Today, Common Cause urged Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) to enforce House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes’ recusal from the committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Nunes recused himself from the investigation after he was accused of disclosing classified information in an attempt to justify false claims by Donald Trump that the Obama Administration had “wiretapped” Trump Tower. But last week Chairman Nunes ignored his recusal and used his power as committee chair to subpoena intelligence service materials related to the “unmasking” of Trump campaign officials for their contacts with Russian government officials and intermediaries.

“Rep. Nunes has no business anywhere near the Russia investigation; he has been carrying water for the Trump team as part of the transition team and through at least two very public attempts to try to muzzle the scandal in the media at the request of the Administration,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “We are asking Speaker Ryan to remove Rep. Nunes from any involvement whatsoever in the investigation. In short we are asking the Speaker to put country before party, because Rep. Nunes refuses to do so.”

The letter stresses that the repeated actions taken by Chair Nunes to provide cover for the White House, which have continued since he recused himself, demonstrate that Nunes “can no longer be trusted to lead the House Intelligence Committee while he is being investigated for unauthorized disclosure of intelligence.”

A copy of the letter was sent to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the full Intelligence Committee.

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