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Nunes, Top Intelligence Panel Republican, Had Frequent Contact with Giuliani,
Call Records Show

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy
   Giuliani, often spoke to Representative Devin Nunes, the top Republican
   on the House Intelligence Committee, as Giuliani peddled unproven
   allegations at the heart of the Trump impeachment inquiry, a
   congressional report said on Tuesday.

   Previously undisclosed telephone records appended to a [1]300-page
   reportby the Democratic-led committee showed that Nunes also contacted
   Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who was helping Giuliani
   and has been indicted on charges of violating campaign finance law.
   Parnas has pleaded not guilty.

   Others with whom Giuliani had phone calls included current and former
   Nunes staffers, the White House budget office, and a journalist who
   promoted conspiracy theories involving Democratic former Vice President
   Joe Biden and the 2016 U.S. election.

   Giuliani's numerous calls with Nunes and aides are significant because,
   as the top Republican on the committee, the California lawmaker cited
   those same theories as he led the fight against impeaching Trump.

   Bennett Gershman, a Pace Law School professor who specializes in
   government ethics, said the disclosures raised "ethics questions with
   respect to Nunes."

   "Just on the face of it, I would say Nunes has a lot of explaining to
   do," Gershman said. "At the very least he should have recused himself
   and being as aggressive as he was with this lurking in the background,
   I would say it's pretty shocking."

   Nunes' office did not respond to a request for comment on the phone
   records.

   Neither Giuliani nor his attorney, Robert Costello, responded to a
   request for comment on the report and on Nunes in particular.

   The intelligence panel report, which will form the basis of any
   impeachment charges, accused Trump of using his power to push Ukraine
   to investigate Biden in return for a White House meeting for its newly
   elected president and $391 million in withheld security aid approved by
   Congress for Ukraine's defense against Russia-backed separatists.

   Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the committee,
   declined to comment specifically on Nunes.

References

   1. https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20191203_-_full_report___hpsci_impeachment_inquiry_-_20191203.pdf

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