- A CNN analyst made a shocking allegation about Rep. Devin Nunes
- Asha Rangappa suggested that Nunes hopes to leak the name of a top-secret intelligence source
- Rangappa was referring to a recent standoff between Nunes and the Justice Department
A CNN analyst made a shocking allegation Monday about House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Asha Rangappa, a former FBI special agent who appears frequently on CNN, suggested on Twitter that Nunes hopes to leak the name of a top-secret intelligence source in hopes of getting the person killed.
“Considering that @DevinNunes doesn’t actually *read* any of the details he’s given, Dr. Page, perhaps its because…he wants to leak them, get sources killed, and dry up the intel the FBI is getting in its investigation? But lordy, there are still tapes,” Rangappa tweeted Monday in an exchange with Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser who was the target of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained by the Justice Department and FBI.
Rangappa was referring to a recent standoff between Nunes and the Justice Department over records related to a top-secret FBI and CIA source who has provided information to the special counsel’s investigation. (RELATED: Secret Source In Russia Probe Deemed Off Limits To Congress)
Nunes, a Republican representative from California, issued a subpoena in April for the records, but the Justice Department pushed back aggressively, saying that revealing the source would post a risk to the source’s life and jeopardize relationships with foreign intelligence services.
The mysterious source is an American who has long provided information to the intelligence community, The Washington Post reported on May 8. Ironically, the Justice Department appears to have leaked those details to The Post.
House Republicans say the DOJ is over-hyping its concerns and is claiming that the source would be in jeopardy as a way to slow document production. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on May 10 that Nunes’ request is “wholly appropriate.” (RELATED: Comey Sits Idly By As His Friend Compares Devin Nunes To Edward Snowden)
Rangappa’s dramatic allegation is based on the assumption that Nunes or someone on the committee would leak details about the source to the media. However, undercutting that argument is the fact that the committee already knows the name of the source, and it has yet to leak. Committee officials have rebuffed attempts to discuss the source. They have also refused to confirm or deny the source’s name because it is classified.
Rangappa made another flawed argument in her exchange with Page. Nunes is “terrified” of the applications for FISA warrants granted against the former Trump campaign adviser, she claimed.
Nunes must not be “terrified” of the documents since he has led the push to force the Justice Department to release the surveillance documents to Congress, Page noted.
“If he’s so ‘*terrified*’ of the Secret Society’s pesky FISA, why has he been asking to have the details disclosed for many months already,” Page tweeted Monday.
The FISA applications showed the Justice Department and FBI relied heavily on the unverified Steele dossier to obtain four surveillance warrants against Page. The applications did not disclose the dossier was funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. Page has also vehemently denied the allegations made against him in the dossier, including that he was the Trump campaign’s main point of contact to the Kremlin for the purposes of collusion.
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