- The Washington Times - Friday, March 24, 2017

A Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee stopped short of calling for Rep. Devin Nunes to be stripped of his chairmanship over the Republican’s decision to go public with allegations that communications from the Trump transition team were inadvertently intercepted by U.S. spy agencies before sharing the information with Democrats on the panel.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut said it is up to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to decide whether Mr. Nunes maintains the top post on the committee, and said the recent episode reinforces the need for an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

“Devin, as much as I appreciate him and consider him a friend, has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he will often serve the interests of Donald Trump,” Mr. Himes said on CNN’s “New Day.”

But he also said that as long as there is not an outside commission, then the House Intelligence Committee is the “only game in town.”

“While the chairman’s behavior from the outside going to the media, going to the president most recently, has cast doubt on the impartiality of the investigation, inside Congressman Nunes has been very constructive with us,” Mr. Himes said. “We worry a little bit about if he is removed who do we get now and do we get somebody who is going to be less constructive inside than Congressman Nunes.”

Mr. Nunes apologized to this colleagues on the panel for not giving them a heads-up before going to the president.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

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