Stalled Investigation
D. S. Mitchell
My Hackles Are Up
We have our hackles up here at Calamity News and Politics. The sanctity of our institutions are at risk. Our U.S. political system is sliding into the sewer. It is looking really bad around the White House, like a great sink hole is opening up at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The lies, the deflection, the distractions are centering themselves, now around Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA). Devin Nunes is the Chairman of the House Intel Committee. Nunes has created a firestorm over the last week.
Recusal Time
Mr. Nunes was part of the Trump transition team. That fact alone should require him to recuse himself from investigating possible collusion between the Russian government and the Donald J. Trump Presidential Campaign. Nunes says that his personal connection with Trump and his staff will have no effect on his committee’s investigation. Because he says he was involved “after the campaign”.
Investigation
My thought on his explanation is, bull shit. Nunes has a relationship with Trump and his associates, most of whom were involved in both the campaign and the transition team. Having a close relationship with those being investigated spells bad news. It wouldn’t surprise me if Nunes doesn’t find himself thrown off that big Trump bus, anytime he’s no longer useful.
Morphing Accusations
Approximately three weeks ago, Donald Trump, President of the U.S, accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of “wiretapping Trump Tower” (a felony) in a 6:00 a.m. tweet rant. All the intelligence agencies called the accusations false. Trump keeps blurring the lines of what he meant by “wiretapping”. Each day it has morphed slightly. The accusations now include spying microwaves and television sets, surveillance photos, telephone conversations between foreign entities where names of American citizens were illegally unmasked.
New Nunes Claims
Nunes claims that some Trump transition messages were intercepted, possibly Trump himself being captured in the surveillance. White House and Trump supporters seized on Nunes’ comments as “vindication” of Trump’s rebuked claims that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. But, Representative Nunes produced no documentation of his discoveries, neither to the press, or his fellow committee members.
Urgent Meeting
A nosy reporter discovered that Nunes had actually gone to the White House “grounds” to view the surveillance proof he “knew existed”. He did this the day prior to his babbling, nonsensical press conference and his urgent meeting with President Trump. An outraged, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) ranking member of the Intel Committee and former prosecutor, has publicly stated that there is a very “strong circumstantial case” that the Trump campaign colluded with a foreign power to win the 2016 election. Now because of Nunes’ questionable behavior surrounding the campaign investigation, Schiff is asking that the Chairman recuse himself immediately.
Looking Bad
Nunes has done a lot to undermine the effectiveness of his own committee. The GOP is standing by him, Paul Ryan who hands out House chairmanships says he has “full faith” in Nunes. The work of the The House Intel Committee has come to a screeching halt. No meetings, no testimony, no conversation between Democrats and Republicans. Nunes’ says he will not recuse himself or step down, and he intends to suspend committee business until at least after Easter. WOW! Mr. Nunes your actions look really, bad. I mean, really, really, bad. It’s easy to get ensnared when you are surrounded by corruption, but, man, you gotta look a little less guilty.
A New Rabbit Hole
His explanation for his visit in the middle of the night to the White House is nonsensical. He said he went to the White House to get information for the White House, that the White House already had. Weird and wacky and probably intended to send us all running down new rabbit holes. An effort to distract from the Russia investigation. This whole fiasco has become half Spy Kids and half Pink Panther story. If Mr. Nunes intended to draw attention away from the Russian investigation, he failed in that regard.
Distraction 101
The Russia collusion story has as many legs as a centipede. New names just keep bubbling to the surface. If Nunes’ intention was to some how substantiate Trump’s claims of wiretapping by Obama Administration, that also failed. In fact, a visit to the White House “grounds”, several frantic press conferences, changing stories, no evidence produced, makes me suspect that this administration will keep throwing raw meat out to keep the press and public distracted, because I believe, there are some very nervous people in the Trump orbit. Like a treed coon, those baying hounds send chills up and down your spine.
Resign
I am with the Democrats. Mr. Nunes you must resign your chairmanship. You have lost all credibility and having you head a committee investigating your own associates is ludicrous. I think you have shit on your shoe and you are spreading everywhere you walk. I have no doubt that the ethics committee will be calling you in to answer a whole bunch of questions.
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