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Hoyer Sends Letter to Speaker Ryan Calling for the Removal of Rep. Nunes as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee

Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
February 2, 2018
Contact Info:
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
Washington, DC – Today, Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan urging him to remove Rep. Devin Nunes from his position as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee after he altered a partisan, misleading classified memo and transmitted it to the White House without review or approval from the Committee.

Whip Hoyer wrote: “The actions of Chairman Devin Nunes relating to the release and apparent alteration of a classified memorandum making allegations about the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement and national security agencies require a swift and serious response.  As Speaker, you have the authority to remove Chairman Nunes from his position, which at this time I believe is the only appropriate course of action.”

“The Chairman’s behavior has undermined the trust of this House and of the American people in his leadership of the Intelligence Committee and the Committee’s work,” Whip Hoyer continued in the letter. “It has been condemned by FBI and Justice Department officials appointed to their posts by President Trump.   Now is a moment to assert, in bipartisan fashion, Congress’s status under our Constitution as a co-equal branch, one not subordinated to the will and whims of the President, no matter to which party that president belongs.”

Click here or see below for a full copy of the letter.

February 2, 2018

The Hon. Paul D. Ryan
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

The actions of Chairman Devin Nunes relating to the release and apparent alteration of a classified memorandum making allegations about the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement and national security agencies require a swift and serious response.  As Speaker, you have the authority to remove Chairman Nunes from his position, which at this time I believe is the only appropriate course of action. 

The Chairman’s behavior has undermined the trust of this House and of the American people in his leadership of the Intelligence Committee and the Committee’s work.  It has been condemned by FBI and Justice Department officials appointed to their posts by President Trump.   Now is a moment to assert, in bipartisan fashion, Congress’s status under our Constitution as a co-equal branch, one not subordinated to the will and whims of the President, no matter to which party that president belongs.

Yesterday, I issued the following statement to the press:

“These new developments concerning Chairman Nunes are deeply disturbing, and I urge Speaker Ryan to remove him from his position as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The altering of a classified memo after the Committee’s vote is dishonest, violates House Rules, and demonstrates the lengths that the Chairman is willing to go to undermine the rule of law in order to protect the President.  Even Trump-appointed officials at the Department of Justice and FBI are telling us that it would be very dangerous for the President to release this flawed, factually inaccurate memo, whose only purpose is to undermine the Special Counsel’s independent investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. 
 
“House Republicans’ efforts to undermine the rule of law and discredit our law enforcement and intelligence communities must stop. I urge them to heed the concerns of the DOJ and FBI and stop engaging in the reckless disclosure and misrepresentation of sensitive classified information. In addition, Congress, acting with true bipartisanship for the sake of our country and the principles of justice and rule of law, must come together and shield the Special Counsel from termination so that the American people can learn the truth behind Russia’s efforts to undermine our democracy.”

               
I hope you will use this opportunity to show the American people that it is never appropriate for a committee Chair to engage in the dishonest action of disclosing classified material for political purposes and then, compounding this misdeed, altering that material without the Committee’s review and approval.  I urge you to do what is right and allow a Member untainted by scandal over the mishandling of classified information to take over the Intelligence Committee’s critical work. 

Sincerely,

STENY H. HOYER
House Democratic Whip