House Probe into Trump Campaign Ties to Russia in Turmoil as Chair Nunes Rejects Calls to Step Down

On Capitol Hill, calls are growing for House Republican Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes to step down from his committee's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as the investigation itself stalls amid the controversy. On Tuesday, the House Intelligence Committee was scheduled to hear testimony from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. But Nunes canceled the hearing last week, a day after Yates and former CIA head John Brennan, who was also slated to testify Tuesday, informed the government they would contradict some statements that White House officials had made. The Washington Post is reporting the White House sought to block Yates's testimony. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called this report "100 percent false."

The House Intelligence Committee has now canceled all meetings this week. Lawmakers are calling on Nunes to step down as chair, after it emerged he had met with a source on the grounds of the White House and viewed secret U.S. intelligence reports before supposedly briefing President Trump about the reports. Nunes says the reports indicate Trump or his associates might have been "incidentally" swept up in surveillance carried out by American spy agencies as they conducted foreign surveillance. For more, we speak with Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News. His new piece is titled "Russia probe in turmoil as top Dem calls for Nunes' recusal."