One of the Republican lawmakers helping President Donald Trump undermine the special counsel accidentally admitted on MSNBC that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was still directing the House Intelligence probe of Russian election meddling.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) appeared Monday on MSNBC's "Velshi and Ruhle," where he argued for the release of a memo that he and Nunes say shows wrongdoing by special counsel Robert Mueller and Justice Department employees.
"The Department of Justice says releasing it would be 'extraordinarily reckless,'" said host Stephanie Ruhle. "The president refers to the Department of Justice as 'my guys,' so if his own Department of Justice says this is extraordinarily reckless, why is it a good idea to do it?"
House Republicans have refused to share the secret memo with the Justice Department, whose officials oppose its release due to national security concerns.
"Well, the Department of Justice hasn't even read the memo so it would be hard for them to determine what would on would not be reckless because they haven't seen it," Gaetz claimed. "I think Devin Nunes has done a great job chairing the Intelligence Committee leading this investigation. I trust his judgment."
Ruhle quickly seized on Gaetz's offhand remark about Nunes, who stepped aside from leading the committee's investigation after the House Ethics Committee investigated whether he improperly disclosed classified information to the Trump White House.
"I thought he recused himself," Ruhle said.
Gaetz tried to regain his footing after his apparent gaffe.
"He had because there were false charges that he had released classified information to the White House," Gaetz said. "There was an ethics investigation into that allegation, Mr. Nunes was completely cleared."
Ruhle pressed on, asking if Nunes had formally announced that he was again leading the House Intelligence Committee investigation into Trump campaign ties to Russia.
"He seems to be in full command and control of this investigation," Gaetz said. "I think that's a good thing. All of the allegations made against him, completely proven false and he was completely cleared. He is the chairman of the Intelligence Committee and I trust his judgment."
"Co-chairman, right?" Ruhle said.
"Well, he's the chairman of the majority side," Gaetz said.
