Andrew Janz, a Democratic challenger to Rep. Devin Nunes, said earlier this year that “We don’t need Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer or the national party here” on the campaign trail.
But you can bet that Janz welcomed what Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said about Nunes on Tuesday.
“A man like Devin Nunes, who, I hear privately from my Republican colleagues — they think he’s off the deep end.” — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Schumer criticized Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman and California District 22 representative, by name in a speech on the Senate floor.
Said the veteran New York Democrat: The “White House has put extraordinary, unusual and inappropriate pressure on the Department of Justice and the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“A man like Devin Nunes, who, I hear privately from my Republican colleagues — they think he’s off the deep end.”
Janz, a Fresno County violent crimes prosecutor, making his first run for political office, quickly took to Twitter to spread the news.
Nunes has placed himself in the national spotlight with his handling of the committee’s investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump and GOP Hail Nunes as a Hero
Many Republicans, including Trump, have called Nunes a national hero for his inquiries into the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Democrats, meanwhile, portray Nunes as a Trump “stooge.” They say he used his chairmanship to cut short the probe into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russians against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Most recently, Nunes pressured the DOJ to release information about the FBI’s use of an informant who met with three of President Trump‘s campaign advisers during the 2016 campaign.
That pressure included Nunes threatening on Fox News to hold Attorney General Sessions in contempt after the DOJ said it would not comply with his subpoena sent in April about records involving the Russia investigation and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Video: Rep. Nunes Says He Will Push To Hold AG in Contempt
Note: Nunes’ segment begins about 50 seconds into the Fox & Friends interview, following Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
