The congressman leading an investigation into reported Russian interference with last year’s presidential election has temporarily stepped down from the investigation. Congressman Devin Nunes, a California Republican, said his decision follows the announcement of an investigation Thursday by the House Committee on Ethics. The committee is looking into whether Nunes gave out classified information. Nunes called the charge “entirely false” and said it came from liberal activists. Democrats have been asking Nunes to give up the chair of the House investigation into Russian interference. They are angry that he went to the White House on March 22 to give information to President Donald Trump. He told Trump that American intelligence agencies had recorded discussions by Trump aides. The information from Nunes led Trump to say he felt “somewhat” vindicated about his claim that he had been wiretapped by former President Barack Obama. Democrats objected that Nunes gave the information to the president and reporters before telling members of the House Intelligence Committee. They said the information came from the president’s own staff. And the information did not support Trump’s claims he had been wiretapped by President Obama. Replacing Nunes as leader of the House Russia investigation will be Congressman Mike Conaway of Texas.
