House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes announced he is temporarily stepping aside from the Russia investigation after “leftwing activist groups” filed false accusations against him.
Nunes was leading a committee probe into Russia’s unfounded influence on the 2016 presidential elections.
The Office of Congressional Ethics is looking into the false allegations of misconduct after Nunes announced he saw evidence that former President Obama’s administration spied on members of President Trump’s transition team and had their names “unmasked” by a top Obama official.
Earlier this week, blogger Mike Cernovich, Fox News and others revealed it was former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice who ordered the unmasking of General Mike Flynn.
“Unmasking” means revealing the names of American citizens who are otherwise protected from having their identities revealed when they are incidentally caught up in surveillance of foreign agents.
Rice did not deny she did the unmasking, but she claimed her actions — spying on a Republican candidate for president — was not politically motivated.
“I leaked nothing to nobody,” she said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”
In a tweet this week, President Donald Trump said he believes Rice committed a crime.
“I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Mr. Trump said to the New York Times. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”
