The DCCC Should Start Making Devin Nunes Fight For His Seat

Nunes: Masterminding the GOP PutinGate coverup

Devin Nunes' Central Valley House seat is pretty safely Republican-- but not nearly as safe as it was when he was first elected in 2002. The PVI is still rated a daunting R+10 but the demographics have shifted precipitously. Only 41.9% of Nunes' constituents are white now and one day-- who knows?-- the DCCC might decide to target him. They should. Nunes shouldn't be given any more free rides. Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he seems to think his function is covering up the Trump Regime's malfeasance in their activities regarding Vladimir Putin. His comment yesterday about Michael Flynn being fired for Putin-related activities, likely to include accepting bribes and probably treason as well, was that "Washington, D.C. can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn-- who has always been a soldier, not a politician-- deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security. I thank him for his many years of distinguished service." When pressed, Nunes told reporters that he would not investigate Flynn's discussions with Trump about his calls with Putin's ambassador. He's following the Republican Party line, in a knee-jerk fashion, that the "real story" is how the Trumpist Regime is being undermined by leaks. Andre'll investigate that instead.

In 2012 Romney took Nunes' district with 56.6% of the vote. Trump's share in November was just 52.1%, even though he faced a far weaker candidate. Nunes' district, CA-22, is made up of large sections of Fresno and Tulare counties, although doesn't include any of the city of Fresno itself. Clovis, Visalia and Tulare are the biggest population centers.

The DCCC didn't contest the seat-- guaranteeing that Nunes will feel no obligation to worry about accountability in Congress-- and he beat an unknown, under-funded opponent, Louie Campos 143,333 (68.2%) to 66,802 (31.8%). Nunes raised $2,459,235 for the campaign this year while Campos didn't raise the $5,000 that would have triggered an FEC report.

Nunes knows that with the way the DCCC works currently-- no multi-cycle efforts ever-- he will never be forced to alter his behavior to appease the voters. Even ardent partisans in the Senate like John Cornyn (R-TX) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) have been calling for a thorough investigation of Flynn's and the Trump Regime's ties to Russia. Even if Nunes doesn't, these guys are saying they want Flynn to testify. Blunt on Missouri radio station KTRS yesterday:

I think everybody needs that investigation to happen. And the Senate Intelligence Committee, again that I serve on, has been given the principle responsibility to look into this, and I think that we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldn't reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions... I would think that we should talk to Gen. Flynn very soon and that should answer a lot of questions. What did he know? What did he do? And is there any reason to believe that anybody knew that and didn't take the kind of action they should have taken?

Jason Chaffetz, like Nunes, refuses to allow investigations of the Trump Regimes relationship with Putin. People follow Chaffetz around wherever he goes shouting "Do your job!" Nunes needs the same treatment-- plus a real effort by the idiot tasked with heading up the DCCC's West Coast operation, Kyle Layman, who would rather ignore Nunes and spend his time re-recruiting loser Brian Caforio which will do nothing but guarantee that Steve Knight keeps his seat-- a seat Hillary won 50.3-43.6%-- in 2018.

Not everyone on Nunes committee agrees with him, of course. Adam Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the committee. His statement sounds very different from Nunes' evasion of his duty.

Ted Lieu, a decorated Air Force full colonel, as well as the congressman from the West Side of L.A. and the South Bay beach communities, is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Judiciary Committee. He's not letting Ryan and Nunes cover up PutinGate either. This was his statement Tuesday morning:

Let's be clear: Michael Flynn resigned because the press brought his egregious misconduct to the attention of the American people. Our Republic depends on the Freedom of the Press.

What is deeply disturbing is that the White House apparently knew for weeks from a Department of Justice report that Michael Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail, yet President Trump kept him on. Senior White House official Kellyanne Conway stated yesterday that President Trump had full confidence in Flynn. If nine US officials did not leak their concerns to the Washington Post, Michael Flynn may still be the US National Security Advisor.

There is more to this story. What did President Trump know and when did he know it? What did Vice President Pence know and when did he know it?

We can't have a situation where the Trump Administration takes corrective action only when the press catches them engaging in misconduct. The American people deserve answers from President Trump and Vice President Pence.

Hey, Devin! DO. YOUR. JOB. Stop covering up for Putin and Trump