Nunes: WH Visit Only Confirmed Surveillance Info He Was Given

The House Intelligence Committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the White House only confirmed what he already knew about alleged surveillance of President Donald Trump's transition team aides.

"I did use the White House to help to confirm what I already knew from other sources," Nunes told Bloomberg in remarks posted Thursday.

Nunes made a similar statement to The Hill earlier this week, saying he was on the White House grounds in order to "confirm what I already knew" the day before he briefed Trump that his aides had been swept up in U.S. surveillance.

Nunes has said he will not reveal the source of his information, but The New York Times reported the officials were Ezra Cohen-Watnick of the National Security Council and a national security lawyer with the White House Counsel's Office, Michael Ellis.

Nunes' refusal to name his sources – or give the information he had to other committee members — has led Democrats, including committee vice chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and at least one Republican to call for Nunes to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian activities during last year's election.

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