https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-intel-committee-gop-plan-to-wall-themselves-off-from-democrats-devin-nunes-adam-schiff/
BUILD THE WALL
BUILD THE WALL
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In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall -- a physical partition -- separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee's secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It's expected to happen this spring.
Butt hurt democrats, sounds like...Quote:
"I'm not part of that decision," said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. "You've got to talk to Devin. I don't know what they're trying to do one way or the other."
"I swear to God I didn't know that," said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee's work, he said, "The level of trust and the level of everything down there is -- it's poison. It's absolute poison down there."
Rooney said one reason for the tension is an erosion of trust, exacerbated by an ongoing ethics investigation into the "entire Republican staff," including "the woman up front that answers the phone" for alleged leaks. He later added that the matter was being handled by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
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While other House committees commonly have some divide between their majority and minority staff, for a committee whose history, broadly, and whose burden, arguably, is to be functionally bipartisan, the plan for the wall -- in all its unfortunate symbolism -- is a troubling sign of things to come.
It raises new questions about the committee's ability to complete its sputtering investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and even to conduct its regular oversight of the country's 17 intelligence agencies.
In recent weeks, rancorous and highly public disagreements between Republicans and Democrats have seemed often to disrupt and sometimes undo the committee's investigative progress on the Russia probe in particular. The committee has not interviewed a witness since former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski cut his interview short on Jan. 18. A day earlier, former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon did the same. Both, at the direction and apparent insistence of the White House, refused to answer questions beyond a certain scope.
Only Bannon has been issued a subpoena to reappear before the committee. So far, he has failed to do so three times.
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Immediately following the Republican memo's release, Nunes spoke with several conservative outlets about his plans to pursue "Phase 2" of an investigation related to, but separate from, the committee's ongoing Russia investigation -- this one said to be focused on "irregularities" at the State Department.
But like plans for the wall, the number and focus of Nunes' ancillary, investigatory phases appear to be mostly unknown to the rest of the committee.
"I'm doing all the Russia stuff and he's doing all the investigatory things," Conaway said recently. "I haven't talked to him about where he goes from here."
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Both Conaway and Rooney said they had confidence in Nunes' leadership, and that he should stay on as chairman.
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"When Devin and Schiff get over this battle they're talking about right now, it will be right for our country for those two to work together in a bipartisan way," [Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland] said. "These are some of the most dangerous times our country has ever faced," he said, listing threats from Russia, China and ISIS.
"If there was ever a time to work together, it's now."
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