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Devin Nunes temporarily steps aside in Russian meddling probe

Bartholomew D Sullivan
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — House intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes' withdrawal from leading the committee's probe of Russian meddling in last year's election removes some of the controversy Nunes brought with him, but it is not clear how else the leadership change will effect the probe.

For one, the Senate intelligence committee has now firmly established itself as taking the lead in the congressional investigations of Russian election activities.

And for another, Nunes made clear in his announcement Thursday that he is giving up control of the House probe temporarily while he attempts to answer ethics complaints filed against him as a result of his conduct in the investigation.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House intelligence committee, stepped down from leading the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“Several leftwing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics,” the California Republican said in a statement released by the committee Thursday morning. “The charges are entirely false and politically motivated,"

Still, he decided it was in "the best interests" of the committee for him to have Rep. Mike Conaway take over the probe with help from fellow Republican committee members Reps. Trey Gowdy and Tom Rooney.

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Nunes said he will continue to run the other activities of the committee and has asked to speak to the Ethics Committee as soon as possible in hopes of having the claims against him dismissed.

The groups Democracy 21, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and MoveOn.org have filed complaints with the Office of Congressional Ethics claiming Nunes violated House rules by disclosing classified information regarding the unmasking of President Trump’s associates caught up in incidental surveillance of intelligence agency targets.

Nunes then briefed Trump without first disclosing his information to the committee's ranking member, California Rep. Adam Schiff, or other members of the committee. Schiff has since reviewed the documents.

The Committee on Ethics chairwoman, Susan W. Books of Indiana, and its ranking Democrat, Theodore E. Deutch of Florida, released a statement Thursday morning acknowledging the committee “is investigating and gathering more information regarding these allegations” about Nunes releasing classified information to the public in violation of his oath of office.

The groups filed their complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics on March 28 and then supplemented the request on Wednesday.

House ethics rules allow the Ethics Committee to take over an investigation and order OCE to stand down. OCE operates under transparency rules that make it much more likely an investigation report will be released to the public.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., who is leading the Senate investigation, said Thursday "Chairman Nunes has made the move he felt necessary to protect the viability of his committee and its investigation going forward." The FBI is also conducting a probe of Russian meddling.

Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., released a statement shortly after Nunes stepped aside.

“Devin Nunes has earned my trust over many years for his integrity and dedication to the critical work that the intelligence community does to keep America safe,” it said. “He continues to have that trust, and I know he is eager to demonstrate to the Ethics Committee that he has followed all proper guidelines and laws."

On an Thursday afternoon flight aboard Air Force One en route to a Mar-a-Lago summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said that he had "just heard" that Nunes had stepped aside.

"He is a very honorable guy," Trump said, according to a pool report. "I think he did that maybe for his own reason. He's a high-quality person."

Asked if he believed Nunes shared classified information improperly, Trump said: "Nobody shared it with me, that I can tell you. Because I haven't looked."

Of Conaway, the new leader of the House Russian-influence probe, Trump said he was a "highly respected man" but that he has never met him.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One that he learned of Nunes' decision watching it on Fox News. He maintained that President Trump did nothing wrong by meeting with Nunes at the White House to discuss the classified documents Nunes had viewed at the National Security Council offices across from the West Wing.

Conaway is a Texas Republican. In January, he said that Democrats’ efforts to get out the vote in Nevada last year included entertainment supplied by Mexican singer Vincente Fernandez. He suggested that was “foreign influence” like the Russian meddling.

“If we’re worried about foreign influence, let’s have the whole story,” he was quoted as saying.

Rooney said in an interview Thursday shortly after Nunes' announcement that he did not think the chairman had to recuse himself. But it was clear the former military prosecutor plans to help conduct the probe in a methodical, low-key fashion.

"If this thing has taught me anything it's that we need to focus on the investigation without talking to the media or ...not about whether there's going to be ethics violations or complaints issued," he said. "I preferred to just look at the evidence, take the facts where they leads us and come to a conclusion as fast as possible, which is going to be a long time I'd imagine."

Nunes has been criticized for going to the White House to review documents he says showed intelligence agencies caught up Trump associates in their investigation of their intelligence targets, then sharing it with Trump. Nunes also canceled a public hearing with former National Security Agency director James Clapper, former FBI director John Brennan and former acting attorney general Sally Yates.

Clapper was the first in the intelligence community to say that Trump’s claim to have been wiretapped by former president Barack Obama during the transition period had no basis in fact. Yates informed White House counsel Don McGahn of former national security adviser Michael Flynn's interactions with the Russian ambassador during the transition.

Schiff faced the cameras shortly after Ryan addressed reporters, commending Nunes for stepping down, saying it was “in the best interests of the investigation.”

Despite the weeks of drama, Schiff said the committee’s Russia investigation never went into a hiatus and that committee staffers continue to review documents. Schiff said the full committee now has access to the unmasking evidence that Nunes and he reviewed at the White House.

Schiff said he looked forward to working with Conaway and with Nunes on “a range of other issues,” including the Islamic State, North Korea and other threats. Uncharacteristically, he did not take questions.

The White House also released a statement saying simply "this is an internal matter for the House."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement that it was appropriate for Nunes to recuse himself from the Russia probe “given his work on the Trump transition team and recent activities at the White House.” Cumming also called for the intelligence committee to reschedule the public hearing with Yates.

USA TODAY reporters Ledyard King and Gregory Korte contributed to this story.

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