President Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom on Monday to Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California, one of the president’s staunchest allies, citing the lawmaker’s “courageous” efforts in investigating the origins of the Russian collusion allegations and the Obama administration’s spying on the Trump campaign in 2016.
The White House said Mr. Nunes “pursued the Russia Hoax at great personal risk and never stopped standing up for the truth.”
“As a result of his work, he discovered that the infamous Steele dossier was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee,” the White House said. “He found that a senior Justice Department attorney [Bruce Ohr] was married to one of the architects of the document. He learned that the Obama-Biden administration had issued Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants to spy on President Trump’s campaign and illegitimately unmasked several innocent spying victims for political gain.”
The White House didn’t allow media coverage of the event and made the announcement after the president had already bestowed the honor on Mr. Nunes. Typically, the White House holds a high-profile medal ceremony, with TV cameras and guests invited, in a setting such as the East Room, the Rose Garden or the Oval Office.
The announcement praised Mr. Nunes’ “courageous actions [that] helped thwart a plot to take down a sitting United States president.”
“Devin’s efforts led to the firing, demotion or resignation of over a dozen FBI and DOJ employees,” the White House said. “He also forced the disclosure of documents that proved that a corrupt senior FBI official pursued a vindictive persecution of [former national security adviser] Gen. Michael Flynn — even after rank and file FBI agents found no evidence of wrongdoing.
“He had the fortitude to take on the media, the FBI, the Intelligence Community, the Democrat Party, foreign spies, and the full power of the Deep State. Devin paid a price for his courage,” the White House said. “The media smeared him and liberal activists opened a frivolous and unjustified ethics investigation, dragging his name through the mud for eight long months. Two dozen members of his family received threatening phone calls – including his 98-year-old grandmother.”
The Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. Mr. Nunes has served as chairman of the House intelligence committee.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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