House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who has recused himself from the Russia investigation, "is still insisting on signing off on the subpoenas" in the probe, Rep. Adam Schiff said Tuesday.
The California Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program that it is "inexcusable" that Nunes remains a check on what the Russia investigation can do and that he is concerned by the chairman's connection to the probe despite his recusal.
Shiff added, however, that so far, Nunes has agreed to sign off on all four subpoenas the committee has sought to issue.
But Schiff insisted "that authority by our rules can be delegated to [Rep. Mike Conaway], with consultation with myself. That's what should have been done by now, it hasn't been done, so that does concern me."
Nunes supposedly stepped aside in April from the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election following an ethics investigation about his handling of the inquiry, The Hill reported.
When pressed by MSNBC as to what explanation Nunes gives for not giving up this authority, Schiff said he "simply refuses at this point" to do so.
Schiff also said that following fired FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress last week about his conversations with President Donald Trump, "we ought to bring in these FBI personnel around Comey, some of whom were in the room when Comey was on the phone with the president, but others that could get the very contemporaneous recollections of those meetings right after they took place."
To that end, Schiff said, "We have sent out letters to any number of witnesses to bring them in for testimony. Most of that will be in the form of interviews or depositions that'll be behind closed doors."
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