Devin Nunes lists past Democratic false charges

ANALYSIS

Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, on Wednesday listed what he said were 10 bogus allegations made by panel Democrats since 2017 against President Trump.

“It’s a long list of false charges, and that’s merely a partial list,” the California Republican said.

Mr. Nunes’ inventory follows his practice in previous impeachment hearings by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which he has opened by retelling how Democrats, not President Trump, actively relied on Russia in 2016.

Here are five Nunes examples, with notations by The Washington Times, citing the March 2019 report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election by former special counsel Robert Mueller. It scrutinized all known links between Trump associates and Moscow.

1. “Trump is a long time Russian agent, as described in the Steele dossier.”

Mr. Mueller said he did not establish a Trump-Russia election conspiracy. His report made no mention of any espionage ties between Mr. Trump and the Kremlin. President Barack Obama’s CIA director, John Brennan, has accused Mr. Trump multiple times of being a Russian agent.

2. “The Russians gave Trump advance access to emails stolen from the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign.”

The Mueller report didn’t find this.

3. “Trump laundered Russian money through real estate deals.”

When Rep. Adam Schiff, California Democrat, took over the panel in

January 2019, he listed money laundering among a list of allegations

he planned to probe. The Mueller report, which relied on three years of FBI investigations and intelligence community input, made no mention of laundered money.

4. “Trump changed the Republican National Committee platform to hurt Ukraine and benefit Russia.”

The Mueller report shows that one non-Trump delegate offered an amendment to commit to lethal aid for Ukraine. As a compromise, new language was added to the platform to promise all appropriate aid to the Ukraine Armed Forces. In March 2018, the Trump administration shipped Ukraine 210 Javelin anti-tanks weapons, a first.

5. “The Russians laundered money through the NRA for the Trump campaign.”

This is another Schiff charge that originated with Fusion GPS, the

Clinton opposition research firm that created and dispersed the

Steele dossier to the Obama Justice Department and FBI. The National Rifle Association says an audit shows no such money laundering occurred. There was no mention of this charge in the Mueller report.