House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi unleashed a Twitter storm Thursday, blanketing her social media feed with calls for the removal of U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which voted to release a contentious memo on purported surveillance abuses.
Using the hashtag #RemoveNunes, Pelosi wrote late Thursday: “RETWEET if you are concerned about @DevinNunes’ obsession with prioritizing short-term politics over America’s long-term national security!”
Underneath the post warning of Nunes’ “obsession,” which Pelosi pinned to the top of her Twitter account, were four more urgently worded posts – also made Thursday – calling for Nunes’ departure.
“@DevinNunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,” she wrote Thursday. “@SpeakerRyan must immediately remove him from this position.”
Pelosi echoed that language in a letter she sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday.
“Chairman Nunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be immediately removed from this position,” Pelosi wrote in the letter.
Pelosi soon doubled down in a follow-up post on Twitter, this time employing an illustration: Nunes appears superimposed behind the words “NUNES MUST GO” in all-capital letters.
“@DevinNunes is putting our national security at risk, ignoring concerns from the FBI & DOJ to advance a conspiracy theory,” Pelosi tweeted. "RT if you know Speaker Ryan must #RemoveNunes immediately!”
Then, in the afternoon: “We have to be able to trust that the House Intel Chairman will put long-term national security before short-term politics. @DevinNunes has proven he can’t.”
Finally, Pelosi wrapped up Thursday’s anti-Nunes barrage by linking approvingly to a Washington Post editorial critical of the California Republican congressman.
The release of the House memo, which is reported to outline surveillance abuses, is likely to come Friday morning, Fox News is told.
President Donald Trump already had made clear he supports the release of the memo -- before U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, late Wednesday charged that Nunes made "material changes" to the memo since its review by committee members.