Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) may take over on the House Intelligence Committee, according to a CBSNews report. But there shouldn't be a need for a conservative firebrand being guided by President Donald Trump, given Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) has long been on the key committee.
Nunes was once a close ally of the president's but throughout the course of the closed-door dispositions, Nunes was allowed to attend the questioning and ask his own questions. Yet, Trump and the GOP have maintained that they had no influence in the hearings. It poses the question: Where is Nunes? Why wasn't he controlling this for the president? Why wasn't he feeding the key information House Republican leadership has demanded for the last week?
According to a RollCall report, Nunes has only "at times" been in attendance of the House meetings, "but he and his staff have not been directing the GOP portion of the proceedings." Nunes, who was once the House Intelligence Committee chairman, serves as the ranking member of the committee now that the GOP is in the minority. Yet, it's Jordan's investigative counsel in the Oversight Committee that has taken over Nunes' job.
"That begs the question of whether Nunes will be prepared to lead Republican questioning in public hearings, which unlike the closed-door depositions, will be conducted solely by the Intelligence Committee," said RollCall. "The Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees have also been party to the depositions."
In recent months, Nunes decided to sue satirical Twitter accounts and The Fresno Bee, so it's possible his attention is somewhere other than his work for the people of central California.
Last week, the headlines were that Nunes would be taking over as impeachment moved into open hearings, but suddenly that changed Monday. Jordan told RollCall last week that he hasn't spoken to Nunes yet about the transition
"Nunes declined to be interviewed for this story, telling CQ Roll Call that he only does live interviews with select non-mainstream media outlets," the report said. "He did offer this refrain for what he says he tells all reporters asking about his Intelligence Committee work: 'I don’t talk about committee business on any subject.'"
Read the full CBS News report here and the report from RollCall here.