Bill McEwen
And the Award for Best Trump Defender Goes to … Devin Nunes
Should Rep. Devin Nunes ever exit politics, he might consider Hollywood — stage right.
When it comes to defending President Donald Trump, a nearly round-the-clock task, the Tulare congressman airs his disgust with Democrats far better than, for example, Rudy Giuliani, who is best kept locked in the basement.
Bill McEwen
Opinion
Nunes’ Greatest Hits Then and Now
Thursday morning, Nunes delivered some of his greatest hits from the past and coined a couple of new ones as the ranking member of the House Intelligence Intelligence Committee.
(I swear, every time a television camera focuses on Nunes sticking up for Trump, I hear Carly Simon singing “Nobody Does It Better” in the background.)
The committee, chaired by Democrat Adam Schiff of Burbank, examined how Joseph Maguire, the acting director of National Intelligence, handled a whistle-blower’s allegation about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Voice perfectly modulated, Nunes wove his conspiracy theories without falling off his chair and disappearing into a rabbit hole.
Nunes: Dems Sought ‘Nude Pictures of Trump’
From the start, Nunes made it clear that from his vantage point the whole shebang was much ado about nothing.
“They don’t want answers. They want a public spectacle,” Nunes said of Democrats. “And so we have been treated an unending parade of press releases, press conferences, and fake news stories.”
Nunes might want to drop that line from his next TV appearance.
The mere thought of Trump naked is a guaranteed channel-changer for everyone. Even Republicans — with the possible exceptions of Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
Specifically addressing the whistle-blower’s complaint that accused Trump of soliciting help from the Ukraine government for his reelection bid, Nunes said: “If the whistle-blower operation doesn’t work out, the Democrats and their media assets can always drum up something else.”
Before questioning Maguire, a smiling Nunes told him, “You’re going to be part of a charade of legal word games. (Democrats are) going to try to get you to say something that can be repeated by the media.”
Some Republicans Stray From Nunes’ Lead
But, unlike Nunes, two Republicans on the intelligence panel, didn’t offer knee-jerk defenses of Trump.
Referencing a transcript of Trump’s call with Ukraine’s leader, Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio said, “Concerning that conversation, I want to say to the president, this is not OK. That conversation is not OK.”
Tweeted Texas Rep. Will Hurd before the hearing: “There is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is concerning. We need to fully investigate all of the allegations addressed in the letter, and the first step is to talk to the whistleblower.”
Last year, Trump suggested that Nunes should receive the Medal of Freedom for “what he has gone through and his bravery” in pushing back against the Russia investigation.
Medal of Freedom?
No.
An Emmy maybe.
Pete
September 30, 2019 at 1:40 pm
For Devin Nunes, the ‘dairyman’ who gave an unabashed left hand swipe at real dairymen in the Valley with his support of corn-based ethanol (in exchange for future PAC contributions and a shot at the intelligence committee assignment years ago, maybe?) and who helped create higher feed prices further taxing District 22 farmers, it is not unexpected that he does not appears in public in the district. If he did, he’d likely be asked what he has done to clean up the very air we all breathe in one of the nation’s worst air basins and what has he done to solve the continuing water problems not just for the Ag industry but for our communities as well. Hopefully he would refrain from saying someone else is to blame and not himself, an eight-term congressman.
Given his many appearances on Fox News and at CTAP conferences, his priorities appear quite distant from the concerns of District 22 residents. Instead he had time to travel to Azerbaijan to meet with its President (why?) after a person known to that President attended the infamous Trump Tower meeting. Nunes also had time to meet with a known mercenary, Erik Prince, prior to Prince’s appearing before Nunes’ then-controlled Intel Committee. You might recall that Prince was the person who just happened to be in the Seychelles where he meet (clandestinely ?) with UAE officials and a sanctioned Russian banker, Kirill Dmitriev, who, Prince claimed, happened to be at the Four Seasons bar while he was there (see https://archive.org/stream/20171130ErikPrinceHouseIntelTranscript/2017-11-30–Erik%20Prince%20House%20Intel%20Transcript_djvu.txt).
As for the current CA District 22 representative, he appears disinterested in the concerns of 22nd District residents. If he were interested, then why has he not appeared in public in the district for almost ten years?
Perhaps he will someday. Or perhaps not. In either case, maybe he’s just more interested in Mr. McEwen’s suggested Emmy.