Chaffetz: Nunes Is Doing A ‘Great Job’ And Has ‘Full Confidence’ Of GOP Conference

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) on Tuesday said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) has the “full confidence of the Republican conference,” though one GOP lawmaker has already called for Nunes to recuse himself from investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Devin Nunes is a man of high integrity,” Chaffetz, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said on MSNBC. “He’s done a great job chairing a very difficult committee, has the full confidence of the Republican conference, the Republican leadership and myself and Trey Gowdy and a host of others.”

In fact, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) on Tuesday became the first Republican lawmaker to call for Nunes to recuse himself from the investigation.

“Absolutely,” Jones told the Hill when asked if Nunes should step down. “How can you be chairman of a major committee and do all these things behind the scenes and keep your credibility? You can’t keep your credibility!”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) said on Tuesday that Nunes should “clear things up.”

“The controversy right now is not good and I certainly acknowledge that,” Collins said. “We do need some clarity here.”

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) also criticized Nunes for bringing his own credibility into question by appearing overly friendly to the White House. However, neither called for Nunes to recuse himself.

Those calls came in the wake of revelations that Nunes met with a secret source on the White House grounds a day before he alleged that communications of members of President Donald Trump’s transition were incidentally collected by U.S. intelligence.

Chaffetz on Tuesday scoffed at Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)’s complaint that Nunes left the committee “in the dark” in his haste to brief the White House.

“I’m shocked that Democrats want to challenge Republicans. That’s not breaking news,” Chaffetz said.

“Do you believe that Nunes has done everything he can to brief the members of the House Intelligence Committee as to what transpired?” Greta Van Susteren pressed.

“He said he made a mistake, and then he did apologize for it,” Chaffetz said. “But he’s moving forward.”