Nunes's unforced errors have undermined public faith
And even the conservatives are starting the drum beat.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446179/devin-nunes-trump-surveillance-campaign-investigation-house-intel-committee-russia
David French March 28, 2017 2:45 PM
Nunes’s unforced errors have undermined public faith.
Let’s begin with two assertions, both of which should be inarguable. First, no one in Washington is entitled to any position of power or responsibility. Second, the greater the power or responsibility, the more integrity, character, and — crucially — competence we should expect from our public officials. Or, to put it plainly, to whom much is given, much is required.
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Just at the time when the nation desperately needs adults to step forward who can give the public confidence that they not only understand the stakes of the Russia investigation, they also can be entrusted to conduct that investigation in good faith, Nunes unnecessarily poured gasoline on an already-raging fire. The American body politic is awash in conspiracy theories, mistrust, and wild claims of espionage and criminality. It needs leaders. It needs competence. It needs integrity.
Nunes isn’t Donald Trump’s lawyer. He’s not Trump’s spokesperson. It’s not his job to clean up Trump’s Twitter mess. The House Intelligence Committee faces the challenge of conducting an investigation that has at least some degree of bipartisan credibility. It’s not “success” for Nunes to produce a report that plays great on Fox News while his Democratic counterpart, Adam Schiff, writes a dissenting document for Rachel Maddow.
Are you unconvinced? Let’s indulge in the simplest exercise in political integrity. If the roles were reversed, what would you argue? If Adam Schiff was the chairman, Hillary Clinton was president, and Schiff was secretly meeting at the White House for solo briefings then presenting that same “evidence” to the press as if he’d discovered it, you’d want him to step down. And you’d be right.
Months into the Russia controversy, we still don’t know if there was any collusion at all between Russian officials and members of Trump’s team. We still don’t know the full extent of Russian efforts to have an impact on the election. And we still don’t know the identities of government officials who seem to be leaking classified information to any reporter who will listen. But we do know that partisans on both sides are utterly shameless in their double standards. Leaks are terrible if the information is damaging for their side, and they’re vital to democracy if the information is good. The Clinton Foundation’s ties to Russia are overblown, but Trump’s the Manchurian Candidate. Or, if you’re a Republican, Hillary Clinton sold out American national security, and Trump is the victim of a witch hunt. Public discourse is becoming a sad joke.
If Nunes steps down as chairman, he can quickly transition from part of the problem to part of the solution. He can make a powerful statement that mistakes have consequences, and public officials still have the integrity to acknowledge their own shortcomings. He can clear the way for an investigation untainted by his own errors. His own power and his own position are not worth the ongoing loss in public confidence. It’s time for Nunes to go.
— David French is a staff writer for National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and an attorney.
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in torpedoing the House investigation.
hard time answering those questions if and when they start coming
