[Rajoo]

Devin Nunes, in secretly recorded tape, tells donors GOP majority is necessary to protect Trump: ‘We’re the only ones’

Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, appears to have moved from criticizing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to strategizing about how to blunt its impact should it imperil President Trump.

The most promising instrument in this effort, he suggested in unfiltered remarks last month, is retaining a GOP-controlled Congress.

“If Sessions won’t unrecuse and Mueller won’t clear the president, we’re the only ones, which is really the danger,” Nunes said at an event for Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, referring to Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, and Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. Sessions said last year that he would keep his distance from inquiries related to the 2016 election owing to his role in Trump’s campaign — a move that has frustrated the president, leading him to blame his own attorney general for the “Russian Witch Hunt Hoax.”

“I mean, we have to keep all these seats,” Nunes added. “We have to keep the majority. If we do not keep the majority, all of this goes away.”

Under our Constitution, the duty of Congress is not to clear the President. The duty of Congress is to be a check and balance on the Executive Branch, and to pursue the facts wherever they may lead.

Devin Nunes should resign for perverting the oath he took. https://t.co/ugc7CBgG39
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 9, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.3ee096416a1e