scrutiny, requiring them to submit answers to detailed questionnaires about their donors.

    This information was not required of left-leaning nonprofits. Like the spying at the Justice Department, this process produced information that was more useful for political than for regulatory use, and it deprived the applicants of their First Amendment rights.

    Though my Republican colleagues and I pushed hard for consequences, including the impeachment of the IRS commissioner, the Obama administration held firm against holding anyone accountable. The Justice Department would later pay out millions of dollars to settle claims by the nonprofits.

    I even had my own personal brush with Deep State spying when more than 40 members of the Secret Service unlawfully accessed my personnel records. In an effort to intimidate and embarrass me during an investigation of their agency, some leaked my personal information to the media in violation of department policy.

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR OPINION NEWSLETTER

    In this case, the agency did ultimately mete out soft consequences, but nobody was prosecuted and nobody was fired. Little did I know then that this was just part of a pattern of abusing surveillance.

    These are just some of the corruptive acts we know about. What else is out there?

    If we don’t take action now and prosecute, the pattern will only continue to escalate because federal officials wrongly using their powers will continue to know there are no serious consequences.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    In the long run, that’s an outcome that will be bad for Republicans, bad for Democrats and bad for all Americans.

    Attorney General William Barr should be applauded for taking this threat seriously and assigning U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing committed during the 2016 election campaign. But thus far, the Democrats have not been held accountable for their brazen spying on their political opponents.

    CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY JASON CHAFETZ

    Nunes tells Schiff he needs ‘rehabilitation’ after IG report: ‘Admit you have a problem’

    House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that he is “in need of rehabilitation” after a Justice Department Inspector General report on the FBI’s Russia investigation and its use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) contradicted Schiff’s past assertions.

    In a 2018 memo, Schiff dismissed Nunes’ concerns about the FBI’s use of a FISA warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The IG report confirmed that the FBI’s warrant applications included 17 “significant errors and omissions,” including a doctored email and reliance on unverified information from former British spy Christopher Steele.

    COMEY ADMITS ERROR IN DEFENSE OF FBI’S FISA PROCESS AFTER IG REPORT: ‘I WAS WRONG’

    “After publishing false conclusions of such enormity on a topic directly within this committee’s oversight responsibilities, it is clear you are in need of rehabilitation, and I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process,” Nunes said in a Sunday letter.

    Schiff’s memo downplayed Steele’s role and denied FBI wrongdoing, saying, “FBI and DOJ officials did not ‘abuse’ the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign.” Schiff also claimed at the time that the DOJ “made only narrow use of information from Steele’s sources” for the Page warrant.

    Nunes listed these statements and others, such as how the FBI conducted a “rigorous process” when vetting Steele’s information, noting that “[t]he IG report exposed all these declarations as false.”

    IG Michael Horowitz’s report indicated that Steele’s information was not properly vetted, yet was key in convincing attorneys to give the go-ahead to the FISA warrant application, which was previously deemed a “close call.”

    READ: DOJ IG HOROWITZ STATEMENT TO SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON RUSSIA PROBE REPORT

    Nunes recognized Schiff’s acknowledgment of the “issues and errors” described in Horowitz’s report, but said that his opposition to concerns raised by Attorney General Bill Barr and Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham — who is conducting a broader probe of the Russia investigation’s origins — “makes it clear your rehabilitation will be a long, arduous process.”

    Nunes cited Schiff’s failure to use his committee to conduct proper oversight while using it “as a launching pad to impeach the president for issues that have no intelligence component at all.” He accused him of “hijacking” the committee, claiming, “As part of your rehabilitation, it’s crucial that you admit you have a problem.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Schiff’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment about the letter, but in an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Schiff acknowledged the FBI’s issues as described in Horowitz’s report, and claimed he “would have called out the FBI” had he known of them.

    The GOP ranking member called on the Democratic chairman to call Horowitz before their committee “at the nearest opportunity.” Horowitz has already appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is scheduled for another hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

    Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

    Rep. Doug Collins: Adam Schiff ‘can’t spell truth, much less tell it’

    House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., blasted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as a chronic liar who is hurting his own party with his mission to impeach President Trump.

    On Tuesday’s “Hannity,” host Sean Hannity called Schiff a “congenital liar” and asked Collins how Schiff was able to get away with purportedly misleading the public and the Congress.

    “For a while, his lies only led himself down that path,” Collins answered. “We talked about him before — he can’t spell ‘truth,’ much less tell it. Today though, he’s crossing the line. He’s taking the Democratic Party over the cliff with his lies.

    NUNES LOOKS AT LEGAL OPTIONS AFTER SCHIFF RELEASES PHONE RECORDS IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

    “He’s saying it doesn’t matter anymore about fairness and justice as long as we get to do it [impeachment] on the timeframe we get to do it on.”

    Collins said Schiff is “hitching” congressional Democrats to his alleged lies and predicted that move will ultimately lead to Trump being reelected.

    “He cannot keep lying about this because the people are seeing through it, and now the Department of Justice is finally starting to see it.”

    Collins also called Democrats’ impeachment article alleging “abuse of power” on the part of Trump “the most ambiguous, vague reference to an impeachment [article] that you could ever have.”

    “You can make it anything you want … As ‘former president’ Eric Swalwell said, you can be impeached for removing an ambassador,” said Collins in a jab at the Democratic lawmaker’s short-lived presidential bid. “I don’t know what planet he is living on but that is not an impeachable offense.”

    In addition, Collins criticized Schiff and his committee’s Democrats for allegedly being party to the subpoena and release of sensitive phone records that made mention of House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif. among others.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    He claimed either Schiff himself or Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman — who took part in Monday’s House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing — played a crucial role in looking into those records.

    Nunes has said he is weighing legal actions in response to the release of records.

    Kimberley Strassel on IG report: Adam Schiff ‘owes the country an enormous apology’

    Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel said Tuesday that the release of Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz’s report on the origins of the Russia investigation and the issuance of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants for a Trump campaign official was a triumph for House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and trouble for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

    “The reason that we actually know about this FISA abuse is because in early February 2018, Nunes, who was heading the House Intelligence Committee, put out a memo with these explosive revelations that the FBI had targeted [former Trump campaign adviser] Carter Page with surveillance warrants that the dossier from a rival campaign had been the basis for that, and that the FBI had not been straight up with the FISA court,” Strassel told “Fox & Friends”.

    Strassel spoke out less than 24 hours after Monday’s release of the 476-page report. She blamed Schiff for much of the partisan divide surrounding the FISA report.

    “This should have provoked bipartisan outrage,” she said. “Instead, Adam Schiff came out immediately and said, ‘No, that’s a bunch of hooey.’ And in fact he puts out his own memo and he says no, nobody abused anything.”

    DOJ WATCHDOG FINDS NO BIAS IN LAUNCH OF TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE, BUT UNCOVERS ‘SIGNIFICANT’ FBI ERRORS

    “So now we’ve got the IG report and Adam Schiff owes the country an enormous apology for spreading a false misinformation,” Strassel added.

    The inspector general found no intentional misconduct or political bias surrounding either the launch of the Trump-Russia investigation or the efforts to seek the controversial FISA warrant to Page in the early stages of that probe.

    However, the report revealed that there had been at least 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the Carter Page FISA applications.

    “He [Horowitz] said he didn’t find any documentary evidence of bias,” Strassel said. “I mean, that’s basically saying he didn’t find an e-mail among FBI officials saying let’s take out Donald Trump.”

    READ: DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL’S FISA REPORT

    “And it’s not his job in the absence of that documentary evidence to guess at their motives,” she added. “But instead what he did is he just laid out all of the facts and when you step back and you look at that fact pattern, I think it’s very hard for anyone to think that this wasn’t a deliberate attempt by the FBI to abuse its powers in aid of going after Donald Trump.”

    Strassel also noted Tuesday that Schiff subpoenaed and released information that included Nunes’ phone records in connection with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, calling it an “incredibly bad faith move.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “This is, as far as I know, the first time you have the head of an intelligence committee, using the powers of Congress to spy on a fellow member,” Strassel said. “And if that’s the standard we’re going to have going forward, if you think politics is ugly now, watch where this goes.”

    Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

    Nunes blasts Schiff for ‘blatant disregard’ of impeachment rules; blames ‘vendetta’ against Trump

    EXCLUSIVE: House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes blasted committee Chairman Adam Schiff for what he called an “alarming” and “blatant disregard” for the rules governing the House impeachment inquiry against President Trump, saying Schiff transmitted his investigative findings to the Judiciary Committee for the next phase in the proceedings without consulting him.

    Fox News exclusively obtained the letter Nunes, R-Calif., sent to Schiff, D-Calif., on Sunday night. In the letter dated Friday, Nunes wrote that Schiff chose not to consult with him so that he could meet a “bogus” deadline for impeaching the president. The GOP congressman also accused the Democrat of having a “vendetta” against the president.

    “I write in objection to your December 6, 2019 transfer of additional records and other materials relating to the Democrats’ partisan impeachment inquiry to the House Committee on the Judiciary,” Nunes wrote.

    He went on to cite the rules governing the impeachment inquiry, passed in the House in October, which stated that “the chair of the Permanent Select Committee or the chair of any other committee having custody of records or other materials relating to the inquiry referenced in the first section of this resolution is authorized, in consultation with the ranking minority member, to transfer such records or materials to the Committee on the Judiciary.”

    “As the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, I received no consultation prior to the transfer of materials, in violation of H. Res. 660,” Nunes wrote. “Accordingly, I expect that you immediately provide me a full accounting of documents that were provided to the Committee on the Judiciary.”

    “Your consistent and blatant disregard for the rules is alarming,” Nunes continued. “I can see no reason for you to continue to ignore these rules, which the Democratic majority put in place, other than to meet a bogus deadline of impeaching the President by Christmas.”

    He added: “I urge you to put an immediate end to your vendetta against the President, stop your constant rule breaking, and begin treating this Committee and its oversight responsibilities with the seriousness they deserve.”

    Last week, the Intelligence Committee voted to adopt and issue a scathing report on its findings from its impeachment inquiry. Democrats on the panel asserted that their inquiry “uncovered a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”

    NUNES LOOKS AT LEGAL OPTIONS AFTER SCHIFF RELEASES PHONE RECORDS IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

    In their impeachment inquiry, the committee conducted extensive interviews with witnesses connected to the Trump administration’s relationship with Ukraine, after an anonymous whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that during a July 25 phone call, Trump tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as issues related to the 2016 presidential election.

    The president’s request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats and witnesses have claimed showed a “quid pro quo” arrangement. Trump repeatedly has denied any wrongdoing.

    The Democrats’ report claimed that Trump withheld nearly $391 million in military aid from Ukraine, conditioning its delivery as well as a White House visit with Zelensky on a public announcement that Zelensky was conducting the investigations. It also accused Trump of obstruction of justice for instructing witnesses not to comply with congressional subpoenas.

    Nunes took issue with the issuance of the report to the Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., without consulting with him, as well as the transmission of additional underlying investigative material, according to an aide familiar with the matter. Also part of the committee’s report were Nunes’ phone records, which Schiff subpoenaed and released in connection with the impeachment inquiry.

    Meanwhile, House Republicans issued their own report earlier this week delivering a point-by-point rebuttal to Democrats’ impeachment efforts.

    “The evidence presented does not prove any of these Democrat allegations, and none of the Democrats’ witnesses testified to having evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor,” Republicans said in their report released Monday.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Nevertheless, Nadler and Judiciary Committee Democrats, in consultation with Intelligence Committee and Oversight Committee Democrats, and at the direction of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have begun drafting articles of impeachment, which are likely to encompass two major themes: abuse of office and obstruction.

    The Judiciary Committee is set to hold a hearing Monday, when counsels for the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees’ Democrats and Republicans are to present evidence in the case.

    Nunes blasts Schiff for ‘blatant disregard’ of impeachment rules; blames ‘vendetta’ against Trump

    EXCLUSIVE: House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes blasted committee Chairman Adam Schiff for what he called an “alarming” and “blatant disregard” for the rules governing the House impeachment inquiry against President Trump, saying Schiff transmitted his investigative findings to the Judiciary Committee for the next phase in the proceedings without consulting him.

    Fox News exclusively obtained the letter Nunes, R-Calif., sent to Schiff, D-Calif., on Sunday night. In the letter dated Friday, Nunes wrote that Schiff chose not to consult with him so that he could meet a “bogus” deadline for impeaching the president. The GOP congressman also accused the Democrat of having a “vendetta” against the president.

    “I write in objection to your December 6, 2019 transfer of additional records and other materials relating to the Democrats’ partisan impeachment inquiry to the House Committee on the Judiciary,” Nunes wrote.

    He went on to cite the rules governing the impeachment inquiry, passed in the House in October, which stated that “the chair of the Permanent Select Committee or the chair of any other committee having custody of records or other materials relating to the inquiry referenced in the first section of this resolution is authorized, in consultation with the ranking minority member, to transfer such records or materials to the Committee on the Judiciary.”

    “As the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, I received no consultation prior to the transfer of materials, in violation of H. Res. 660,” Nunes wrote. “Accordingly, I expect that you immediately provide me a full accounting of documents that were provided to the Committee on the Judiciary.”

    “Your consistent and blatant disregard for the rules is alarming,” Nunes continued. “I can see no reason for you to continue to ignore these rules, which the Democratic majority put in place, other than to meet a bogus deadline of impeaching the President by Christmas.”

    He added: “I urge you to put an immediate end to your vendetta against the President, stop your constant rule breaking, and begin treating this Committee and its oversight responsibilities with the seriousness they deserve.”

    Last week, the Intelligence Committee voted to adopt and issue a scathing report on its findings from its impeachment inquiry. Democrats on the panel asserted that their inquiry “uncovered a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”

    NUNES LOOKS AT LEGAL OPTIONS AFTER SCHIFF RELEASES PHONE RECORDS IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

    In their impeachment inquiry, the committee conducted extensive interviews with witnesses connected to the Trump administration’s relationship with Ukraine, after an anonymous whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that during a July 25 phone call, Trump tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as issues related to the 2016 presidential election.

    The president’s request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats and witnesses have claimed showed a “quid pro quo” arrangement. Trump repeatedly has denied any wrongdoing.

    The Democrats’ report claimed that Trump withheld nearly $391 million in military aid from Ukraine, conditioning its delivery as well as a White House visit with Zelensky on a public announcement that Zelensky was conducting the investigations. It also accused Trump of obstruction of justice for instructing witnesses not to comply with congressional subpoenas.

    Nunes took issue with the issuance of the report to the Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., without consulting with him, as well as the transmission of additional underlying investigative material, according to an aide familiar with the matter. Also part of the committee’s report were Nunes’ phone records, which Schiff subpoenaed and released in connection with the impeachment inquiry.

    Meanwhile, House Republicans issued their own report earlier this week delivering a point-by-point rebuttal to Democrats’ impeachment efforts.

    “The evidence presented does not prove any of these Democrat allegations, and none of the Democrats’ witnesses testified to having evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor,” Republicans said in their report released Monday.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Nevertheless, Nadler and Judiciary Committee Democrats, in consultation with Intelligence Committee and Oversight Committee Democrats, and at the direction of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have begun drafting articles of impeachment, which are likely to encompass two major themes: abuse of office and obstruction.

    The Judiciary Committee is set to hold a hearing Monday, when counsels for the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees’ Democrats and Republicans are to present evidence in the case.

    Nunes looks at legal options after Schiff releases phone records in impeachment inquiry

    House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is looking to fight back after Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., subpoenaed and released his phone records in connection with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

    Nunes on Sunday warned his fellow Republicans that the same thing could happen to them, although he pointed out various legal grounds he was exploring to prevent this from happening again.

    “I’m in California, so for sure, state law, you cannot release somebody’s phone records. So, for sure, that right has been violated. But, we also have to look at the constitutional aspects of this, and do all the members of Congress have a right to privacy, and can just one member, because he doesn’t like someone and he’s a political opponent of someone, can that member just subpoena records and then release just to embarrass or to create a distraction or to build whatever fantasy-land narrative that they continue to build?”

    LINDSEY GRAHAM TORCHES SCHIFF OVER IMPEACHMENT TACTICS: HE ‘IS DOING A LOT OF DAMAGE TO THE COUNTRY, AND HE NEEDS TO STOP’

    Nunes pushed back against claims that the records were in connection to the Republican trying to get an ambassador fired, insisting that if he wanted to do this, he would be able to call Trump directly, “and I’m quite sure the president would probably listen to me.”

    One of the individuals linked to Nunes’ office through the phone records was Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who recently was indicted over alleged campaign-finance violations.

    Nunes explained how he came to be linked to Parnas. “I got a call from a number that was Parnas’ wife. I remember talking to someone and I did what I always do, which is if I don’t know who they are, you put them to staff and you let staff work with that person,” he said.

    Nunes noted that his office went through all of their records, and “we have no information from Parnas. We have no documents, we have nothing. We have no emails, so there’s nothing that we have in our control from Parnas.”

    The Republican insisted Democrats were targeting him because “they don’t like that we exposed them for the Russia hoax that they were involved in, that’s what this is about.”

    Later in the interview, Nunes addressed the Russia investigation again, in light of the pending release of the report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz about possible Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] abuse by the FBI during the probe.

    The report, which is expected to be released Monday, may confirm or refute assertions made by Republicans and Trump regarding the acquisition of a warrant to conduct surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

    Nunes was at the forefront of the GOP’s attack on the FBI’s methods, claiming they misrepresented evidence and left out exculpatory information about Page that affected the court’s decision to grant the warrant and subsequent renewals.

    “They key is whether or not what the House Intelligence Committee Republicans gave to the American people in February of ’18, whether or not that was true or not true,” Nunes said referring to his claims about possible FBI misconduct. “The additional evidence that Horowitz comes up with, that’ll be great for us, because we’re really interested if he found the exculpatory evidence that wasn’t provided to the FISA court.

    “We also want to know if he got to the bottom of the insurance policy. So, we know what the insurance policy is, it’s something very specific. We want to know if he got to the bottom of that.” This likely was a reference to the mention of an “insurance policy” against Trump that was discussed in text messages between former FBI attorney Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok, who both worked on the investigation. Strzok was removed from the investigation after his politically charged messages were discovered, and he was fired after a watchdog report found his political leanings could have influenced his work.

    Nunes signaled he was not overly eager with anticipation of the upcoming report, noting that it was very limited in scope.

    CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

    “He’s only looking at FISA abuse. All of that evidence needs to be sent to Durham, the U.S. Attorney from Connecticut.” U.S. Attorney John Durham has been tasked with a more comprehensive investigation of the origins of the Russia investigation. Unlike Horowitz, Durham has the authority to file criminal charges.

    “That’s ultimately going to be the key,” Nunes said, “is, what does Durham find in looking at this entire debacle, which is targeting a political campaign by the FBI and the Department of Justice.”

    Rep. Jim Banks: Subpoena Adam Schiff’s phone records – He did it to Republicans, we should do it to him

    I join many Americans in being sick and tired of powerful, entrenched Democrats like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff breaking rules, crossing the line and never being held accountable.

    This is why I’ve called for a tit for tat. I want Schiff’s phone records to be subpoenaed by the only person in Washington with the power and opportunity to do it.

    On Tuesday we learned that Schiff, D-Calif., subpoenaed AT&T for the records of telephone calls between President Trump’s personal lawyers, an American journalist, and – the most troubling – Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the ranking member on the Intelligence Committee.

    DEVIN NUNES ON PHONE RECORD RELEASE: ‘WE’RE DEFINITELY GOING TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION’

    None of these people were notified that their call records were being subpoenaed. They were surprised to see their private phone records published in Schiff’s report arising out of the impeachment inquiry his committee conducted regarding President Trump.

    More from Opinion

    It doesn’t take a constitutional lawyer to recognize that subpoenaing these call records violates the spirit of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unlawful searches and seizures.

    Kimberley Strassel, writing in The Wall Street Journal, called Schiff’s obtaining phone logs of political rivals “a stunning abuse of congressional power.” She noted that Schiff is the first congressman to use his official powers to spy on a fellow member and brazenly publish the details.

    KIMBERLEY STRASSEL: OBTAINING PHONE LOGS OF POLITICAL RIVALS IS A STUNNING ABUSE OF CONGRESSIONAL POWER

    Nunes said on “Fox & Friends: Weekend” Saturday that he will take legal action in response to Schiff’s action.

    “I believe I am the first member of Congress ever to have [my] phone records exposed like this,” Nunes said. “We’re definitely going to take legal action.”

    “We need to get to court to try to stop that from happening again,” Nunes added.

    The fact that Schiff was so brazen as to publish the subpoenaed phone logs is what bothers me the most. It signals he knows he’ll get away with it.

    Well, I don’t think we should let him.

    Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media have given Schiff a free pass. They’ve gleefully folded Nunes and his phone records with Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, in their snowballing conspiracy theory that is fueling the impeachment inquiry.

    Of course, not all media are so cowardly. Mark Levin, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Kimberley Strassel among others have rightfully called Schiff out for his abuse of power.

    Sadly, in the current climate, a Wall Street Journal column or comments by a prime time host on Fox News Channel amounts to just a slap on the wrist for Schiff.

    That is why I believe it is time to give Schiff a taste of his own medicine. Time for us to see Schiff’s call records and reveal if he coordinated with the whistleblower and to what extent he has put national security at risk in his campaign to impeach President Trump.

    I wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asking him to subpoena AT&T for Schiff’s call logs.

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR OPINION NEWSLETTER

    Graham replied and said doesn’t think that’s a good idea, explaining that “when members start subpoenaing each other as part of Oversight, the whole system breaks down.”

    I share Graham’s concern. I want to be very clear – I think surveilling members of the opposite political party is a disgrace. But I don’t think it will stop unless we start fighting back. We need to show Mr. Schiff that he can’t just abuse his power and get away with it.

    In a sense, this episode is a small illustration of the larger fight that’s embroiled Washington.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Democratic leaders like Schiff have chosen to abuse their power of oversight to politically damage a sitting president ahead of his reelection bid. Republicans, independents – even law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee last week and said he didn’t vote for Donald Trump – are rightfully calling them out for it.

    If we don’t push back against this impeachment sham, we all lose. The country loses. We need to signal to Democrats they will not get away with their abuse of power anymore.

    CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY REP. JIM BANKS

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