The chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board says he believes intelligence and law enforcement officials committed crimes in their decade-long pursuit of President Donald Trump.
Devin Nunes, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee now serving as CEO of Truth Social, also emphasized the need to revoke security clearances and remove from office any officials who abused their powers, Just the News reported.
“Look, it’s really simple. There’s lots of criminals here, and it was a grand conspiracy,” Nunes told the outlet.
“Remember, we made, I don’t know, a dozen criminal referrals when I was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,” he added.
Nunes said that whether prosecutions move forward will depend on whether the statute of limitations has expired or if those timelines are extended through the pursuit of a conspiracy case. He added that he trusts FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi to make those decisions.
The former Republican congressman from California, now serving as chairman of the civilian oversight board for U.S. intelligence, emphasized that his focus is on ensuring intelligence officers are held accountable and face disciplinary action—regardless of whether criminal charges are ultimately filed.
“I just continue to be fascinated by the people who are still carrying a security clearance. It’s amazing who are still in these agencies,” Nunes said. “And I’m just shaking my head like every time I turn around, like, wait, wait, wait, wasn’t that person in that position a Russia hoax person.
“All of those people need to get their security clearances pulled, and they should not be working anywhere near law enforcement or intelligence, for that matter,” he added. “So it’s one of the things that our board is tasked with.”
Former CIA analysts say the intelligence community is suffering another major hit to its credibility following the release of newly declassified material alleging that top Obama administration officials intentionally misled the public into believing Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
The documents, declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and submitted to the Justice Department for potential criminal referrals, highlight what analysts describe as the growing politicization and weaponization of the intelligence apparatus—beginning under President Obama and continuing into the Biden administration, the Washington Times reported on Saturday.
Gabbard alleges that senior Obama officials fabricated a false intelligence assessment on Russian interference just weeks after the 2016 election, and she is calling for those responsible to be held accountable for using the report to undermine the incoming Trump administration, the Times noted.
According to Gabbard, those involved include former President Obama, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former FBI Director James Comey. After the release of the reports, Clapper said during an interview that he has “lawyered up.”
Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who spent nearly two decades with the spy agency, told the Times he thinks “the whole thing really undermined the reputation of U.S. intelligence, not just CIA.”
“It made it look like it’s a big political game. There’s always some politics, but it was never as bad as it was until Trump became president,” he said, citing alleged partisan misuse of intelligence by then-Rep. Adam Schiff, California Democrat, and Brennan.
The Department of Justice confirmed Monday that it has received a criminal referral from Gabbard regarding her explosive allegations.
“Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,” Gabbard had posted to X on Friday regarding the criminal referral. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“The integrity of our democratic republic depends on it. We are turning over all documents to the DOJ for criminal referral,” Gabbard added.