"There are no words to describe how dangerous a slope this is for our republic."
So said Rep. Devin Nunes Wednesday on Ray Appleton's radio talk show in Fresno, Calif. Nunes spoke about the impeachment proceedings now occurring in the House of Representatives that are focused on President Trump. Nunes, the Republican from Tulare, Calif., spent several minutes denigrating the proceedings as the "impeachment hoax." Appleton gave him carte blanche with no challenge.
But danger to the nation equally applies to Nunes' obsession to further Trump's reelection next year. As has been true for nearly all of Trump's first term, Nunes has relinquished his proper role as an independent representative of Congress and has instead acted like a member of the Trump 2020 reelection team.
The latest revelation deals with Ukraine, the focus of the impeachment hearings and phone calls Nunes made.
SURPRISE CALLS
On Tuesday, House Democrats released phone records that show Nunes made multiple calls to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and one of his associates, the now-indicted Lev Parnas. The calls came in April during a period when Giuliani was leading a pressure campaign to remove the American ambassador to Ukraine. That campaign was ultimately successful.
The attorney for Parnas has also said Nunes had meetings with a Ukrainian prosecutor to get political dirt on Democrat Joe Biden's son Hunter, who was once on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Nunes has said that report, first aired by CNN, is false, and he has reportedly sued the cable news channel over it.
For months, Nunes has badmouthed Democratic efforts to uncover whether Trump tried to get Ukraine's president to launch a corruption investigation into the Bidens. Doing so would inflict political damage on Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.
'HOAX' A CHEAP DIG
"There was the Russia hoax," Nunes told Appleton, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign worked with Russian officials to hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. "Then there is the Ukraine hoax, and now the impeachment hoax."
Actually, all three "hoaxes" represent legitimate investigations into serious questions. Did the Trump campaign collude with Russia to harm Clinton? Mueller left the question open, but provided ample examples of Russian disinformation to influence the election. The president's call to Ukraine, in which he bargained congressionally approved military aid for an investigation into the Bidens, is a fact verified by the president's own acting chief of staff. And the impeachment proceedings are trying to determine if that quid pro quo rises to the level of an impeachable offense _ a responsibility that rightly falls to Congress.
RECUSE, OR COME CLEAN
As the ranking Republican on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, Nunes holds one of the top posts in Congress. Nunes should have disclosed to his committee colleagues that he had those phone calls last spring. One expert on government ethics took it a step further and said Nunes should have recused himself from the impeachment hearings, rather than acting as No. 1 Trump defender.
To advance the cause of getting at the truth, Nunes should come clean on the phone calls and tell the House what was discussed. He should also provide travel records to debunk the charge that he met in Vienna last December with the Ukrainian to get information that might hurt Biden; Nunes says he was in Libya and Malta.
Short of that, his actions continue to reduce him to being a mere partisan _ the label with which he loves to tarnish his Democratic colleagues. Meanwhile, his 22nd District has critical needs, like easing the trade war challenges with China for farmers and helping those struggling in poverty. On such issues, Nunes has been absent; he's been traveling to Europe.
