Devin Nunes returns with a vengeance to undermine the Russia investigations.

Courtesy of WaPo:  

Rep. Devin Nunes, once sidelined by an ethics inquiry from leading the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, is reasserting the full authority of his position as chairman just as the GOP appears poised to challenge special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. 

The California Republican was cleared in December of allegations he improperly disclosed classified information while accusing the Obama administration of exposing the identities of Trump affiliates on surveillance reports. Since clearing his name, Nunes has stepped up his attacks on Mueller’s team and the law enforcement agencies around it, including convening a group of Intelligence Committee Republicans to draft a likely report on “corruption” among the investigators working for the special counsel.

Though Nunes has not officially wrested his panel’s Russia probe back from the Republicans he deputized to run it, the chairman’s reemergence as a combative Trump loyalist has raised alarm among Democrats that the future of the investigation may be clipped short or otherwise undermined. Even some of Nunes’s GOP allies have expressed concern about his tactics, prompting rare public warnings that he should temper his attacks on federal law enforcement.

Nunes has already signaled his decision about the legitimacy of the probe.

Nunes, meanwhile, appears to have made up his mind about the House Intelligence Committee probe into the allegations surrounding Trump and Russia, expressing his convictions in an interview with Fox News. 

“We have no evidence of Russia collusion between the Trump campaign” and Russia, Nunes said. 

Yeah so much for letting the evidence lead to a conclusion.
 
This to me also indicates the fear that Trump and his supporters feel about the Russia probes, and their growing realization that it may end the Trump presidency.

And we should also consider that Nunes himself may be a target of the Mueller team for his bizarre and transparent attempts to sabotage the Russian investigations in their earliest days.

Under a cloud of scrutiny Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any current or future investigation into the ties between Donald Trump and Russia.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, facing a chorus of criticism over his contacts with the Russian ambassador, recused himself Thursday from any current or future investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. His conversations with the ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, came amid suspected Russian hacking directed at Hillary Clinton’s campaign. 

Mr. Sessions said he made the decision after meeting with senior career officials at the Justice Department. He said he would not take part in any investigations “related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States.” 

He also strongly denied that any of his conversations with Russian officials were related to the presidential campaign. And he said he did not intend to deceive the Senate when he said he had no such meetings with Russian officials.

Sure, whatever you say buddy.

At this point I am just so jaded that simply do not believe a fucking word that comes out of this administration.

And there are those on the other side of the aisle who seem to share my lack of confidence.

And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who should have never been confirmed in the first place – to resign. We need it now.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017

We are far past recusal. Jeff #Sessions lied under oath. Anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable.

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 2, 2017

I can only imagine the shit storm happening behind the scenes in the Trump White House right now.

I wonder if some of the staff are now taking bets on which domino will fall next?

Religious leaders want certain Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves from the gay marriage case because they might "gasp" be FOR marriage equality.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Religious leaders are calling on members of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing to recuse themselves from the blockbuster gay marriage case that the court will begin considering on Tuesday. 

Standing on the steps of the Supreme Court, Scott Lively, president of Abiding Truth Ministries, told reporters he’s filing a motion with the Supreme Court calling for the recusal of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. 

“Justices Ginsburg and Kagan, knowing full well that unique legal issues regarding the definition of marriage would soon come before them, deliberately officiated at so-called homosexual wedding ceremonies creating not merely the appearance of bias, but an actual and blatant conflict of interest,” he said. 

“In my personal view they have committed an unparalleled breach of judicial ethics by elevating the importance of their own favored political cause of gay rights above the integrity of the court and of our nation.”

"They have committed an unparalleled breach of judicial ethics." 

Interesting. 

Do you know what else is interesting?

Yesterday the Supreme Court struck down a ruling favoring the Affordable Care Act:

The Supreme Court on Monday gave new life to a lawsuit challenging ObamaCare’s contraception mandate, striking down a previous ruling in favor of the federal government. 

The justices asked an appeals court in Cincinnati to reconsider a legal challenge that the Catholic ministries in Michigan and Tennessee filed against an ObamaCare provision that requires employers to cover birth control for all workers. 

The justices asked the lower court to reconsider the case in light of last year's landmark ruling on the contraception mandate. That decision, issued last June, held that the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby could opt out of the contraception mandate for religious reasons. 

So the case was brought by the Catholic ministries in Michigan and Tennessee? Hmm I wonder how many Catholics are currently serving on the Supreme Court?

There are six Roman Catholics currently serving on the court including Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas. (Source.)

Well gee that sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

So if Justices Ginsberg and Kagan have "committed an unparalleled breach of judicial ethics" then what is to be said for the Justices who side with their church, over their government, on an issue pertaining to women's health care?