February 8, 2018

Now Devin Nunes Wants to Build a Literal Wall in the Intelligence Committee

“You’ve got to talk to Devin.”

Tom Williams/ZUMA

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Rep. Devin Nunes last week did enormous damage to the credibility of the House intelligence committee he chairs when he released an inaccurate memo designed to undermine the probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But according to a new report, the California Republican’s efforts to divide the committee—once renowned for its bipartisan cooperation—are far from over.

CBS News reported Thursday that Nunes’ latest project appears to be the construction of a literal wall to separate Republican and Democratic staff members within the committee’s designated secure areas. The wall, which is expected to be built this spring, would be a physical manifestation of the increasingly partisan fights within the committee. Other Republicans seem to be flat-out mortified by Nunes’ shovel-ready infrastructure plan. From CBS:

“I’m not part of that decision,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. “You’ve got to talk to Devin. I don’t know what they’re trying to do one way or the other.”

“I swear to God I didn’t know that,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee’s work, he said, “The level of trust and the level of everything down there is—it’s poison. It’s absolute poison down there.”

The wall controversy comes after a year of turmoil on the committee, during which Nunes has been accused of repeatedly seeking to undermine investigations that could be politically damaging to President Donald Trump. Last week, Nunes released a memo accusing the FBI of improperly obtaining a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign staffer. Trump ultimately green-lighted the memo’s release, ignoring objections from Democrats and the FBI that the document was deeply misleading. The White House is currently reviewing a rebuttal memo authored by Democrats on the committee.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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