Earlier we noted in passing that Devin Nunes' voting record was one of only 22 Republican (+ one fake Democrat, Conor Lamb) who had scored a ZERO. I immediately got attacks from Nunes and Lamb fans (different people so far). These aren't my findings; they got spit out by the ProgressivePunch algorithm. 22 Republicans (plus Lamb, a conservative Pennsylvania Blue Dog) have never voted-- this cycle-- for anything "progressive." Only 22 Republicans? Yep, but there are 13 more-- hardcore reactionaries like Mimi Walters (CA), Kevin McCarthy (CA), John Culberson (TX), Don Bacon (NE) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA)-- who think they have a right to point to their bipartisan nature because they scored 1.02, meaning they voted with progressives a grand total of... once. Another 14 have scores under 2.So, I'm just reading the numbers and, in any case, there are many serious considerations for voters in CA-22 (Fresno, Clovis, Dinuba, Visalia, Tulare) to strenuously oppose Nunes and support Ricardo Franco for the Central Valley congressional seat. Nunes doesn't live in the district at all any longer; he lives full time up Trump's ass. And his latest stunt is to threaten to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt-- as soon as this week-- for not complying with one of his spurious Trump-dictated subpoenas. There was a time, not so long ago, that all 22 of the Republicans with zero scores would have been carrying photos Jeff Sessions around in their wallets to they could smooch them whenever the mood struck them.Yesterday was on Fox bellowing about Sessions. As you may know, Nunes sent Sessions a letter demanding to see classified information regarding its probe into FISA abuses and counterintelligence investigations, including the targeting of Russian spies like former Trump campaign official Carter Page. Sessions, of course, ignored to obey the law and ignored Nunes' latest stunt.'Now that he's been on Fox with the "news," the next step will be to waste more taxpayer money with a silly lawsuit to try to enforce Nunes' illegal and moronic subpoena. Predictably, Nunes told the Fox viewers who hadn't switched channels when he plodded onto the set that he refuses to take the excuse that handing over the information would harm national security.
“How many times have we heard that argument?” he said. “This just can’t continue where we don’t get information in a timely manner.”Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, said the DOJ sent a letter to Mr. Nunes Thursday, which was the deadline for his subpoena.The letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd, said after evaluation of the committee’s request by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the White House, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it can’t comply with a request for information about a specific individual.The letter said the Justice Department is open to other ways to accommodate the committee’s inquiry.“Disclosure of responsive information to such requests can risk severe consequences, including potential loss of human lives, damage to relationships with valued international partners, compromise of ongoing criminal investigations, and interference with intelligence activities,” the letter read.Doug Andres, a spokesperson for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, told the Washington Times on Sunday that Mr. Nunes hasn’t discussed the push to hold Mr. Sessions in contempt with the speaker.Rep. John Ratcliffe, Texas Republican, said he’s unsure what exactly the subpoena relates to, so members of Congress need more information about it.“We all need to have that information before we would go to that extraordinary measure of holding an attorney general in contempt of Congress,” Mr. Ratcliffe said on Fox News.
How about in contempt of Nunes-- like most normal Americans? Ricardo Franco is the progressive taking on Nunes (there is also a very conservative Democrat running). Today Ricardo told us that "Everyday our canvassers hear the same thing while knocking on doors: Nunes has got to go! The primary reason his own republicans locally are leaving him is because of his refusal to work with the other side. In fact, he vilifies the other side. That's not a winning message when we have households with no running water and millennials constantly getting priced out of the rising costs of the American Dream. Indeed, our progressive message of supporting Medicare for All, defending Social Security and ending the Corporate Welfare Trump-Ryan Tax Plan is seeing bipartisan support locally. While hard-working Americans are busy restoring America from the bottom-up Nunes is destroying our democratic institutions with a sledgehammer." If you'd like to help Ricardo win his race and replace Nunes, please consider contributing to his campaign here.
