AM Joy panel: Devin Nunes facing obstruction indictment for using his House intel position to derail Mueller

A panel of experts on MSNBC’s AM Joy predicted Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) could be indicted for obstruction of justice for using his position as the chair of the House Intelligence Committee to subvert special counsel Robert Mueller.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) sided with Rep. Nunes during a Friday meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI head Christopher Wray, CNN reported.

"How is it that he now gets access to all of these documents with which he can pursue his investigation of Fusion GPS?" host Joy Reid asked.

"Trump opens up the door for corruption, so it becomes more normalized, even though this is not normal," Scott Dworkin of the Democratic Coalition suggested. "It's tough to believe that somebody like Speaker Ryan, who I used to have respect for, would step out and defend Nunes when he came out and publicly said Nunes said he would recusing himself, and now it turns out he's a liar and now he should go to prison for it, that's how I feel about Speaker Ryan."

"To see somebody like Paul Ryan step out and go against our justice system and side with a traitor like Devin Nunes, it's unbelievable at this point," Dworkin continued.

"How is it possible that somebody like Devin Nunes is allowed to see whatever intelligence he wants, whatever backup information he wants, and use that to persecute a former British spy who is on our side?" Reid asked.

"If he were to use that intelligence -- any information -- to carry out a witch hunt or to carry out any type of investigation with the specific intent to block or obstruct justice in the Mueller investigation, that could expose Devin Nunes to obstruction of justice charges himself," explained intelligence expert Malcolm Nance.

"He could be a key indicted or unindicted co-conspirator if it turns out that he is he's using his position...to thwart a national counterintelligence investigation and to stop the Justice Department from doing their job," Nance predicted.

“Sarah, you study authoritarian states, this is your field of study," Reid asked authoritarianism expert Sarah Kendzior. "It’s hard for people to understand why someone like Devin Nunes, maybe he knew Donald Trump before, but would have such fierce loyalty to Donald Trump that he seems to be conducting his own counter-investigation to go after Donald Trump’s enemies and exculpate him from the Russian investigation."

"Is it logical someone would do that if the only person he's trying to clear is Donald Trump, or is it an indication that he's worried about his own exposure because, again, he was part of the campaign?" Reid wondered.

"I think it's more likely the latter, that he's worried about himself," Kendzior replied. "Throughout the process, Nunes never operated as a watchdog, he's been a lapdog."

"They're creating villains out of the people who actually tried to stop this process and stop collusion and corruption within our government," Kendzior explained.

"It's as if our government is on fire and they're yelling at the people pulling the fire alarm," Kendzior concluded.

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