Normally, you can just ignore Devin Nunes.
Last year, he was compromised by the White House and since then, he’s become a standing joke, just like his infamous “memo” which had the exact opposite of its intended effect and only served to validate concerns the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is in fact beholden to Donald Trump. Devin’s memo was subsequently refuted by a Democratic counter memo, which you can read here in case you want to remind yourself about just how dishonest Nunes was in the course of not investigating Russian collusion.
Long story short, everything that comes out of Nunes’s mouth is a lie, an attempt to cast doubt on the Mueller probe or, in most cases, both.
And do you know who likes lies and attempts to cast doubt on the Mueller probe? Donald Trump, that’s who. Which means he’s perpetually proud of his most reliably sycophantic defender on Capitol Hill.
“Devin Nunes [is] a true American Patriot the likes of which we rarely see in our modern day world….he truly loves our country and deserves everyone’s support!”, Trump tweeted on June 5. In February, the President went so far as to call Nunes “a man of tremendous courage and grit [who] may someday be recognized as a Great American Hero.”
I’ll pause for laughter.
But while you can’t take Nunes seriously when he’s speaking in public, you apparently can when he’s speaking in private, because according to tapes obtained (and subsequently aired) by MSNBC, Devin is pretty sure that impeachment is in the cards for Donald Trump if the midterms don’t go well.
Listen to this, from a tape made by a progressive organization called Fuse Washington that apparently paid for entry into a July 30 fundraiser, in Spokane:
That, folks, is a clear dereliction of duty. That, folks, is why you cannot trust Devin Nunes. That, folks, should be grounds for Nunes to be removed from Congress.
Just to be absolutely clear, Nunes is explicitly saying, out loud, to people with working ears, that the primary job of lawmakers is to make sure the President doesn’t get impeached, even if he deserves it. Is that what you expect from your elected representatives? Because see here I thought the job of Congress was to serve as a check on Executive authority, but maybe this political scientist just isn’t reading the Constitution right. What say you Ted?
Under our Constitution, the duty of Congress is not to clear the President. The duty of Congress is to be a check and balance on the Executive Branch, and to pursue the facts wherever they may lead.
Devin Nunes should resign for perverting the oath he took. https://t.co/ugc7CBgG39
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 9, 2018
Yeah. Exactly.
Now let’s all laugh at Donald Trump’s characterization of Nunes again.
Representative Devin Nunes, a man of tremendous courage and grit, may someday be recognized as a Great American Hero for what he has exposed and what he has had to endure!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018
What do you call someone who is trying to subvert the U.S. Constitution? A patriot? I think not. A traitor? Perhaps.