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by NEIL W. MCCABE<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
by NEIL W. MCCABE
\nBreitbart.com<\/p>\n
The chairman of the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence told reporters at the Capitol Monday he has yet to see evidence of contacts between President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign and individuals in the Russian government or part of its extensive network of affiliated persons.<\/h2>\n
\u201cAs of right now, we have no evidence, but we will continue to ask for evidence and look for evidence,\u201d said Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif.)<\/a>, who called the press conference to deal with a number of issues, including a New York Times<\/em> report <\/a>that the members of the Trump campaign were in contact with Russian intelligence and that he was pressured by the White House to call reporters to knock down the Times<\/em> story. \u201d<\/p>\n Nunes said his committee had not concluded its probe into contact between Russian operatives and any of the presidential campaigns. \u201cNot only the three Americans named in that story but also any Americans with the Russians.\u201d Trump\u2019s national campaign chairman Paul Manafort was named in the Times<\/em> report, but the other two individuals were not named. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign Aug. 19, shortly after the Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n The hauling of citizens before a congressional hearing based on media reports would bring back the days of McCarthyism, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am trying to be very careful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t have the government\u2013the U.S. government\u2013and\/or the Congress or another branch of the government chasing down American citizens, calling them before the Congress\u00a0as if they are some sort of secret Russian agents,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is what I am concerned about here\u2014 that we go off on some witch hunt against American citizens just because they appear in a press story somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The congressman said he has yet to see any sign that members of the Trump campaign or transition team broke any laws dealing with foreign governments.<\/p>\n There were, however, contacts between the Trump camp and the Russians that were completely above-board, he said.<\/p>\n After President Barack Obama issued his Dec. 29 sanctions against Russia, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn<\/a>, then designated to serve as Trump\u2019s National Security Adviser, spoke to\u00a0Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak a number of times. Those conversations were wiretapped by the Department of Justice and transcripts of the conversations were given to media outlets.<\/p>\n If anything, the FBI should focus on how a DOJ wiretap transcript that had to be approved by the classified\u00a0Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court<\/a> went public, which is indisputably a crime, he said.<\/p>\n Nunes said that even if\u00a0Flynn<\/a>\u00a0discussed Obama\u2019s December sanctions, he would have no problem\u2013even if Flynn told the Russians that the incoming Trump administration would ignore or ease that round of sanctions.<\/p>\n Flynn has maintained that he did not discuss the sanctions.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the discussions occurred around ensuring that there was no overreaction by the Russian government, so that the new administration could do like all the other previous administrations, who thought they could work with Putin, all three have been wrong,\u201d Nunes said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that is just what General Flynn did, to try and keep the lines of communications open,\u201d he said. \u201cThat did us a big favor.\u201d<\/p>\n This comment incensed CNN reporter\u00a0Jim Sciutto<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sciutto called out to the congressman: \u201cDo you want an administration negotiating against another? Isn\u2019t that one U.S. administration negotiating\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n The congressman subdued a smirk as he cut Sciutto off, saying, \u201cYou want\u00a0to investigate the Logan Act? You\u2019re a Logan Act guy?\u201d The 1799\u00a0Logan Act<\/a> bans American citizens from negotiating with a foreign power without the approval of the federal government.<\/p>\n Sciutto: \u201cI didn\u2019t mention the Logan Act, I\u2019m just saying that if one administration\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n Nunes cut him off again: \u201cThe Logan Act is ridiculous. You guys all know that.\u201d No one has ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act.<\/p>\n The other contentious back-and-forth was between the chairman and reporters, who kept insisting that there was something nefarious about the White House asking Nunes to talk to a reporter about the New York Times<\/em> story.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of an odd story, I thought,\u201d the congressman said.<\/p>\n