March 26, 2017

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told Face the Nationhost John Dickerson that after Rep. Devin Nunes' bizarre actions last week, "The chairman has to make a decision whether to act as a surrogate of the White House," or to "lead an independent and credible investigation."

Nunes caused massive news last Wednesday, when he abruptly held an early morning press conference and told the media, “The intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition," and then proceeded to run to the White House, bypassing his own committee members to tell Trump.

Dickerson had earlier asked Schiff why he believed Nunes was trying to "choke off public information?"

Nunes also committed another highly unusual act by abruptly and without warning cancelling a planned open Intelligence Committee hearing with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

Rep. Schiff replied that cancelling that hearing when all the parties had committed to it simply made no sense.

He explained that since the first meeting with FBI Director James Comey went so badly for the Trump administration, Schiff said, "there was a lot of push-back in doing a second open hearing."

Dickerson replied, "It sound like you're saying 'is the chairman of the committee is a tool of the White House he is investigating' and if you're saying that, how can the committee-his committee-get its work done?"

I'd say a "tool," describes Devin Nunes quite well.

Rep. Schiff replied, "I think the chairman has to make a decision whether to act as a surrogate of the White House as he did during the campaign and the transition or to lead an independent and credible investigation."

"I hope he chooses the latter. The country really needs to have an independent, credible investigation in the House and we had that up until and through Monday, where I think that the House process went off the rails was with that venture by the chairman to the White House," he said. "You simply can't run a credible investigation that way."

Nunes shot his credibility all to hell with his insane actions from last week.

Even Sen. John McCain agrees.

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