Devin "Won't Reveal His Sources" Nunes is setting up another showdown with Rod Rosenstein, the DOJ and the FBI. In this chapter of his never-ending tantrum, Nunes demanded documents from them they feared would endanger their intel sources.
History has shown Nunes is unconcerned with protecting sources. If it were up to him, he'd release everything unredacted in the name of TRANSPARENCY!!! Luckily for the source in this case, though, in an unusual turn, Trump actually agreed with the FBI and DOJ, siding with their decision not to hand over the documents Nunes sought.
Top White House officials, with the assent of President Trump, agreed to back the decision to withhold the information. They were persuaded that turning over Justice Department documents could risk lives by potentially exposing the source, a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI, according to multiple people familiar with the discussion and the person’s role.
The showdown marked a rare moment of alignment between the Justice Department and Trump, who has relentlessly criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other top Justice officials for the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
Now what? Well, Nunes called the security concerns "spurious" and "suspicious," and said the responses amounted to "obfuscation." He repeated his threat to impeach Rod Rosenstein and other top Justice officials, should they not cooperate to his satisfaction. It's almost as if he's not interested in letting the Justice Department and the FBI do their job of protecting United States elections from interference from foreign countries! It almost feels like he exists for the sole purpose of projecting whatever Trump and Republicans are accused of back onto the people trying to bring it to light!
Luckily, for the moment, at least, we have Rosenstein standing his ground.
Rosenstein has sought to make clear in recent weeks that while he is willing to compromise, he will go only so far. Last week, in response to the revelation that members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus drafted articles of impeachment, Rosenstein declared that the Justice Department was “not going to be extorted” and would not hand over documents that might harm national security or ongoing investigations.
“If we were to just open our doors to allow Congress to come and rummage through the files, that would be a serious infringement on the separation of powers, and it might resolve a dispute today, but it would have negative repercussions in the long run, and we have a responsibility to defend the institution,” Rosenstein said.
Maybe if Nunes wasn't such a dishonest putz, he would have put as much energy into the investigation regarding the election as he is putting into his imaginary, fever-dream DOJ/FBI overreach investigation.
Blue America candidate Ricardo Franco is challenging Nunes in the California primary. If you can, donate to him here.
