McCain: Nunes ‘killed’ opportunity for bipartisan investigation into Russian interference

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday slammed Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), saying the House Intelligence Committee chairman “killed” a bipartisan effort to investigate Russia’s interference in the presidential election.

“If we’re really going to get to the bottom of these things, it’s got to be done in a bipartisan fashion. And as far as I could tell, Congressman Nunes killed that,” McCain told host Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

Nunes caused an uproar last month when he publicly announced that a source had revealed intelligence documents to him that suggested information had been incidentally collected from Trump transition members during a broader intelligence probe. Nunes made this announcement before briefing his committee or its top Democrat, and then he proceeded to the White House to brief President Trump on his findings.

Last Monday, it was revealed that Nunes went to the White House for a meeting the day before he met with Trump, leading some to allege Nunes is attempting to cover for the president by justifying his unsubstantiated claims that the Obama administration “wiretapped” Trump Tower.

{mosads}McCain on Sunday emphasized the need for Democrats and Republicans to work together on congressional intelligence committees to get to the bottom of security-related investigations.

“[T]he fact is that these committees, especially intelligence committees, and armed services committees, we work closely together as Republicans and Democrats. We have to. It’s for the good of the security of the nation and the men and women who serve us,” the Arizona senator, a frequent Trump critic, said.

McCain praised Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for cohesively working together on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“I am pleased to see the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner and Senator Burr working closely together,” McCain said.

McCain, however, lamented that the parties are divided over the investigation.

“This is obviously a schism between the Republicans and Democrats, let alone the odd fashion in which all of this happened,” McCain told Raddatz.