Rep. Eric Swalwell of California's 15th Congressional District, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, continued to call for its chairman Republican Devin Nunes, also of California, to step down from leading an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, describing his behavior as “what a cover-up to a crime looks like.”
On the MSNBC program Morning Joe, Swalwell said that the work of the committee leading into last week had now been compromised. Nunes, a member of the Trump transitional team, had by his own admission visited the White House prior to his confused press conference on Friday that he had seen evidence that members of the Trump team had been under surveillance. The ranking Democrat on the Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-PA), has also asked for Nunes to recuse himself given his sharing of information with the White House while it is under investigation. It also has emerged today that Nunes canceled a scheduled hearing with former acting attorney general Sally Yates to avoid her disclosure of information related to the Russia probe.
Swalwell pointed out that a meeting at the Capitol and with more members of the committee of both parties would have been more proper, with its own facilities for reviewing classified information, and that visiting the White House is not undertaken lightly even by members of Congress: “This was done because the White House wanted it to be done, and this is what the cover-up to a crime looks like. We are watching it play out right now.”
Swalwell also raised questions as to why Nunes hasn't wanted to share his source behind surveillance claims.
“A lot of [lawmakers] have said that we don't need an independent commission because we're doing the work in the House committee, on the Intelligence Committee, and so that's always been the out for not having an independent commission,” Swalwell said. “So I've heard frustration that they don't have that out anymore. So where do we go now?”
