As Democrats call for recusal, intelligence chair says 'nobody was sneaking around' on White House visit

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes defended his visit to White House grounds last week to meet a source the day before publicly sharing details about surveillance that “inadvertently collected” information on associates of President Donald Trump, calling his actions as “pretty common” and saying that “nobody was sneaking around.”

Nunes, R-California, is facing growing calls for his resignation from his chairmanship from prominent Democrats, who on Monday portrayed him as nonobjective and called the White House meeting as a conflict of interest. Some have additionally highlighted Nunes’ service on the Trump transition committee.

In an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Nunes argued that the visit was commonplace and part of an investigation into the unmasking of Americans in intelligence reports that began before Trump’s wiretapping claims.

“I had been working this for a long time with many different sources and needed a place that I could actually finally go because I knew what I was looking for and I could actually get access to what I needed to see,” said Nunes, adding later, “It wasn’t at night … nobody was sneaking around, all it was was just a place where I had to go to be able to review this information.”

Asked whether he could’ve used a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at a different location to view the materials and avoid the appearance of impropriety that accompanied his White House trip, Nunes said he could not because Congress had “not been given this information.” SCIFs are specifically used to view or discuss classified information in surroundings that are otherwise unsecured.

The chairman’s defense comes as a number of Democrats have stepped forward to call for his recusal from or replacement on the House Intelligence Committee, including the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California.

“I believe that the chairman should recuse himself from any further involvement in the Russia investigation, as well as any involvement in oversight of matters pertaining to any incidental collection of the Trump transition,” said Schiff in a statement Monday.

“This is not a recommendation I make lightly, as the chairman and I have worked together well for several years; and I take this step with the knowledge of the solemn responsibility we have on the Intelligence Committee to provide oversight on all intelligence matters, not just to conduct the investigation,” added Schiff, who compared the situation to the one that led to the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in matters involving Russia following the news that he met with the country’s ambassador to the U.S. last year.

Earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, became the highest-profile Democrat to call for Nunes’ resignation while speaking on the Senate floor.

“If Speaker [Paul] Ryan wants the House to have a credible investigation, he needs to replace Chairman Nunes,” said Schumer.

Last week, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, called Nunes a “stooge of the president” and said he was “deeply compromised and he cannot possibly lead an honest investigation,” but she has not yet explicitly called for Ryan to remove Nunes.

On the Republican side, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and John McCain, R-Arizona, had questions of their own.

“I just think he needs to explain what he did, who he talked to,” said Graham. “Schiff to me is talking more like a prosecutor and Nunes has been acting like a defense attorney. The bottom line is, we’re hoping they can put it together in the House. We hope they can get back on track.”

McCain said he “honestly [doesn’t] know what to make of” the situation with Nunes, but said he wants to know, “What brought him to the White House? Who did he see? What was the information? Just a few complicated questions like that.”

A spokesman for Nunes told ABC News the chairman won’t be stepping down from leading the committee’s investigation.

After first noting the incidental collection of information about Trump associates last week to the press, and then briefing the president on the matter, Nunes apologized for not consulting the Intelligence Committee first. Nunes said he made the decision to go public first in the midst of a busy day and that it was a “judgment call.”

On Friday, a spokesman for Nunes walked back some of his comments, telling ABC News that the congressman doesn’t know “for sure” if the Trump associates cited were directly surveilled.

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