On two fronts, Rep. Devin Nunes has shifted the Russia debate in Washington further away from President Trump and closer to Democrats.
He exposed the practice of “unmasking” by Obama aides and flushed out the source of payments for the scandalous anti-Trump dossier that drove the Russia collusion narrative.
The California Republican’s first tactic: He traveled to the Executive Office Building and viewed evidence that the Obama administration had “unmasked” the concealed names of Trump associates in highly classified intelligence reports during the election campaign.
The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence talked publicly about his discovery to much derision from Democrats and Washington’s press corps. The unmasking suggested that the Obama White House was spying on a political foe through its legal right to unmask the identities of people unintentionally swept up in surveillance operations.
An advocacy group filed a complaint about his disclosure with the Office of Congressional Ethics. Mr. Nunesresponded by removing himself as the overseer of the committee’s Russia probe.
But his legacy lives on. Both the Senate and House intelligence committees have summoned former Obama aides as witnesses. It turns out that Samantha Power, as ambassador to the United Nations, made hundreds of unmasking requests, Fox News reported.
Related:
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- Nunes: Dems Want Russia Investigation Because They Can’t Get Over Hillary’s Loss
- Hill Republicans want more answers from Wasserman Schultz, Podesta about Trump dossier money
- CNN reporter leading coverage of anti-Trump dossier has deep connections to Fusion GPS founders
- WATCH: Longtime Clinton ally says DNC officials may have lied to Congress about ‘Trump dossier’