House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on Tuesday brushed aside calls to recuse himself from the panel’s investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Pushed repeatedly on whether he would continue to lead the controversial investigation, Nunes declined to answer definitively — but signaled that he did not intend to step down.
“Why would I not [continue to lead the investigation]?” he said. “I’d like to answer your question, but I’d like to know first, why that would be? Help me understand.”
{mosads}Democrats — including the committee’s ranking member, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — have called for Nunes to remove himself from the investigation after the revelation that he secretly visited the White House grounds the day before announcing he’d been shown evidence of incidental surveillance of President Trump’s transition team.
Nunes described calls for him to step down as “politics” and chided reporters for asking the same question repeatedly.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) signaled Tuesday he was standing behind the embattled Nunes, who was originally appointed to the post in 2015 by then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and stayed on in the role when Ryan was elected Speaker.
Asked whether Nunes should recuse himself and whether he knew the source whom the chairman met with at the White House, Ryan tersely told reporters “no and no” before moving on to questions about healthcare.
In an earlier statement, Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said, “Speaker Ryan has full confidence that Chairman Nunes is conducting a thorough, fair, and credible investigation.”
Scott Wong contributed.
– Updated at 11:37 a.m.