Nunes: No evidence of Trump-Russia collusion

Source: Politico | February 27, 2017 | Austin Wright

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said Monday he has seen no evidence of improper communications between the Trump campaign and Russia — and made no apologies for helping the White House knock down allegations of regular contacts.

The California Republican is under fire for agreeing to a White House request to talk to a reporter about the issue while simultaneously leading the top House investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“We still have not seen any evidence of anyone from the Trump campaign or any other campaign, for that matter, that’s communicated with the Russian government,” Nunes said at a news briefing. He explained that while his committee’s investigation was still in its early stages, intelligence agencies have briefed him on the “high points” of their own probes.

“As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls,” Nunes said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but I don’t have that. And what I’ve been told by many folks is that there’s nothing there.”

The congressman defended his decision to talk to a reporter at the behest of the White House, saying he did so in an effort to be more transparent with the news media. On Friday, The Washington Post reported the Trump administration enlisted Nunes, Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and other officials to help rebut news reports of repeated contacts between the Trump team and Moscow.

Nunes said he had already talked to several reporters about the issue when he got a request from a White House communications aide to speak to one more, and he complied.

Nunes also said he saw no need at this time for a special prosecutor to investigate the issue — something Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) called for on Friday.

“At this point, what are we going to appoint a special prosecutor to do exactly — to chase stories of American citizens that end up in newspaper articles?” Nunes said. “If at some point we have serious crimes that have been committed, then we would consider that.”

Nunes said he had no plans to subpoena Trump’s tax returns, something Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said last week she was open to as part of the Senate’s investigation.

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