Contents
On Thursday, March 23, Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, apologized to committee members for his actions on Wednesday. Nunes, a California Republican, had been criticized for breaking with standard procedures by briefing President Donald Trump about classified information without first sharing it with either the committee or the FBI.
Devin Nunes has been in Congress since 2003, representing California’s 22nd Congressional District. He has been quite close to Trump and throughout his political career has often been an outspoken supporter of the former president. That has earned him praise and criticism in equal measure. His latest actions have reignited debates about transparency and proper conduct within the Intelligence Committee.
The controversy began when Nunes called a news conference to announce that communications involving Trump and his transition team had been “incidentally collected” by U.S. intelligence agencies. Nunes said the surveillance was legal, aimed at foreign officials, but the information gathered happened to include people close to Trump, which he said raised privacy concerns. Nunes called the findings alarming, but he hadn’t shared them with his committee before briefing the president.
This was infuriating for both Democrats and Republicans because Nunes, by bypassing his committee, breached protocol and undermined the bipartisan nature of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Critics accused him of acting more like a Trump ally than an impartial investigator who should protect the integrity of the work done by the committee.
In his news conference, Nunes said he had an obligation to share the findings with the president but offered no evidence to bolster his claims, adding that the material did not seem to implicate the investigation into Russian interference. That only fueled skepticism about his motives and questions of whether Nunes’s actions were politically motivated.
Nunes’ apology to the committee the next day was an olive branch, but it did little to calm the furor. Pointing to a probe without the taint of partisan bias, lawmakers from both aisles challenged demands for an independent investigation into Russian interference.
Despite the criticism, Nunes refused to back down, suggesting that he had done nothing wrong and had acted in good faith. Supporters hailed his efforts to uncover possible abuses by intelligence agencies, while detractors saw his actions as an attempt to shield Trump from scrutiny.
The above incident only added to a long list of controversies in the name of Nunes. He definitely is one of those figures in American politics who keeps polarizing. A Devin Nunes wiki offers readers deeper insights into the life and actions of the high-profile congressman.
Major news outlets have said Nunes did not mention whose communications U.S. intelligence officials collected, but said it took place after the election between November and January. “I recently confirmed that, on numerous occasions, the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition,” he told reporters during a press conference on May 22.
According to NBC News, Nunes did not share the information with the Democratic office before his press conference, causing discomfort from Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and other members.
Californian Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier said Nunes apologized after they met Thursday morning. Reports say he promised to provide the information he discovered to the committee members, but did not say exactly when he would do so.
A committee source told CNN that Democrats had to persuade Nunes at the meeting to discuss his announcement. Nunes did not want to talk about the issue, but the Democrats forced him to, leading to his apology.
Background Information
Born on October 1, 2017, Devin Nunes began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003. He currently represents the 22nd congressional district in California. Devin Nunes’ wife is Elizabeth Nunes (née Tamariz) and their family includes their three daughters: Evelyn, Julia, and Margaret.
He was born in Tulare, California and his family is of Portuguese descent. According to his government biography, Nunes grew up working on a family farm that has been in operation for three generations.
He spent his teenage years raising cattle and used his savings to begin his own harvesting business. Nunes graduated from Tulare Union High School and did associate’s work at College of the Sequoias. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and received a Bachelor’s Degree in agricultural business and a Master’s in agriculture.
Also Read: Egypt Criss’ Wiki: The Talented Daughter of Hip Hop’s Pioneering Family!
Devin Nunes’ Career
At only 23 years of age, he was first elected to public office as one of the state’s youngest community college trustees of all time. From 1996 to 2002, while he was a member of the College of the Sequoias Board, he advocated for distance learning and the expansion of programs available to students in high school.
In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed him to serve as California State Director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development section. He decided to run for the state’s 21st congressional district and now serves in the 22nd district.
Nunes was then appointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 112th Congress, becoming its chairman in the 114th. In the 109th Congress, he was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee and now serves on the Trade and Health Subcommittees.
In the 108th Congress, he had his first term in the House of Representatives and served on the House Resources Committee. There, he was chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee, and he was on the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs committee.
According to the LA Times, Devin Nunes’ net worth is $51,000, which according to Palmer Report, is allegedly tied up in his part-ownership of Alpha Omega Winery LLC.
