Devin Nunes’ hometown paper just tore him a new one over his absurd Trump-Russia ‘memo’

If all politics really are local, as legendary Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill famously proclaimed, then Congressmen Devin Nunes (R-CA) is failing gloriously before our very eyes.

The Fresno Bee, Rep. Nunes’ hometown paper, published a blistering op-ed Thursday, and the headline makes it clear exactly what the home crowd thinks of him: “Rep. Devin Nunes, Trump’s stooge, attacks FBI.”

The piece is highly critical of Rep. Nunes’ role in a series of back room schemes and maneuvers designed to protect President Trump by disrupting the multiple ongoing investigations into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russian intelligence during the 2016 presidential election.

“What, pray tell, does Rep. Devin Nunes think he’s doing by waving around a secret memo attacking the FBI, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency,” the Bee’s editorial board opens their broadside.

They then proceed to accuse Rep. Nunes of ignoring the needs of his constituents in the heart of California’s central valley, and Californians in general.  Instead, they write, he seems more concerned with doing President Trump’s “dirty work.”

They further admonish him for his humiliating failures as the chairman of the critical House Select Committee on Intelligence, his tenure “nothing short of embarrassing.”

“Instead of taking Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election seriously and leading an impartial and bipartisan inquiry, Nunes has colluded with the White House.” they write.

“Last March, Nunes said he’d seen secret intelligence reports backing Trump’s claims that President Barack Obama had “wiretapped” his offices, but it turned out the documents came from the administration.”

That transparently conniving episode forced Rep. Nunes to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia, and subjected him to an ethics investigation.  He managed to keep his overall chairmanship of the committee, however, and has continued to run interference for the president almost unabated.

They saved their harshest critiques of Rep. Nunes and the Republican Party for their role promoting the Nunes-drafted and yet-to-be-released memo that attempts to paint the FBI as a den of corruption and anti-Trump zealotry.

“…It is supremely ironic that the GOP – which long has proclaimed itself the party of law and order – is serving to undermine public trust in agents who risk their lives, combat organized crime, ferret out public corruption and protect us against terrorism.”

After reminding readers that Republicans were champions of the FBI when then Director James Comey reopened his investigation into her emails days before the election, they ask the plain obvious question: “Now we’re supposed to believe some Republicans that there’s some kind of anti-Trump “secret society” within the FBI? It’s ridiculous.”

You can read the entire opinion piece here.

 

Peter Mellado

Peter Mellado is a writer, producer, and a branding and messaging specialist with over 15 years experience. He studied history at San Jose State University, and resides in Los Angeles.