Ethics panel steps into spotlight with Nunes inquiry

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The normally secretive House Ethics Committee made a rare public pronouncement Thursday, announcing it has launched a high-profile investigation into allegations that the House intelligence committee chairman may have improperly disclosed classified information while leading a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The inquiry into Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., marks the first time in more than two decades that the ethics panel has publicly acknowledged investigating possible misuse of classified information by a House member.

Nunes said Thursday he is stepping aside from leading the inquiry, citing the ethics review. Nunes called the charges false and politically motivated, but said it was in the best interest of the intelligence panel to have Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, temporarily take charge of the Russia probe.

The ethics investigation will be led by Chairwoman Susan Brooks, R-Ind., and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the panel’s ranking member.

Two watchdog groups, Democracy 21 and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, had requested an inquiry into whether Nunes disclosed classified information he learned from intelligence reports.

At a news conference last month, Nunes said that communications involving associates of President Donald Trump had been swept up by U.S. spy agencies and, he suggested, mishandled by the Obama administration.

Nunes also said he met with a secret source at the White House to review material and then briefed the president. Watchdog groups said Nunes had apparently violated House rules by publicly disclosing the existence of a foreign surveillance warrant.

Lawmakers “take an oath that they will not disclose classified information,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit that promotes government accountability and transparency. “The question is whether (Nunes) violated that oath or not.”