House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has temporarily stepped aside from investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including if there w
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has temporarily stepped aside from investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including if there were any ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
(Photo: Reuters)
The California congressman released this statement Thursday.
“Several leftwing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics,” Nunes said. “The charges are entirely false and politically motivated, and are being leveled just as the American people are beginning to learn the truth about the improper unmasking of the identities of U. S. citizens and other abuses of power.”
“Despite the baselessness of the charges, I believe it is in the best interests of the House Intelligence Committee and the Congress for me to have Representative Mike Conaway, with assistance from Representatives Trey Gowdy and Tom Rooney, temporarily take charge of the Committee’s Russia investigation while the House Ethics Committee looks into this matter. I will continue to fulfill all my other responsibilities as Committee Chairman, and I am requesting to speak to the Ethics Committee at the earliest possible opportunity in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims.” (RELATED: Nunes Will Not Disclose Intelligence Sources To Other Members Of His Panel)
Shortly after Nunes stepped aside, the House Ethics Committee announced it is investigating allegations that Nunes may have disclosed intelligence without proper authorization.
Ethics Committee Chairwoman Susan Brooks and ranking member Rep. Ted Deutch said this in a joint statement.
“The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Devin Nunes may have made unauthorized disclosures of classified information, in violation of House Rules, law, regulations, or other standards of conduct,” Brooks and Deutch said. “The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), is investigating and gathering more information regarding these allegations.”
“The Committee has determined to investigate these allegations in order to fulfill its institutional obligation.”
Story developing

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Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to use the “nuclear option” to change Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees
FILE – In this Wednesday, March 22, 2017, file photo, Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch listens as he is asked a question by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on Capitol Hill in Washington, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Last Updated Apr 6, 2017 11:20 AM EDT
The Senate will vote around 11 a.m. to end debate on President Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court.
This is a procedural vote that requires 60 votes to advance his nomination, but Republicans do not have enough support to get over that threshold. Forty-four Senate Democrats have said they would filibuster his nomination, voting against ending or limiting debate.
Immediately following the failed procedural vote on Thursday morning, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to move to change the Senate rules through a series of parliamentary moves and procedural votes eliminating filibusters for Supreme Court nominees – also known as the nuclear option. A vote to change the rules would be a simple majority vote. The rules change would lower the current 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees to a simple majority.
Under the new rules, the Senate will then take a simple majority procedural vote to limit debate to 30 hours on the nomination.
Follow our live updates below.
11:19 a.m. Senate Democrats have the 41 votes to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination, which will soon prompt McConnell to begin a series of procedural votes to change Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
11:04 a.m. Following this vote, Senate Majority Leader McConnell is expected to begin the process of changing the rules of the Senate to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees. The rules change votes will be simple majority votes.
11:02 a.m. The Senate is now holding the cloture vote to advance Gorsuch’s nomination. This vote is expected to fail since the GOP needs 60 votes, but 43 Democrats have said they will oppose the move to end or limit debate.
10:54 a.m. ET Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, is speaking on the floor and said that when history weighs what happened, “The responsibility for changing the rules will fall on the Republicans and Leader McConnell’s shoulders.
He said that the elimination of the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees “means the end of a long history of consensus on Supreme Court nominees” and weakens the standing of the Senate as a whole.
CBS News’ John Nolen contributed to this live-blog.
Rebecca Shabad is a video reporter for CBS News Digital.
The phrase “fake news” has been used by Trump to discredit responsible reporting that he dislikes. But “60 Minutes’” investigation looks at truly fake news created by con-artists
Just how many almonds does he really eat, anyway?

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A device is made safe as Russian police investigating the metro bombing make further arrests.
An explosive device has been made safe in a flat in St Petersburg by Russian police, three days after a suspected bomber on the city’s metro killed 13 people.
A city official said several suspects were held when police raided the flat early on Thursday, Ria Novosti said.
Neighbours were moved away and witnesses said three men were led out in handcuffs, the news agency added.
The main suspect in the metro bombing, Akbarzhon Jalilov, died in the attack.
Aged 22 and from the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, his remains were identified by his parents on Wednesday. A DNA test also confirmed that he was the 14th person killed in the blast.
Russian investigators are examining tape, tin foil and some other suspicious items found at Jalilov’s St Petersburg flat.
Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK) says they appear similar to components found in a device left at Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station on the day of the bombing.
The flat raided at around 05:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Thursday was in Tovarishchesky Prospekt in the east of St Petersburg.
“An explosive device found in the flat has been made safe. Several suspects have been arrested; they didn’t resist and there’s now no threat to local people,” the head of the local authority Konstantin Serov was quoted as saying.
Sources told Interfax news agency that investigators were examining possible links between the three men and the alleged bomber. Witnesses said the three suspects were all from Central Asia.
Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK) made no reference to the arrests but said on Thursday they had established that “several citizens of Central Asian republics were in contact with Jalilov”.
Eight people from Central Asia were arrested in the city on Wednesday as part of the metro bomb investigation. The SK said they were held for allegedly recruiting for Islamist militant groups such as so-called Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra since 2015, and “committing crimes of a terrorist nature”.
The SK has named all 13 who died along with Jalilov on Monday afternoon after the train had left Sennaya Ploshchad station. About 50 injured are being treated in hospital.
The dead were named as:

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