The Trump impeachment inquiry got marked by another dramatic development recently when the Democrats leading the investigation revealed that the House Intelligence Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, had been in communication with an associate of personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani who is now facing federal criminal charges over a campaign finance law violation scheme. Nunes had a phone conversation with that associate, Lev Parnas, that lasted more than eight minutes. Now, former FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi suggested that considering the evidence, in light of his experience, he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Nunes is facing federal investigation.
Ironically, the evidence of Nunes’ communications with Parnas emerged as Nunes embarked on a public meltdown against CNN, who he’s suing for reporting the story of Parnas’s allegations that Nunes had met with disgraced former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin as part of a Republican plot to get dirt on the Bidens (and Democrats in general). Democrats included the phone records of Nunes’ communications in their report covering the first part of the impeachment inquiry.
During a discussion on MSNBC, Figliuzzi shared, after the host asked if he would want the FBI to interview Nunes if he still worked there:
‘I have no particular knowledge on this. I want to be sure to say that. But when you look at this new evidence revolving around phone calls, then you look at Devin Nunes’ travels and who he’s associating with, and the fact that he’s providing this kind of backchannel, backdoor information to the White House that he’s gleaning from committees in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if there already is some inquiry into his activities related to foreign contacts. And I think this is only going to continue to grow.’
Watch:
Figliuzzi also noted that the revelation that Nunes had been in contact with Parnas, which dropped after Nunes had sat in on hearing after hearing of the impeachment inquiry focusing on the plot to produce dirt on the Bidens, “says a lot about Devin Nunes as an individual, his ethics, his integrity, and what he’s all about.”
He added:
‘On a larger level, it’s just a huge, ironic development that… the Republicans are defending allegations that the president lacks integrity and ethics, and they’re sitting there overseeing this and they’re not recusing themselves, and they’re not saying anything about their colleague, Devin Nunes. So, you know, the hypocrisy is loud and clear here. And eventually when the dust clears, I wouldn’t be surprised if ethics investigations and perhaps even criminal investigations really point the finger at Nunes as someone who should have recused himself and is much deeper into this than we know now.’
Besides the investigation into Parnas, Nunes isn’t the only one also facing legal heat connected to their role in the Biden dirt plot. In a spectacular fall for someone who used to take on the mob, Giuliani himself is also under reported federal investigation. Federal authorities have already subpoenaed records related to his consultancy work, which has included many foreign interests as clients.
