Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Ca., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, breathed new life into President Trump's controversial claim that Barack Obama wiretapped his pre-inaugural communications by announcing his discovery of new information that at least partially supported the idea behind Trump's allegation.
But Nunes also renewed Democrats' calls for an independent committee to take responsibility for all Russia-related inquiries by hastily scheduling a visit to the White House on Wednesday and briefing the president on his findings before sharing them with committee Democrats.
And the publication late Wednesday evening of an anonymously-sourced report that suggested the FBI may have circumstantial evidence of cooperation between Trump campaign associates and Russian operatives is sure to inflame tensions among congressional Democrats who had already accused their Republican counterparts of doing too little to probe allegations of collusion.
"What I have read bothers me and I think it should bother the president himself and his team, because I think some of it seems to be inappropriate," Nunes told reporters at the White House following his meeting with Trump. At the heart of Nunes' concerns was newly-uncovered evidence that several members of the Trump transition team — and possibly the president himself — had their communications swept up through "incidental collection" and subsequently had their identities revealed in intelligence reports that were disseminated throughout the government.
When foreigners under surveillance by the U.S. government speak to Americans and those conversations are collected, the identities of the American participants are legally required to remain secret except under special circumstances.
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04.27.2024