Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Bark louder, little dog.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Consistently wrong since 2002

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Russiagate Open Thread: Watching the “Detectives”, Nunes Edition

Russiagate Open Thread: Watching the “Detectives”, Nunes Edition

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… “Nut job” has clung to Nunes’s reputation as long as he’s been chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI, in Washington-speak). Or at least among Democrats (and some Republicans) who have decried Nunes’s transformation of a once bipartisan national security panel into a GOP platform to attack Democrats.

Janz thinks he knows why: Nunes’s mentorship by Michael Flynn, the now disgraced former Trump national security adviser. “I know that they had a pretty close relationship,” he said. Nunes served on the executive committee of the Trump transition team with Flynn, he noted, which was headed by Vice President Mike Pence, “and it seems to me like he never left. He’s still on that team.“

A descendent of Portuguese Azorean immigrants, Nunes grew up on a Central Valley, California farm and concentrated on water issues when he came to Congress in 2003. But his fundraising prowess for fellow Republicans endeared him to Representative Paul Ryan and House Speaker John Boehner, who in 2013 anointed him chairman of the intelligence panel.

Like many hawks back then, Nunes was in awe of Flynn, who had won praise for revolutionizing the hunt for terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This guy was one of the best intelligence officers in several generations,” Nunes told me in a December 23, 2016 interview. “I don’t know if you’ve ever met him, but Flynn is extremely smart. He really is top notch.”

Nunes was speaking fives months after Flynn had startled many former military officers by leading “Lock her up” chants against Hillary Clinton at the Republican National Convention. It was also two years after the Obama White House has forced Flynn’s resignation as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. “What happened,” Nunes told me, “is…he went out and said a lot of things that Obama didn’t like…”

But that’s not close to the full story on Flynn, whose battlefield talents didn’t transfer well to running the DIA from 2012 to 2014. Not only were his executive skills lacking, according to many observers, including former Army general and Secretary of State Colin Powell, he quickly developed a reputation for indulging in conspiracy theories—or “Flynn facts,” his aides derisively called them.

But Nunes embraced them. During Flynn’s tenure, the neophyte intelligence overseer and the general came to share a number of beliefs. One was that the CIA was suppressing the release of documents captured from Osama Bin Laden’s lair that supposedly showed a closer relationship between Al-Qaeda and Iran than the Obama White House, then conducting backchannel talks with Tehran on halting its nuclear weapons program, wanted known. Nunes, according to a then-close observer, demanded the CIA open up its files for him and Flynn one Saturday. “He was going to sneak up on them” on a weekend, the source snorted, speaking on terms of anonymity to discuss the sensitive incident. Nunes denied that excursion, but said he did go down to Central Command headquarters in Tampa “to meet with the team that was doing exploitation of the documents in 2013.”…

…[Flynn] and Nunes paired up to champion another issue, one that they were right about: whistleblower accusations that U.S. Central Command leaders were manipulating intelligence reports to burnish the Obama administration’s record against the Islamic State group. Flynn, according to The Weekly Standard, was annoying the White House with, “assessments that Al-Qaeda had doubled in strength over The preceding two years.” Nunes was helping lead a Republican-led joint congressional task force into the issue. At one point, he flew down to CENTCOM headquarters demanding to see documents, according to reports, but “once in Tampa…was denied access to the analysts and their findings, creating further schisms between the parties.” The task force ultimately backed up the whistleblower complaints. So did the Pentagon’s inspector general.

Nunes and Flynn evidently maintained close ties through the election and beyond, even as Flynn’s world was beginning to unravel with questions about his payments from Kremlin mouthpiece Russia Today, secret talks with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a confidential lobbying contract with a law firm tied to Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I talk to Flynn virtually everyday, if not multiple times a day,” Nunes told me in the late December 2016 interview. “Seldom there’s a day that goes by that I don’t talk to Flynn, and especially right after the campaign, directly.”…

… Nunes’s efforts to distract attention from Russiagate didn’t cease with Flynn’s departure from the administration a year ago. And even his now-famous “midnight run” to the White House weeks later indirectly involved Flynn: According to multiple reports, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whom Flynn put in charge of intelligence matters on the White House national security council despite his scant, low level experience at the DIA, helped provide Nunes with classified documents that the congressman claimed to show—falsely—as it turned out, that Obama had “wiretapped Trump Tower.” That stunt prompted complaints from good-government groups that Nunes had improperly obtained and publicized classified information…

I swear, someday Devin Nunes and Carter Page are gonna open a bed-and-breakfast together. And every room will feature fan shots of their mutual idol, Inspector Closeau.

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:
    I’m not moving there to vote against him. Or actually for any other reason either. I’ve been through the town. It ain’t pretty.

  5. 5.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: That area of California is not particularly nice, sad to say. There s a reason nutjobs like Nunes are elected.

  6. 6.

    ThresherK

    Slight quibble on What measure is a “nutjob”?

    That’s

    among Dems and some R’s on the committee

    What, it has to be unanimous?

  7. 7.

    Mary G

    Janz and the other Democrats opposing Devin were considered no-hopers, but I think he is doing his re-election chances serious damage. After Janz put up the billboard showing Putin holding Nunes and Trump on kiddie leashes, he had $40,000 in his campaign account to Nunes’ $3 million.

    Reaction to the memo got Janz $100,000 in donations the day it came out, and he has appeared on MSNBC, etc., and made enough strides to take a leave of absence from his job. He seems like he’ll be a good candidate, based on things like this tweet:

    It's not just the Russia investigation – Devin Nunes has forgotten us here at home in the Central Valley. We need jobs and water, not fake memos. Pitch in a few bucks at https://t.co/NSHC4IXn4Y https://t.co/Ww0YkPDQig— Andrew Janz (@JanzforCongress) February 10, 2018

    Local issues FTW!

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    but “once in Tampa…was denied access to the analysts and their findings, creating further schisms between the parties.”

    This means that the CENTCOM J2 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence) in combination with the CENTCOM Special Security Officer (SSO) were uncomfortable reading Congressman Nunes on to these compartments. They had determined that he was a security risk.

    They were right.

  18. 18.

    raven

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Adam didn’t “officially” tell his mother he was gay until he was in his 20s. “We were on our way to a show and he said, ‘I want to make sure that you know that I’m gay, but you probably already knew’ ” says Kelly. “I told him that’s not something I would ever assume, and, his sexual orientation is not really my business as his mother.”

  22. 22.

    chris

    Hahaha! Nunes’ noosepaper has either crashed, been DDOS’d, or been deleted although I hear the FB page is still up.

    Well, that didn't take long.After @Politico exposed it, Devin Nunes' personal fake news site is already down.He can't do facts right.He can't do lies right.But how compromised is Devin to be to be THIS obvious and lie THIS MUCH?#WhoOwnsDevinNunes?#RemoveNunes CC: @tedlieu pic.twitter.com/yXX0fq7kmV— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) 11 February 2018

  24. 24.

    The Moar You Know

    California can do us a real solid by getting rid of this mofo in November.

    @Baud: sadly, California is not a homogeneous blue. He is perfect for his district, which, since our dear president has set the precedent for saying such things, is a shithole. In every way.

  25. 25.

    mai naem mobile

    Has anybody else noticed how similar Donnie Jr and Devin Nunes look? Also they both commit similarly stupid acts. Are they brothers from different mothers? Inquiring minds want to know.

  26. 26.

    No Drought No More

    Nunes and his co-conspirators aren’t stupid. They’re scared, and for good reason. I don’t claim to understand the reason, but have concluded it’s a criminal conspiracy that extends deep into the republican party and its bankers. It alone serves to explain the GOP’s collective behavior since the day Comey was fired.

    The cold stone fact is that Russia is at this very moment waging war successfully on the United States. We are under mortal attack by a foreign power, and the rank treason practiced by Trump and congressional republicans makes Benedict Arnold look like Dwight Eisenhower. Russia Owns Trump (R.O.T). That traitorous dog is effecting Putin’s orders in the war upon America as I type.

    Tim McVeigh was executed for less.

    And democrats shouldn’t kid themselves, either. They should be prepared to roll with some punches concerning some of their own, too. Don’t forget this is all about money, and money corrupts…

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    Nunes, worst Joe Isuzu impersonator ever.

    Wouldn’t come as a surprise to find out his Congressional office walls are lined with aluminum foil.

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I assumed this “scoop” was from legendary courtier Mike Allen, but it’s from his intern, Jonathan Swann

    Axios @ axios
    Behind closed doors: The president has told multiple people that he believes the accusations about Porter, and finds him “sick.”

    erin ryan @ morninggloria
    Hi Ivanka

  33. 33.

    Mary G

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: There are race issues here that a lot of Californians don’t like to talk about. All Latinos are not equal. People who can trace their bloodlines completely from the original Spanish and Portuguese conquerors think they are better than natives, or people with mixed blood. Nunes is considered one of the Portuguese, so historically a lot of Latinos have deferred to him. It’s ridiculous, but what it is. That’s why I am impressed with Janz. It’s water that is critical in the central valley, and he gets it. Someone who will pledge not to allow us city people to take all the water and starve the farms can do well regardless of race.

  36. 36.

    geg6

    @No Drought No More:

    Well, yes. For instance, Wilmer should be investigated as so many bots are associated with his social media and one of his major campaign advisors has extremely suspicious ties to Russians and Putin supporters.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @raven

    “officially”

    What, were they in the presence of a notary public? Methinks whoever wrote that needs to be introduced to the word “explicitly.”

  42. 42.

    Mary G

    @schrodingers_cat: Paul Ryan’s obvious loophole. He said he would only bring to the floor what Twitler will sign, so the senate will pass the piece of crap, Ryan will see if he can get enough of the crazy caucus to vote yes, which I think he is perfectly incapable of doing, and hopefully the Democrats will get behind Nancy Smash and get the issue into the headlines when it’s not about shutting down the government.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Not pointing a finger at you, as it’s obviously from elsewhere.

    Sometimes the inner editor becomes highly miffed and irked and demands to be heard.

    ;)

  44. 44.

    Davebo

    Want to buy a house in California for under $140,000.00?

    If you do, Nunes will be your congressman. Fresno really bites.

  52. 52.

    Mary G

    @schrodingers_cat: I probably should have said that they will pass some piece of crap, rather than Trump’s complete wish list. Jeff Flake is the only one I think will go against it. Marco Rubio will talk a big game, but he’ll vote yes like the marshmallow he is. Lindsay Graham has got to have some serious Russian hold on him. Democrats in red states are going to be nervous. Bernie Sanders will be an asshole. We’ll see what happens this week. They are all talking about passing whatever they can, but it may just fizzle out like every other immigration bill has in this century. I hope I’m wrong.

  53. 53.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @WaterGirl:
    I’d like him voted out of office as well. It’s a long shot though since his district’s blood red. The consolation is that by this time next year, hopefully, Nunes will at least be off the committee as chair if the House is retaken.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @schrodingers_cat: @Mary G: It won’t make it through the Senate. We may all have to reconcile the Democratic minority in the Senate simply holding the line by protecting the current immigration laws until or unless both the House and the Senate flip. And the Senate flips enough so that the GOP members don’t do what they do every previous time on this stuff: vote against bipartisan, compromise immigration bills that they are cosponsors of. Grassley did this in 2010. If the Democrats flip both chambers they still have to be able to clear the 60 vote cloture threshold in the Senate. And they may very well have to clear 2/3rds in each chamber to overcome a veto on a proper set of reforms.

    Of course if they just capture both chambers, they capture the power of the purse and can simple defund ICE.

  55. 55.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Adam L Silverman:I

    t won’t make it through the Senate. We may all have to reconcile the Democratic minority in the Senate simply holding the line by protecting the current immigration laws until or unless both the House and the Senate flip.

    I agree that this is the best case scenario.

  56. 56.

    Suzanne

    Adam Rippon was just spectacular. His condom commentary is extra hilarious.

    SuzMom is making me extra crazy today. I cannot handle the nonstop talking. So much talking.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mary G: It is unlikely that anything will clear the 60 vote cloture threshold. And if something decent does, say a clean DACA EO withdrawal fix with some additional funds for border security (broadly defined), it will be DOA in the House.

  58. 58.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Of course if they just capture both chambers, they capture the power of the purse and can simple defund ICE.

    That would likely make Twerp go into high dungeon on the Twittertron. Make it so.

  59. 59.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Adam L Silverman:
    If the House is retaken this fall, then such a reform bill could pass and be sent to Twerp. He would probably veto it. Or is he too much of a coward to use the veto. Has he actually vetoed anything yet?

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I’m not sure an actual clean reform bill can clear the 60 vote closure threshold in the Senate. Doesn’t matter how many GOP senators are working with the Democrats on such a bill. In the past they always vote against their own bills when they come up for a vote.

  62. 62.

    Lapassionara

    @Adam L Silverman: Defunding ICE would be good. Every day another horror story.

    When I was a young person, learning to read, my local library had children’s books about young people who acted bravely when faced with Nazi atrocities. Now I do not know how and where to act in the face of the horrors being done in the name of the US. Help us, Obi Wan, you are our only hope.

  63. 63.

    glaukopis

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I grew up in what is now the 21st district, next door to Nunes’ 22nd. It had about the same ratio of whites to Latinos then as the 22nd has now & was consistently conservative, but is now 71 % Latino & voted for Hillary & Obama in 2008 & 2012 . I’m convinced it can be done, especially if the dems have a candidate who focuses on local issues.

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    @Suzanne:

    I cannot handle the nonstop talking. So much talking.

    I wonder sometimes if I should just build a cone of silence, instead of trying to hear around the constant talking.

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Lapassionara: In the case of the Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants, as well as those here under TPS (temporary protected status), all you can do is: 1) make sure you are aware of what is happening, 2) make sure as many other people are, 3) voice your displeasure with your Senators and member of Congress, as well as with your state legislators and local officials, 4) register to vote, 5) get as many people as you know to register to vote, 6) get them to get as many people as they know to register to vote, 6) vote, 7) get as many people as you know and that you got to register to vote to vote, 8) get as many people as you know to get as many people as they know to vote.

    Right now that is it. Right now the solution is flipping the House and the Senate in November. Because what ICE and CBP are currently doing is actually in line with the law. It may violate the spirit of it. It may even be immoral and unethical. But it is legal.

  70. 70.

    Mary G

    @James E. Powell: Found this on a website I’ve never heard of

    Results are Valid, Surprising

    So, overall, it can be concluded that these results are essentially accurate, meaning that the race for the 22nd Congressional District could be more competitive than many, including me, had assumed.

    The minor flaws of the poll seem to be on par with usual results and do not disqualify its findings.

    While Nunes has significantly more fundraising capabilities, name recognition and experience in the field than his challengers, this election will likely prove to be a far greater test to his resources than those won easily in the past.

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    @Mary G:

    Yes, exacrly. Run on local issues in your district. Fundraise with the big donors on Russia and other national issues.

  72. 72.

    JMG

    Imagine being dopey enough to include Devin Nunes in your conspiracy. No sentient being would send him to the store for a quart of milk. He’s probably still got his name magic marketed on his underwear.

  77. 77.

    SFAW

    @Suzanne:

    SuzMom is making me extra crazy today. I cannot handle the nonstop talking. So much talking.

    Would it be considered “bad form” if you said to her “Hey, Mom, can you please Google ‘STFU’ for me? I can never remember what it stands for.”

    Hilarity might ensue.

  80. 80.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Joe Scarborough
    ✔
    @JoeNBC

    WH insiders are saying it’s just a matter of time before Kelly is gone. One source tells me more unflattering stories are coming out against an isolated CoS who has lost the president’s confidence. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/11/mulvaney-trump-john-kelly-nothing-402903 …

    679
    464 people are talking about this

    Look like Morning Blow and Drumpf are back on speaking terms. “Why can’t I quit you!”

  82. 82.

    Corner Stone

    I hope Trump torches John Kelly and leaves him stranded on some trip away from the WH. Then hires Lewandoski as the new CoS.
    Now what, Hope?

  85. 85.

    Hungry Joe

    I have a friend who lives in Nunes’ district. He says everyone he’s talked to despises Nunes … but that was true last election, too. He’s in a small blue dot, bobbing on the edge of a red swamp.

  87. 87.

    Mary G

    I’m sure it’s been discussed, and I missed it, but the Koch Industry commercials in the Olympics are harshing me out.

  90. 90.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @No Drought No More:

    It alone serves to explain the GOP’s collective behavior since the day Comey was fired.

    White race panic serves to explain it just fine. As far as Republicans both elected and in the voting base are concerned, their backs are to the wall and even one loss on any issue might be the one that releases the Brown Horde. They sure as HELL don’t want to admit they’re already at the stage where they can’t win without cheating.

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
    While I can’t guarantee it, I think odds are good Trump is too cowardly to veto anything, ever. It’s the one thing that went way beyond my imagining in this election. I knew he was this stupid. I didn’t know ANYONE was this chickenshit.

  91. 91.

    randy khan

    It makes perfect sense to put a guy like Nunes in charge of the Intelligence Committee. Sort of like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department.

  93. 93.

    opiejeanne

    @Mary G: I’ve been flipping past most of the commercials but I paused when I saw KOCH industries on the screen. I experienced a moment of inchoate rage.

  101. 101.

    danielx

    @JMG:

    The more I read and hear of Nunes, the more amazed I become that he was named chairman of anything more complicated than assigning post office names. This guy couldn’t organize a drinking party in a brewery; how is that he was considered competent to chair a select subcommittee in the first place? And how is that this cretinous oaf is considered competent to organize a cover up of the magnitude that’s required in the present situation?

    Unless…it’s already considered likely that will need to be a congressional sacrifice at some point, and my man Devin has already been selected for the role in keeping with his continuing role as one of the House’s more useless appendages.

    Devin my man, there’s an old rule about the sucker in the game: if you don’t know who it is, he’s probably occupying your chair.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    @danielx:
    He was named chair of that committee for a specific reason. Russia. The PTB wanted someone with all the smarts of a fart in the wind. Looks like they got their wish.

  109. 109.

    danielx

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Could be worse. The daughter unit and I once walked into the local grocery and headed for the produce section, and we could hear this sort of uproar before we even got there. We go around the corner and there’s this guy with a grocery cart which has four little girls ranging from maybe two to seven in age, and they’re all going at the same time…dahdahDAHdahDAHdahdah!!!!!!! Couldn’t help myself – I asked “are they all yours?” and he gave me this exhausted look and said “yes, I’m afraid so”. I don’t like to think about what it was like in that home ten years later.

  111. 111.

    sdhays

    @schrodingers_cat: I figured he was a racist piece of shit based on his short performance at DHS and the fact that he agreed to work for Donald J. Trump – twice. I hoped I was wrong, but, yes, he’s a racist, misogynist piece of shit.

    I will be pretty shocked if he loses his job over this (although he certainly deserves to). Clearly he and the Preznit are on the same page, very sad that those two harpies had the nerve to bring down their friend by exposing him as a monster. So unfair!

  114. 114.

    Sandia Blanca

    @Corner Stone: Hmmm, have not noticed that about her, but I’ll watch for any such tendencies. Thanks for that tip. “Nooney Tunes” is still a cool name though, right?

  115. 115.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: Dead thread, but we just finished seeing some old friends. The wife loves to talk. On our rail trailnride I clocked her at 10 minutes nonstop. On the way back in the pickup she was in back with 2 bikes and talked to us the whole way… through two closed windows and we couldn’t hear any of it. A marvel.

  116. 116.

    Gretchen

    @schrodingers_cat: Why do your permanent resident friends not want to become citizens? But I admit we’re not at our best right now and sensible people might not want to throw in with us. The meeting with the in laws went ok, I think. I hope. They seem nice. They took down the spiciness of the food by an order of magnitude, and my daughter warned me to make a generous application of the yogurt sauce, so I enjoyed the dinner. There were lots of relatives, and socializing with new people is not one of my strengths, so I hope I did well enough.

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