Nunes has created his own alternative news site called The California Republican whose headlines include “CNN busted for peddling fake news AGAIN!” https://t.co/cW39gRgrMX
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 11, 2018
Nunes Memo Reveals Congressman’s Penchant for Conspiracy Theories https://t.co/dDEp0cS0rC
— Jeff Stein (@SpyTalker) February 11, 2018
… “Nut job” has clung to Nunes’s reputation as long as he’s been chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI, in Washington-speak). Or at least among Democrats (and some Republicans) who have decried Nunes’s transformation of a once bipartisan national security panel into a GOP platform to attack Democrats.
Janz thinks he knows why: Nunes’s mentorship by Michael Flynn, the now disgraced former Trump national security adviser. “I know that they had a pretty close relationship,” he said. Nunes served on the executive committee of the Trump transition team with Flynn, he noted, which was headed by Vice President Mike Pence, “and it seems to me like he never left. He’s still on that team.“
A descendent of Portuguese Azorean immigrants, Nunes grew up on a Central Valley, California farm and concentrated on water issues when he came to Congress in 2003. But his fundraising prowess for fellow Republicans endeared him to Representative Paul Ryan and House Speaker John Boehner, who in 2013 anointed him chairman of the intelligence panel.
Like many hawks back then, Nunes was in awe of Flynn, who had won praise for revolutionizing the hunt for terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This guy was one of the best intelligence officers in several generations,” Nunes told me in a December 23, 2016 interview. “I don’t know if you’ve ever met him, but Flynn is extremely smart. He really is top notch.”
Nunes was speaking fives months after Flynn had startled many former military officers by leading “Lock her up” chants against Hillary Clinton at the Republican National Convention. It was also two years after the Obama White House has forced Flynn’s resignation as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. “What happened,” Nunes told me, “is…he went out and said a lot of things that Obama didn’t like…”
But that’s not close to the full story on Flynn, whose battlefield talents didn’t transfer well to running the DIA from 2012 to 2014. Not only were his executive skills lacking, according to many observers, including former Army general and Secretary of State Colin Powell, he quickly developed a reputation for indulging in conspiracy theories—or “Flynn facts,” his aides derisively called them.
But Nunes embraced them. During Flynn’s tenure, the neophyte intelligence overseer and the general came to share a number of beliefs. One was that the CIA was suppressing the release of documents captured from Osama Bin Laden’s lair that supposedly showed a closer relationship between Al-Qaeda and Iran than the Obama White House, then conducting backchannel talks with Tehran on halting its nuclear weapons program, wanted known. Nunes, according to a then-close observer, demanded the CIA open up its files for him and Flynn one Saturday. “He was going to sneak up on them” on a weekend, the source snorted, speaking on terms of anonymity to discuss the sensitive incident. Nunes denied that excursion, but said he did go down to Central Command headquarters in Tampa “to meet with the team that was doing exploitation of the documents in 2013.”…
…[Flynn] and Nunes paired up to champion another issue, one that they were right about: whistleblower accusations that U.S. Central Command leaders were manipulating intelligence reports to burnish the Obama administration’s record against the Islamic State group. Flynn, according to The Weekly Standard, was annoying the White House with, “assessments that Al-Qaeda had doubled in strength over The preceding two years.” Nunes was helping lead a Republican-led joint congressional task force into the issue. At one point, he flew down to CENTCOM headquarters demanding to see documents, according to reports, but “once in Tampa…was denied access to the analysts and their findings, creating further schisms between the parties.” The task force ultimately backed up the whistleblower complaints. So did the Pentagon’s inspector general.Nunes and Flynn evidently maintained close ties through the election and beyond, even as Flynn’s world was beginning to unravel with questions about his payments from Kremlin mouthpiece Russia Today, secret talks with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a confidential lobbying contract with a law firm tied to Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I talk to Flynn virtually everyday, if not multiple times a day,” Nunes told me in the late December 2016 interview. “Seldom there’s a day that goes by that I don’t talk to Flynn, and especially right after the campaign, directly.”…
… Nunes’s efforts to distract attention from Russiagate didn’t cease with Flynn’s departure from the administration a year ago. And even his now-famous “midnight run” to the White House weeks later indirectly involved Flynn: According to multiple reports, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whom Flynn put in charge of intelligence matters on the White House national security council despite his scant, low level experience at the DIA, helped provide Nunes with classified documents that the congressman claimed to show—falsely—as it turned out, that Obama had “wiretapped Trump Tower.” That stunt prompted complaints from good-government groups that Nunes had improperly obtained and publicized classified information…
I swear, someday Devin Nunes and Carter Page are gonna open a bed-and-breakfast together. And every room will feature fan shots of their mutual idol, Inspector Closeau.
and total total coincidence that Nunes forced himself back into the House Intel circus five minutes after Flynn became a government witness. https://t.co/gZkNcrkoFv
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) February 11, 2018
Baud
California can do us a real solid by getting rid of this mofo in November.
lollipopguild
Nothing quite like government by right wing nut job fantasies.
delk
Heh, just listened to My Aim Is True while making dinner.
Ruckus
@Baud:
I’m not moving there to vote against him. Or actually for any other reason either. I’ve been through the town. It ain’t pretty.
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: That area of California is not particularly nice, sad to say. There s a reason nutjobs like Nunes are elected.
ThresherK
Slight quibble on What measure is a “nutjob”?
That’s
What, it has to be unanimous?
Mary G
Janz and the other Democrats opposing Devin were considered no-hopers, but I think he is doing his re-election chances serious damage. After Janz put up the billboard showing Putin holding Nunes and Trump on kiddie leashes, he had $40,000 in his campaign account to Nunes’ $3 million.
Reaction to the memo got Janz $100,000 in donations the day it came out, and he has appeared on MSNBC, etc., and made enough strides to take a leave of absence from his job. He seems like he’ll be a good candidate, based on things like this tweet:
Local issues FTW!
Major Major Major Major
The way things are going, “The California Republican” is going to be the name of his fake news site and an accurate description of the number of Republicans in California.
danielx
Watching the defectives.
Adam L Silverman
This means that the CENTCOM J2 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence) in combination with the CENTCOM Special Security Officer (SSO) were uncomfortable reading Congressman Nunes on to these compartments. They had determined that he was a security risk.
They were right.
?BillinGlendaleCA
This what happens when you let the lunatics run the asylum.
raven
US figure skater Adam Rippon unimpressed by ‘generic’ Olympic condoms
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G: I keep hearing that Nunes’ district has a plurality of Hispanic voters, 45.9% per Ballotpedia. What kind of support he gets from that community, how immigration is playing there, what turnout is like, that I’ve had a harder time finding out. Seems to me the right investment and organizing could make the goofy bastard sweat.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Ringed for comfort?
Adam L Silverman
@raven: What will Mother think?
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Did the VP weigh in?
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Only if Mother gave him permission.
raven
@Adam L Silverman:
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: I’m sure it’s: “if you ain’t making babies, you shouldn’t have sexy time”.
raven
@raven: Oh THAT Mother. . .
raven
That Arby’s ad was the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen!
chris
Hahaha! Nunes’ noosepaper has either crashed, been DDOS’d, or been deleted although I hear the FB page is still up.
Aleta
Adam Rippon !
The Moar You Know
@Baud: sadly, California is not a homogeneous blue. He is perfect for his district, which, since our dear president has set the precedent for saying such things, is a shithole. In every way.
mai naem mobile
Has anybody else noticed how similar Donnie Jr and Devin Nunes look? Also they both commit similarly stupid acts. Are they brothers from different mothers? Inquiring minds want to know.
No Drought No More
Nunes and his co-conspirators aren’t stupid. They’re scared, and for good reason. I don’t claim to understand the reason, but have concluded it’s a criminal conspiracy that extends deep into the republican party and its bankers. It alone serves to explain the GOP’s collective behavior since the day Comey was fired.
The cold stone fact is that Russia is at this very moment waging war successfully on the United States. We are under mortal attack by a foreign power, and the rank treason practiced by Trump and congressional republicans makes Benedict Arnold look like Dwight Eisenhower. Russia Owns Trump (R.O.T). That traitorous dog is effecting Putin’s orders in the war upon America as I type.
Tim McVeigh was executed for less.
And democrats shouldn’t kid themselves, either. They should be prepared to roll with some punches concerning some of their own, too. Don’t forget this is all about money, and money corrupts…
Aleta
Patrick Chan ! Beautiful.
NotMax
Nunes, worst Joe Isuzu impersonator ever.
Wouldn’t come as a surprise to find out his Congressional office walls are lined with aluminum foil.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I assumed this “scoop” was from legendary courtier Mike Allen, but it’s from his intern, Jonathan Swann
raven
@Aleta: Was that Jeff Buckley?
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
“I’ll hire only the best people.”
Aleta
@raven: I think it was! Thanks.
Mary G
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There are race issues here that a lot of Californians don’t like to talk about. All Latinos are not equal. People who can trace their bloodlines completely from the original Spanish and Portuguese conquerors think they are better than natives, or people with mixed blood. Nunes is considered one of the Portuguese, so historically a lot of Latinos have deferred to him. It’s ridiculous, but what it is. That’s why I am impressed with Janz. It’s water that is critical in the central valley, and he gets it. Someone who will pledge not to allow us city people to take all the water and starve the farms can do well regardless of race.
schrodingers_cat
Rs unveil an absolutely horrible immigration bill.
Carolina Dave
Go Adam! Beautiful skate by Patrick Chen
geg6
@No Drought No More:
Well, yes. For instance, Wilmer should be investigated as so many bots are associated with his social media and one of his major campaign advisors has extremely suspicious ties to Russians and Putin supporters.
raven
@Mary G: It’s bad for the glass. . .
NotMax
@raven
What, were they in the presence of a notary public? Methinks whoever wrote that needs to be introduced to the word “explicitly.”
raven
@NotMax: I report, you decide.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: Any bill supported by Senator Cotton is horrible. It’s who he is.
schrodingers_cat
@JPL: Also, Cornyn, Grassley, Ernst, and some others.
ETA: They want to go back to the 1920s Reed-Johnson Act. That’s what T promised in 2016.
Mary G
@schrodingers_cat: Paul Ryan’s obvious loophole. He said he would only bring to the floor what Twitler will sign, so the senate will pass the piece of crap, Ryan will see if he can get enough of the crazy caucus to vote yes, which I think he is perfectly incapable of doing, and hopefully the Democrats will get behind Nancy Smash and get the issue into the headlines when it’s not about shutting down the government.
NotMax
@raven
Not pointing a finger at you, as it’s obviously from elsewhere.
Sometimes the inner editor becomes highly miffed and irked and demands to be heard.
;)
Davebo
Want to buy a house in California for under $140,000.00?
If you do, Nunes will be your congressman. Fresno really bites.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: My Senator also, David Perdue. The list is filled with those who think that whites are the premiere class.
schrodingers_cat
@Mary G: Why do you think that this will pass the Senate?
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat:
What was always going to happen. All the promises in the world…
NotMax
@Corner Stone
“Ladies and gentlemen (silken tarp pulled off with a flourish), the 2018 Edsel!”
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Baud: If the House is taken back, he’ll definitely be removed as chair.
WaterGirl
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I’m with Baud! Get him the hell out of the House.
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: This is a disaster, having an immigration debate based on false premises and Republican terms.
Mary G
@schrodingers_cat: I probably should have said that they will pass some piece of crap, rather than Trump’s complete wish list. Jeff Flake is the only one I think will go against it. Marco Rubio will talk a big game, but he’ll vote yes like the marshmallow he is. Lindsay Graham has got to have some serious Russian hold on him. Democrats in red states are going to be nervous. Bernie Sanders will be an asshole. We’ll see what happens this week. They are all talking about passing whatever they can, but it may just fizzle out like every other immigration bill has in this century. I hope I’m wrong.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@WaterGirl:
I’d like him voted out of office as well. It’s a long shot though since his district’s blood red. The consolation is that by this time next year, hopefully, Nunes will at least be off the committee as chair if the House is retaken.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: @Mary G: It won’t make it through the Senate. We may all have to reconcile the Democratic minority in the Senate simply holding the line by protecting the current immigration laws until or unless both the House and the Senate flip. And the Senate flips enough so that the GOP members don’t do what they do every previous time on this stuff: vote against bipartisan, compromise immigration bills that they are cosponsors of. Grassley did this in 2010. If the Democrats flip both chambers they still have to be able to clear the 60 vote cloture threshold in the Senate. And they may very well have to clear 2/3rds in each chamber to overcome a veto on a proper set of reforms.
Of course if they just capture both chambers, they capture the power of the purse and can simple defund ICE.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman:I
I agree that this is the best case scenario.
Suzanne
Adam Rippon was just spectacular. His condom commentary is extra hilarious.
SuzMom is making me extra crazy today. I cannot handle the nonstop talking. So much talking.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: It is unlikely that anything will clear the 60 vote cloture threshold. And if something decent does, say a clean DACA EO withdrawal fix with some additional funds for border security (broadly defined), it will be DOA in the House.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
That would likely make Twerp go into high dungeon on the Twittertron. Make it so.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
If the House is retaken this fall, then such a reform bill could pass and be sent to Twerp. He would probably veto it. Or is he too much of a coward to use the veto. Has he actually vetoed anything yet?
James E. Powell
@Baud:
It won’t be easy. I think it’s an R+8 district.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I’m not sure an actual clean reform bill can clear the 60 vote closure threshold in the Senate. Doesn’t matter how many GOP senators are working with the Democrats on such a bill. In the past they always vote against their own bills when they come up for a vote.
Lapassionara
@Adam L Silverman: Defunding ICE would be good. Every day another horror story.
When I was a young person, learning to read, my local library had children’s books about young people who acted bravely when faced with Nazi atrocities. Now I do not know how and where to act in the face of the horrors being done in the name of the US. Help us, Obi Wan, you are our only hope.
glaukopis
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I grew up in what is now the 21st district, next door to Nunes’ 22nd. It had about the same ratio of whites to Latinos then as the 22nd has now & was consistently conservative, but is now 71 % Latino & voted for Hillary & Obama in 2008 & 2012 . I’m convinced it can be done, especially if the dems have a candidate who focuses on local issues.
Adam L Silverman
@Lapassionara:
Omnes Omnibus
@Lapassionara: Even the little things count. Small acts of kindness and decency can make a difference. Start there.
Corner Stone
@Suzanne:
I wonder sometimes if I should just build a cone of silence, instead of trying to hear around the constant talking.
Adam L Silverman
@Lapassionara: In the case of the Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants, as well as those here under TPS (temporary protected status), all you can do is: 1) make sure you are aware of what is happening, 2) make sure as many other people are, 3) voice your displeasure with your Senators and member of Congress, as well as with your state legislators and local officials, 4) register to vote, 5) get as many people as you know to register to vote, 6) get them to get as many people as they know to register to vote, 6) vote, 7) get as many people as you know and that you got to register to vote to vote, 8) get as many people as you know to get as many people as they know to vote.
Right now that is it. Right now the solution is flipping the House and the Senate in November. Because what ICE and CBP are currently doing is actually in line with the law. It may violate the spirit of it. It may even be immoral and unethical. But it is legal.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: This too!
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: I remember this, this clip is from last year. Powerful stuff.
Mary G
@James E. Powell: Found this on a website I’ve never heard of
MomSense
@Mary G:
Yes, exacrly. Run on local issues in your district. Fundraise with the big donors on Russia and other national issues.
JMG
Imagine being dopey enough to include Devin Nunes in your conspiracy. No sentient being would send him to the store for a quart of milk. He’s probably still got his name magic marketed on his underwear.
SFAW
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
With extreme prejudice?
Omnes Omnibus
@JMG:
No. You can’t make me.
schrodingers_cat
@Lapassionara: I am trying to convince my friends who are permanent residents to become citizens with some success.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: To imagine it. To be dopey enough to possibly do it. Or to actually do it?
SFAW
@Suzanne:
Would it be considered “bad form” if you said to her “Hey, Mom, can you please Google ‘STFU’ for me? I can never remember what it stands for.”
Hilarity might ensue.
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
Yes.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: All of the above.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Look like Morning Blow and Drumpf are back on speaking terms. “Why can’t I quit you!”
Omnes Omnibus
OT but maybe not: Holy fuck! Johnny Thunders covered “Eve of Destruction.”
Corner Stone
I hope Trump torches John Kelly and leaves him stranded on some trip away from the WH. Then hires Lewandoski as the new CoS.
Now what, Hope?
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Its a good cover too.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Yes, it is. Knowing it exists makes me happy in a small way. I am about the little things today.
ETA: Have I learned the lesson of Candide?
Hungry Joe
I have a friend who lives in Nunes’ district. He says everyone he’s talked to despises Nunes … but that was true last election, too. He’s in a small blue dot, bobbing on the edge of a red swamp.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: If we must have racist assholes in charge, let them be incompetent racist assholes.
Mary G
I’m sure it’s been discussed, and I missed it, but the Koch Industry commercials in the Olympics are harshing me out.
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: I am so old that I remember when the good general was hailed as a noble soul and a savior.
ETA: Is our MSM learning?
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Are you describing people’s judgments or their hopes? How would you know?
Frankensteinbeck
@No Drought No More:
White race panic serves to explain it just fine. As far as Republicans both elected and in the voting base are concerned, their backs are to the wall and even one loss on any issue might be the one that releases the Brown Horde. They sure as HELL don’t want to admit they’re already at the stage where they can’t win without cheating.
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
While I can’t guarantee it, I think odds are good Trump is too cowardly to veto anything, ever. It’s the one thing that went way beyond my imagining in this election. I knew he was this stupid. I didn’t know ANYONE was this chickenshit.
randy khan
It makes perfect sense to put a guy like Nunes in charge of the Intelligence Committee. Sort of like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@SFAW:
Of course.
opiejeanne
@Mary G: I’ve been flipping past most of the commercials but I paused when I saw KOCH industries on the screen. I experienced a moment of inchoate rage.
GregB
When it comes to Nunes, it is mocking a defective.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Hope based on his stellar performance as the DHS secretary? I got yelled at here for calling him a racist, at his obvious glee when DACA was rescinded in August of 2017.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Davebo:
So it has a lot of mosquitoes?
schrodingers_cat
BTW the Muslim ban is still hurting people.
From ACLU’s Twitter feed.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
Who yelled at you? Kelly was never well liked around here as far as I know.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: What saddens me is the multiple passes people like Kelly and Porter get, which no woman or minority ever does. All their wrong doings are explained away until the evidence becomes overwhelming.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: People still had hopes about him as CoS. In the media, I am not just talking about here.
danielx
@JMG:
The more I read and hear of Nunes, the more amazed I become that he was named chairman of anything more complicated than assigning post office names. This guy couldn’t organize a drinking party in a brewery; how is that he was considered competent to chair a select subcommittee in the first place? And how is that this cretinous oaf is considered competent to organize a cover up of the magnitude that’s required in the present situation?
Unless…it’s already considered likely that will need to be a congressional sacrifice at some point, and my man Devin has already been selected for the role in keeping with his continuing role as one of the House’s more useless appendages.
Devin my man, there’s an old rule about the sucker in the game: if you don’t know who it is, he’s probably occupying your chair.
randy khan
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
At this rate, Spinal Tap drummer will be a more secure job than White House Chief of Staff.
Ruckus
@danielx:
He was named chair of that committee for a specific reason. Russia. The PTB wanted someone with all the smarts of a fart in the wind. Looks like they got their wish.
Steve in the ATL
@Suzanne:
Apropos of nothing, I have a wife and two daughters.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Don’t project all of that on everyone here.
Yutsano
@Steve in the ATL: …Suddenly the getting away for days at a time makes sense…
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: I have called Kelly an asshole multiple times.
MisterForkbeard
@Steve in the ATL: I too have two daughters and a wife and feel the need to mention this for no reason at all.
danielx
@Steve in the ATL:
Could be worse. The daughter unit and I once walked into the local grocery and headed for the produce section, and we could hear this sort of uproar before we even got there. We go around the corner and there’s this guy with a grocery cart which has four little girls ranging from maybe two to seven in age, and they’re all going at the same time…dahdahDAHdahDAHdahdah!!!!!!! Couldn’t help myself – I asked “are they all yours?” and he gave me this exhausted look and said “yes, I’m afraid so”. I don’t like to think about what it was like in that home ten years later.
Sandia Blanca
Best name for this mess came from Asha Rangappa
sdhays
@schrodingers_cat: I figured he was a racist piece of shit based on his short performance at DHS and the fact that he agreed to work for Donald J. Trump – twice. I hoped I was wrong, but, yes, he’s a racist, misogynist piece of shit.
I will be pretty shocked if he loses his job over this (although he certainly deserves to). Clearly he and the Preznit are on the same page, very sad that those two harpies had the nerve to bring down their friend by exposing him as a monster. So unfair!
Corner Stone
@Sandia Blanca: She’s kind of a wingnut, IMO. So.
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: Any specific call outs?
Sandia Blanca
@Corner Stone: Hmmm, have not noticed that about her, but I’ll watch for any such tendencies. Thanks for that tip. “Nooney Tunes” is still a cool name though, right?
frosty
@Suzanne: Dead thread, but we just finished seeing some old friends. The wife loves to talk. On our rail trailnride I clocked her at 10 minutes nonstop. On the way back in the pickup she was in back with 2 bikes and talked to us the whole way… through two closed windows and we couldn’t hear any of it. A marvel.
Gretchen
@schrodingers_cat: Why do your permanent resident friends not want to become citizens? But I admit we’re not at our best right now and sensible people might not want to throw in with us. The meeting with the in laws went ok, I think. I hope. They seem nice. They took down the spiciness of the food by an order of magnitude, and my daughter warned me to make a generous application of the yogurt sauce, so I enjoyed the dinner. There were lots of relatives, and socializing with new people is not one of my strengths, so I hope I did well enough.