House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said that the incidental surveillance information collected on Trump campaign officials "may be legal, but I'm not sure that it's right."
"I have no problem with it being picked up," the California Republican told KSEE-TV in Fresno on Friday, adding that no names of U.S. residents should be included in the data unless it concerned a "criminal issue."
"It's wrong," Nunes said.
The eighth-term congressman is under fire by Democrats for secretly viewing the surveillance data privately on the White House grounds last month — then sharing it with reporters and, then, President Donald Trump — but not with his own committee.
"That's not sneaking around," he told the station. "That's being pretty transparent."
He added that he was first to warn the Obama administration about Moscow's possible involvement in the election.
"I'm a Russia hawk," Nunes said. "I'm not part of the administration; I wasn't confirmed.
"I'm only confirmed by the people who voted for me in this valley," he added, referring to the San Joaquin Valley area in central California that he represents.
In addition, Nunes said that The New York Times report Thursday that identified the White House officials who helped him access the spy data was "mostly wrong."
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