Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist considers U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes’ role as a congressional truth seeker.
He had no idea at the time, but Nunes’s early skepticism of the “Russia collusion” plan to undermine the Trump administration put him in the crosshairs of all of the most powerful forces in Washington, including the media, the Democrat Party, left-wing special interest groups, intelligence agency officials, and even many Republicans.
Nunes’s dogged pursuit of the truth paid off, eventually, but it wasn’t easy. The “Russia collusion” narrative caused untold damage to the Trump administration and its policy goals. It sparked a years-long special counsel probe that pursued scores of Trump associates but found none who had colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Journalists won Pulitzers and other prizes for perpetuating the false narrative. Even now, many Democrats still cling to claims of Trump being controlled by Vladimir Putin.
However, Nunes overcame the media and Democrat hysteria, as well as stonewalling and obstruction by the FBI and Justice Department (DOJ), including threats to his own staff, to uncover the FBI’s use of an unverified dossier of outlandish allegations in the warrants to spy on Carter Page, a Trump campaign associate. He revealed rampant “unmasking” by Obama officials against Trump transition members, and the fact that FBI agents who interviewed Trump’s first National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn didn’t think he was lying. …
… He also overcame the concerted efforts to destroy him and his reputation, remove him from committee leadership, prevent his re-election, and to get him to pull back from his work through threats against family members. …
… Many members of Congress are scared of the media and other powerful interests. If they get attacked by them, they back down. Staff say that’s where Nunes is different. If he gets punched by someone, he wonders why and starts looking for answers.
