Senator Tim Kaine: Nunes intel disclosure a ‘distraction’ from Russia investigation

Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Wednesday that the announcement by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., stating that intelligence agencies had swept up incidental communications from the Trump campaign was intended to distract attention from the FBI’s investigation.

“I think it’s an attempt to distract from something that clearly makes the administration — and many members of the GOP — very, very nervous: the ongoing investigation that the FBI has acknowledged into contacts between the Trump campaign — and possibly the transition and administration — and the Russian government,” Kaine, who ran as Hillary Clinton’s nominee for vice president against Trump in 2016, told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric.

“They are very, very nervous about that, and every time this issue comes up, they’ll come up with some new claim to distract attention, but we’ve got to get to the bottom of this Russia story, and we’re not going to let distractions dissuade us,” he said.

Couric also asked Kaine why he thought FBI Director James Comey did not disclose the bureau’s investigation into the Trump campaign, which began in July, even though he did disclose a reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server.

“I think a lot of us have that question. I don’t have an answer for that question. At some point, there should be an answer for that question.”