The House Intelligence Committee Republicans Screwed America. Can America Screw Them Back?

The Republicans suddenly decided that the investigation into Putin-Gate is over and that Trump and Putin didn't do anything wrong. Pretty horrifying that these people are attempting a white-wash and putting Trump ahead of America. There are 13 Republicans on the House Intel Committee but many of them are in deeply red districts and not really likely to be held accountable for this. Mike Conaway, for example represents TX-11, a district so red that the PVI is R+32. Trump beat Hillary there 77.8% to 19.1%. And that wasn't an aberration of some kind. Romney beat Obama 79.2% to 19.6%. Conaway usually gets reelected with around 80%. There was no Democrat running against him in 2016, 2014 or 2012. This cycle Democrat Virginia Louise Leeder has raised $17,117 to go up against Conaway's $1,536,342 war chest.

Early yesterday morning, Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a member of the committee, was on CNN with Chris Cuomo. He told Cuomo that he hopes "the public gets to see these transcripts (of the hearings). They will see... how much they tried to protect the President when our job was to protect the ballot box." In terms of voter accountability,3 Republicans on the committee are retiring voluntarily-- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL) , Frank LoBiondo (NJ) and Trey Gowdy (SC). There are 4 other intelligence Committee Republicans who are in severely gerrymandered districts that are considered very safe:

• Rick Crawford (AR-01)- PVI R+17
• Chris Stewart (UT-02)- PVI R+16
• Tom Rooney (FL-17)- PVI R+13
• Brad Wenstrup (OH-02)- PVI R+9

So that leaves 5 who either are or could be vulnerable in November. Voters should focus on defeating these five:

• Will Hurd (TX-23)- PVI R+1
• Peter King (NY-02)- PVI R+3
• Elise Stefanik (NY-21)- PVI R+4
• Michael Turner (OH-10)- PVI R+4
• Devin Nunes (CA-22)- PVI R+8

Will Hurd andPeter King look like they have probably reached the end of their roads, politically. The big fish, of course, would be Nunes-- but, by the numbers, his district is the toughest. Trump beat Hillary there by 10 points... a pretty steep-- albeit not impossible-- climb. The Democratic establishment is behind an uninspiring Republican-lite candidate, Andrew Janz, who venerates the death penalty and an NRA interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. The candidate who could actually beat Nunes is Ricardo Franco, who has a good connection to the voters but who is severely underfunded-- please help him here. "Today I spoke to a Poli Sci class at Fresno State," he told us, "where they are learning about Congress as well as propaganda techniques people use to get elected. Nunes calling local news outlets 'fake news' was a prime example and tonight's headlines did not go over well with them at all. Our local students are smart. Our constituents are smart. However, our youth are particularly keen on sniffing out BS when they see and hear it. Devin Nunes can spin things all he wants, but won't pass through the thorough lens of the students and constituents I talked to tonight. In fact, they sniff it out and reject it from the left as much as the right. Nunes' partisan political games and Dems that fall into the trap turn them off very quickly. You know what they did like speaking about? How for years Washington has been taking from the poor to feed the rich. These students know a statutory corporate tax rate of 20% effectively means zero. They know 'tax cuts for the middle class' are a lie after 5 years. If Mueller doesn't take Nunes down along with Trump, our voters certainly will."

There's also a great choice-- DuWayne Gregory-- in the Democrats' quest to dislodge Peter King on Long Island. King's vote with Nunes could be another brick in that road. DuWayne Gregory, the chief executive of the Suffolk County legislature, ran last time into a Long Island GOP headwind; this time he has the wind at his back. He told us that "King and his Republican cronies on the House Intel committee have failed us. This abrupt decision to shut down the investigation of Russia meddling with our elections created more questions than it answers. It is clear Peter King has not only abdicated his responsibility as a member of Congress, but as an American citizen, as well. This is a fireable offense and the voters on Election Day should do just that." Please consider helping DuWayne finish off King's shameful career by clicking on the congressional thermometer on the right and contributing whatever you can to his campaign. Let's make King and the rest of these guys symbols of this kind of treachery against the country.