Update: Rep. Nunes has first tried to dodge addressing the events of his conduct yesterday, but when unable to avoid it, eventually apologized. It has now come out that Nunes shared the information with his Republican committee members, who asked him not to hold that press conference, and not to go to the president. Nunes did it anyway.
Worse Nunes still has not shared that information, provided to the Republicans, with the Intel committee Democrats. He indicated he would, eventually, but would not say when. Those Democrats have every right and responsibility to access to that information. There is no legitimate justification for it not being provided yesterday.
So says Congressman and lawyer Adam Schiff, ranking democrat on the House Intelligence committee, about Trump and his government swamp rats. I have no reason not to believe Schiff, a lawyer who uses and understands the term circumstantial fully as legal terminology. Schiff, (unlike Trump and those who step 'n fetchit for him by lying), has an excellent truth track record.
The chair of that committee of which Schiff is the ranking (most senior) democratic member, the House Intelligence committee, is Utah Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes. Nunes turns out to have his own connections to the Russians, and was part of the demonstrably dishonest, corrupt, Trump transition team himself.
Just as bad, Nunes was one of those who did the White House lying for them about the Rump Russian scandals, calling journalists trying to squelch the stories. That was wrong, that was dirty, and that was reported by the WaPo back in February.
Wednesday Nunes behaved not just oddly but inappropriately in sharing anonymous, LEGALLY collected "incidental" information on Trump and his transition team , per his unexpected urgently called press event, information which he did not share with his own committee. As Schiff noted this was a violation of procedure and highly inappropriate.
While Nunes was part of that transition team, he did not indicate if he was included in the new information. Vice President Pence headed that transition team, and Nunes was part of the executive committee of the transition per the LA Times last November. Many of those brought into the Trump adminiustration by that committee ALSO have questionable business ties to Russia, specifically Putin, include Sec State Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Ross who chaired a Russian bank in Cypress involved with money laundering Russian oligarch dirty money.
If it walks and quacks like a duck.....well, in my opinion Trump and his administration, and those who carry water for him (or quack) for him in Congress are like a row of dirty paddling Baikal Teal ( a type of Russian ducks).
I would describe it as more like barely controlled panic on the part of Nunes, who has as his primary financial involvement a winery, Alpha Omega, with distribution connections to Russia, per the previously reliable Palmer report, in turn citing the LA Times, a source as gold standard as the New York Times, on the east coast.
Nunes has done everything in his power to try to give cover to Trump, and apparently to cover his own dubious backside.
Likewise in the Senate a potential conflict of interest with his own Russian involvement in a dubious pyramid scheme called Nu Skin, Chaffetz largest donor. I personally have a substantial moral objection to pyramid schemes as scams, but they seem very popular with right wing wealthy scammers who make big bucks exploiting people. Again a hat tip to the Palmer Report blog, citing Open Secrets, who list over $100,000 from Nu Skin for his two election campaigns, and lists other credible sources. Chaffetz has received so much funding, he is described as practically owned by Nu Skin, which has branched out into Russia and the Ukraine while receiving cover from Chaffetz, in spite of YUGE fines for illegal business practices from the federal government.
Given how many Republican senators have seniority higher than relative newbie Chaffetz, other than his willingness to pursue pointless, endless investigations without merit, what I would call witch hunts, his position, and how he has used it, raises red flags. Clinton investigations I would argue were pursued for purely political reasons, making Chaffetz impartiality is AT BEST suspect and at worst politically corrupt, and tainted with the same corruption stain as not-my-president (arguably not anyone's president) Donny J for jackass Trump.
Make America great again; deport all the Russian controlled or influenced or owned right wing swamp rats out of government, out of the country, and dump them in Vlad Putin's lap where they belong.