Republican House leader Paul Ryan is standing by embattled Intelligence Committee head Devin Nunes, telling reporters Tuesday that he doesn’t think Nunes needs to recuse himself from the House’s Russia investigation.
“No and no,” Ryan said succinctly when asked whether he thinks Nunes should recuse himself or whether he knows the source of Nunes’ information.
Ryan’s response comes amid growing calls for Nunes to remove himself from his committee’s investigation, after it was revealed that Nunes had held a meeting on White House grounds with a source who told him that incidental surveillance captured communications involving President Trump’s associates. Democratic leaders in the Congress, including ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have questioned Nunes’ independence and asked him to recuse himself from his committee’s probe into Russia.
But Nunes so far has refused. “Why would I?” he asked reporters Tuesday when prodded about whether he’d step down.
