by WorldTribune Staff, February 15, 2017
The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence wants an explanation from the FBI as to why Michael Flynn’s phone conversations were recorded.
Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican, said on Feb. 14 that the most significant development in the resignation of Flynn as national security adviser is why intelligence officials recorded Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador and later leaked information on those calls to the press.
“I expect for the FBI to tell me what is going on, and they better have a good answer,” said Nunes, whose committee is conducting a review of alleged Russian activities to influence the election. “The big problem I see here is that you have an American citizen who had his phone calls recorded.”
The Washington Post reported that Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were intercepted “because the Russians’ calls are routinely monitored.”
Nunes said it was “very hard to believe” that Flynn was acting as “some sort of secret Russian agent.”
He also said he saw some hypocrisy in the response of Democrats to the Flynn recording.
“Where are all the privacy groups screaming now?” he asked.
President Donald Trump, in a Feb. 14 tweet, also criticized the leaks:
“The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?”
House Speaker Paul Ryan brushed off questions about whether Congress needs to further investigate the Trump administration’s dealings with Russia, saying he was “not going to prejudge the circumstances” of Flynn’s calls. Ryan suggested he was most troubled that Flynn may have misled Vice President Mike Pence about the substance of the calls, the Post reported.