After a meeting at the Justice Department on Thursday, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) seems to be backing off his threats to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt if Nunes does not receive the classified documents he has requested, according to a Thursday Washington Post report.
Nunes and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) reportedly met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and other intelligence officials at the DOJ, later issuing a joint statement calling the conversation “productive.”
Despite Nunes’s cooling off, House Speaker Paul Ryan jumped into the fray Thursday, saying that it’s “wholly appropriate” that Nunes get the classified documents, per the Post.
“I expect that we will be able to have an accommodation to honor this request because first of all, it’s our job to do oversight of the executive branch,” Ryan said. “This request is perfectly appropriate within the scope of the committee’s investigation, and I hope and believe and expect that they’ll be complied with.”
It is not fully clear which documents Nunes is trying to get, since much of his request is also classified. However, the DOJ has warned that the declassification of these documents would expose sources and endanger lives.
