Is Devin Nunes out to dismantle Deep State?

Sure looks that way, based on the torrent of referrals he has made to seek testimony from a combined total of 42 Obama minions, all of whose names came up in a series of three letters sent to fellow House chairmen outlining the names of those that Nunes's House Intelligence Committee wants to get some answers from. The topic, of course, is how the Obama administration got its tainted FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign officials, in the heat of a presidential campaign, without telling Trump. Were they were spying, and spying for political purposes in a way that just happened to benefit themselves? So many characters to ask about this! The letters can be viewed here, here and here.

According to the Washington Examiner:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., wrote a letter to fellow GOP chairmen referring the names of 17 current and former Justice Department and FBI officials to be interviewed for information related to potential surveillance abuse during the 2016 election.

The letter, sent Friday, was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. Nunes pressed his colleagues to reach out to these individuals because they may "have relevant information" and because the DOJ and FBI are under the purview of their panels' oversight.

“For the sake of transparency and to keep the American people as fully informed as possible about these matters, the task force should consider interviewing these individuals in an open setting,” Nunes wrote, according to the letter obtained by Fox News.

Prior to that, he sent another letter with

The names of the 42, from the respective letters dated July 1, July 2, and July 5, are reproduced below:

The large list is interesting, not only because so many of these names have popped up in the course of the fact-shakeout that Nunes has done already. They also show how big and deep the Deep State is that so many of these names have come up. And lastly, with so many of them presumably testifying, the contradictions will abound and the lies will come out.

This is an important thing, given that so many counter-narratives and lies have been spread about the investigation and the press has not been helpful.

I'll be especially interested in seeing what Sidney Blumenthal has to say about his role in the Deep State investigation of President Trump. According to previous published reports, he was the guy who invented much of the sleazy Steele 'pee dossier' along with his Russian buddies, which suggests a rather repulsive mind. Perhaps that should come to light next time some lefty establishment group wants to shower him with some award.

There's also a mystery: Why isn't Ben Rhodes on the list? Was he considered too close to Obama and thus, untouchable, or more likely, not allowed to get close to the sleazery? Was he slippery enough to stay out of the radar? Or was he a principled sort of guy who knew enough not to harass political opponents? Well, you can decide.

But the large numbers of coming testimonies should reveal large numbers of contradictions and lies, which is critical to exposing the conspiracy in all its shamefulness. The reality is, the Obama administration targeted dissidents and that needs to get out, investigated, proven and on the record.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0