An unending stream of questions about the Trump administration’s ties to Russia led the White House to complain that just about anything the president does — including grabbing a bite — is going to be tied to the Kremlin.
“If the president puts Russian dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday at his daily press briefing. “I’ve said it from the day that I got here: There is no connection [between the administration and Russia].”
The House Intelligence Committee canceled its meetings this week after Democrats — including Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York — called for Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) to recuse himself from any investigations into Russian links to the Trump campaign.
There also were demands he be bounced as chairman after he revealed he visited the White House grounds last week to review intelligence documents from a source and then relayed that information to President Trump.
Nunes said he had to go to the White House to use a secure facility to review the classified documents.
A day later, Nunes held a press briefing to announce that Trump and some of his associates had been picked up in “incidental” surveillance by US intelligence agencies.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) accused the embattled chairman of running an “Inspector Clouseau investigation,” referencing the bumbling “Pink Panther” detective.
“I think the only way this can be repaired is if he tells his colleagues on the House Intelligence Committee who he met with and what he saw,” Graham said.
Nunes said Tuesday he won’t share that information — even with members of his own panel.
“We will never reveal those source and methods,” he said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) stuck by Nunes, telling reporters he should not recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
“Speaker Ryan has full confidence that Chairman Nunes is conducting a thorough, fair, and credible investigation,” said AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, a report Tuesday alleged that the administration moved to stop Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, from testifying before Nunes’ panel.
Yates, who was fired earlier this year after refusing to implement Trump’s travel ban, was notified by the Justice Department that her testimony might be problematic, the Washington Post reported.
The White House quickly called the report “entirely false.”
“I hope she testifies,” Spicer said. “I look forward to it.”
According to the report, the Justice Department claimed Yates’ testimony could breach executive branch communication privilege.
Yates’ lawyer pushed back.
“We believe that the department’s position in this regard is overbroad, incorrect and inconsistent with the department’s historical approach to the congressional testimony of current and former officials,’’ the attorney, David O’Neill, wrote in a letter.
Nunes spokesman Jack Langer said the committee still intends to call Yates.
“Neither Chairman Nunes nor any Intelligence Committee staff members had any communication with the White House whatsoever about Sally Yates testifying to the Committee,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Tuesday downplayed a meeting between top White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and an official of the state-run Russian development bank Vnesheconombank as routine business.
“Tens of meetings were held and one of these meetings was with Kushner’s company and with him. It is routine business,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who added that Moscow wasn’t aware of the meeting.