Devin Nunes Faces Heat for Questioning Intel Leaks Against Flynn

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is facing a backlash from some of his left-wing constituents after questioning the legality of surveillance that led to President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn’s resignation on Monday.

Flynn resigned after reports surfaced indicating intelligence officials had recorded private telephone conversations he had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, before President Trump took office on January 20. His resignation came after reports that Flynn allegedly misled Vice President Mike Pence about the contents of his phone calls with Kslyak.

“I expect for the FBI to tell me what is going on, and they better have a good answer,” Nunes said Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. “The big problem I see here is that you have an American citizen who had his phone calls recorded.”

Democrats pounced in response.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Devin Nunes has got to go,” about 20 activists and constituents affiliated with the Los Angeles-based Courage Campaign, a progressive group, shouted as they protested outside Nunes’ Clovis office Wednesday, according to the Fresno Bee.

One protester told the Bee, “We’re very, very interested in the problem that we’re having with Flynn and his connection with Russia and the Russian influence in our country.”

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Others took to social media to express their discontent with Nunes’ defense of Flynn.

Nunes said that he is not opposed to investigating further. However, he told CNN the Intelligence Committee won’t look into discussions between Trump and Flynn, citing the president’s executive privilege:

Instead, Nunes suggested an investigation into the legality of the phone taps themselves. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Nunes alleged that the Flynn fiasco was a result of intelligence personnel from the Obama administration illegally leaking information unlawfully attained by tapping Flynn’s phone line while he was a private citizen.

“I think most of this is probably from people who were in the old administration, but there still could be some people that have burrowed in and are providing classified information to the media,” Nunes said, according to the Washington Times.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz

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