Supposed intel pro Nunes can’t get a meeting with intelligence agencies

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) has lost so much credibility as the head of the House Intelligence Committee that our global allies no longer take him seriously.

In an embarrassing snub, a trio of British intelligence agencies refused to meet with Nunes when he was in London, the Atlantic reports.

Nunes took a trip to London to learn more about Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who authored the famous dossier detailing connections between Trump and Russia. Several of the allegations in the report have since been verified, but others remain unverified.

According to the Atlantic, Nunes sought meetings with British intelligence agencies MI5, MI6, and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the U.K.’s equivalent to the National Security Agency.

On background, a security official said it was normal for such agencies to meet with members of the House Intelligence Committee.

But when it came to Nunes, those agencies took a pass.

“The people familiar with his trip told me that officials at MI6, MI5, and GCHQ were wary of entertaining Nunes out of fear that he was ‘trying to stir up a controversy,'” the Atlantic’s Natasha Bertrand wrote.

Nunes did meet with one official, the U.K.’s deputy national security adviser.

Nunes was specifically interested in the relationship between Steele and Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr.

Ohr has worked on a variety of issues in his 30 years at the DOJ, including Russian organized crime, and has known Steele for more than a decade. His wife worked for Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Steele to prepare the dossier.

Because of these connections, Politico reports, Ohr now has the misfortune of being the new target of Republicans seeking scapegoats to help them discredit the FBI and the Mueller probe.

Ohr is also on the list of current and former U.S. intelligence officials whose security clearances Trump has threatened to revoke. Trump tweeted last week that he hopes Ohr will get fired.

But Nunes should probably worry more about his own increasingly public record of misinformation and lies than about smearing Bruce Ohr.

Nunes has taken the lead in advancing numerous conspiracy theories, and his partisan intelligence report on the 2016 election drew wide criticism for its blatant errors and contradictions.

His naked attempts to carry water for the Trump administration even led his hometown newspaper to label him “Trump’s stooge.”

The California Republican has lost so much credibility, both at home and abroad, that the intelligence agencies of America’s closest ally won’t even take a meeting with him.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.