Devin Nunes cares more about scoring style points on Fox News than national security

Rep. Devin Nunes, the longtime Republican congressman from Tulare, claims to care about national security.

And, as the ranking member of the authoritative House Select Committee on Intelligence, Nunes has decried perceived efforts to politicize the panel, which is supposed to be a bipartisan check on the nation’s spy agencies.

But at a recent committee hearing, Nunes was the one posing the danger to national security by his politically motivated criticisms.

The issue was diversity in the U.S. intelligence community (the “IC,” in Washington, D.C. terminology).

Nunes seized upon the hearing, with its title of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Intelligence Community: An Enduring Mission Imperative,” as a way to trot out the GOP’s accusation du jour of “wokeness,” in this instance allegedly afflicting the committee and the federal agencies that report to it.

“I’d argue that woke obsessions are the proper jurisdiction of faculty lounge Marxists, not our national security agencies,” Nunes said in his remarks before the committee and its witnesses.

Listening to him were the directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, the National Security Agency and the Office of National Intelligence, as well as the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. One was a four-star general; another, a three-star general.

Such expertise did not sway Nunes. He lectured listeners that the intelligence community’s goal is to gather information to deter enemies and protect America.

“The IC, however, seems to be increasingly focused on issues that distract from that mission,” Nunes said. “The indications, ranging from trivial recruitment videos to major intelligence estimates, show an infatuation with left-wing dogmas and politicized actions that have nothing to do with deterring our enemies and winning wars.”

Nunes did not elaborate more fully to explain what he meant by dogmas. Nor did he hold up a mirror to see who has done the most to politicize the Intelligence Committee in recent years. He came under widespread criticism for disregarding the bipartisan nature of the committee when he chaired it in the early part of President Trump’s tenure. And Nunes’ comments at the Oct. 27 hearing show he has not changed one bit.

Goal of national security

Americans expect their national security agencies to foresee threats, head them off and protect the nation. Having the expertise to do that will come from a creating a smart, sophisticated workforce dedicated to that job.

A key way to develop that team is diversity. A wealth of staff with different experiences and viewpoints will improve the nation’s ability to understand its myriad enemies and deter threats.

Committee chairman Adam Schiff, the Democrat from Burbank, made that point at the hearing.

“And without top caliber officers — drawn from all cultures, all communities, and all backgrounds — we risk undermining the capacity of the IC to keep pace with the evolving national security challenges the United States will face in the coming years.,” Schiff said.

CIA Director Bill Burns told the committee that diversity and inclusion are “not only the smart thing to do for an agency with a global mission, it’s the right thing to do for an agency that represents and defends our diverse society.”

Nunes politicized the committee

Putting aside the fact that diversity in the ranks is a good thing in itself, Nunes has no free pass when it comes to politicizing the Intelligence Committee.

In 2017, when he was chairman of the panel, Nunes went to the White House to read reports that purported to show how President Trump and his staff had been inadvertently monitored during the transition into power. The visit came when Trump and his staff were under scrutiny for possible involvement with Russian officials during the campaign. Trump claimed then-President Obama was behind wiretapping; that charge was proven false.

Nunes did not invite Schiff, then the ranking member as top committee Democrat, to go along with him, as would have been proper protocol. Nunes’ actions outraged Schiff and other committee Democrats, who said Nunes could not lead any investigation into Russian meddling.

A year later, Nunes and committee Republicans disregarded committee procedures by declassifying and making public a memo that accused top federal law officers of abusing their powers to get court approval for a wiretap of a Trump campaign official. Nunes also ordered a wall be built to separate the aides of GOP committee members from those of Democrats.

Nunes’ latest comments about “wokeness” and diversity yielded a headline for Fox News, the conservative television network that has the congressman on as a regular commentator. But Nunes revealed just how out of touch he is with the real issues facing the nation.

If Nunes truly cares for national security, he should support efforts to make the IC workforce the very best it can be — diversity included. Otherwise, his comments are nothing more than conservative echo-room chatter.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.