Devin Nunes: I never said I was leaving the Russia investigation for good

In a radio interview this week, California Rep. Devin Nunes (R) teased the idea that he might return to the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election -- even after he got caught carrying water for the Trump administration and stepped aside under a cloud.

The Fresno Bee said that Nunes was appearing on a local talk radio show hosted by Ray Appleton on KMJ 580 AM/105.9 FM and spent about an hour and a half taking calls from listeners.

A listener asked about the Russia investigation and Nunes echoed the White House talking point that so far there has been no evidence made public showing collusion between President Trump and Russian officials. He also said that in spite of widespread reports, he never recused himself from the investigation.

“All I said was I was going to temporarily step aside,” he said.

Nunes stepped down from the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election after he got caught colluding with White House officials to muddy the waters around President Donald Trump's unfounded claims that former President Barack Obama "wiretapped" Trump Tower.

In other remarks, Nunes said the shooting attack on a Republican baseball practice that critically injured Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was "almost predictable" thanks to the "fake news and fake media."

The media, he said, has always been full of liberals, but now they're not ashamed to be open about it.

“Ninety percent of the media is the arm of the Democratic Party,” Nunes said. “Five percent is legitimate journalists, like you here in the KMJ news studio... and 5 percent are right-wing.”

Listen to the audio, embedded below: