A House Ethics Committee investigation has cleared House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., of accusations of disclosing classified information.
The investigation had led Nunes to step aside from leading a probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's elections.
The ethics committee said it determined that the information disclosed by Nunes was not classified based on the conclusion of classification experts who analyzed the congressman's statements.
Nunes came under pressure earlier this year following revelations he met with a source on White House grounds before publicly claiming he received evidence that communications by President Donald Trump and members of his transition team may have been monitored by the intelligence community.
The chairman also faced criticism for briefing Trump without providing the information to the members of the intelligence committee.
In a statement responding to the announcement by the ethics committee, Nunes reiterated his claim that the allegations against him were frivolous and rooted in politically motivated complaints filed by left-wing activist groups.
"I respect the ethics process, but I remain dismayed that it took an unbelievable eight months for the Committee to dismiss this matter," Nunes said.
Nunes accused Democratic members of the ethics committee of making statements that appeared to prejudge the matter and called for the public release of all transcripts related to the case.
by RTT Staff Writer
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