Head of US congressional probe on Russian hacking steps down

Republican Representative Devin Nunes temporarily stepped down Thursday as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when he was considered subject of investigation by the House Ethics Committee over claims that he disclosed classified intelligence. 

Nunes however said the charges as "entirely false" and "politically motivated" made by several left-wing activist groups, which were identified to be Watchdog groups Democracy 21 and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The beleaguered representative vowed to still continue his other responsibilities as chairman "in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims".

In a BBC report, House Speaker Paul Ryan expressed support to Nunes' decision but said that the ethics inquiry "would be a distraction" to the investigating Intelligence Committee.

Jim Himes, a Democratic representative from Connecticut who is a member of the Committee, riled that the committee was effectively frozen when Nunes stepped down as chairman of the investigating committee, although some lawmakers are seeing that Nunes' stepping aside from the committee is astrategy to deflect the investigation into the Russia scandal.

Before stepping down temporarily, Nunes cancelled last week the hearings "for Trump White House", in the words of Himes.

The hearing could have squeezed out vital information from the invited resource persons- former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who briefly served as acting Attorney General before being fired by President Trump, former CIA head John Brennan, and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.

With Nunes' exit, several House representatives heaved a sigh wishing for greater bipartisan cooperation among them.

Before this freeze, the committee lastly heard from FBI Director James Comey, who said that the FBI has been investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia since last July.

Besides the House Intelligence Committee and the FBI, the Senate Intelligence Committee is also investigating into Russia's alleged role in the US election with its first round of hearing last week.

Also, the CIA on Tuesday told lawmakers that it has classified briefings last summer where an information indicated that Russia was working to help elect Trump president, a finding that did not emerge publicly until after Trump's victory months later.

(news672/YouTube)