The investigation by the House Intelligence Committee over President Trump's connections with the Russian government has been stalled -- according to ranking Democratic member Adam Schiff, until the chairman of that committee, Devin Nunes, either recuses himself from the investigation or he is removed. Nunes is currently under fire by Democrats who feel that he's no longer able to take an objective stance on the investigation after he reportedly went past Congress and took new intelligence information straight to the person being investigated, Donald Trump.
These are among the latest developments since the same committee held a hearing to get updates on the investigation from the FBI on March 20. Since then, Nunes has been engaged in activity that Democrats feel is suspicious. Among them is his cancellation of a public hearing that might provide new information that could be very damaging to the White House. That hearing was set for Tuesday the March 28, which would have included former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of Defense Intelligence James Clapper and most important of all former Acting Attorney General of the Department of Justice Sally Yates, who was fired in January for defying President Trump's immigration ban. A report by the Post states that they had gone over letters to and from the Department of Justice which showed that the White House deliberately blocked the hearing to prevent Sally Yates from testifying.
Classified info and privilege
Since Devin Nunes warned the President of new intelligence information last Wednesday, Democrats have been calling foul and demanding that he recuse himself and even be removed as chair in order for the investigation to continue. According to the Post, the DOJ told Sally Yates on behalf of the Trump administration in early March that they considered “a great deal of her testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege.“
Specifically, her testimony would have included details on an investigation on Michael Flynn which she was a part of, which led to his resignation as President Trump's national security advisor in February.
The report mentions John Brennan as a witness who apparently informed government officials on Thursday that their statements to the committee might contradict White House statements. And then on Friday, Sally Yates' lawyer sent a letter to the White House saying that she still wanted to testify before it was abruptly canceled.
Letters between Sally Yates, DOJ and White House
Blasting News reported on the statements from the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, which writes: "...on March 14, Nunes invited Sally Yates to testify on March 28. He says that on March 23, Sally Yates' attorney sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for their consent to testify without constraints but when they responded on March 24; Yates was referred to the White House as the DOJ said that the President owned those privileges." Yates' attorney David O'Neil apparently attended a meeting with the DOJ on the March 23 before he sent the letter to the acting Assistant Attorney General Samuel Ramer for consent.
The correspondence was shared with the House Intelligence Committee where the lawyer said that Yates was familiar with the restrictions of providing classified or client confidentiality information in a public hearing.
The Department felt that she could not reveal information she gathered while in her position, which was refuted by the lawyer saying that while she knows her limits, there is nothing revealing of non-classified information that lawmakers themselves had already talked about. Following this, Sally Yates' attorney saw this as the DOJ backing away and leaving it to the White House lawyers who O'Neill also sent a letter to with his deadline. It was soon after that Nunes canceled the hearing. Nunes would not say if he was ordered by the White House to do so.
