Nothing says unity like a partition. CBS writes:
In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall – a physical partition – separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee’s secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It’s expected to happen this spring.
For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while strongly suggesting the division is the brainchild of the committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes, R-California.
“I’m not part of that decision,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. “You’ve got to talk to Devin. I don’t know what they’re trying to do one way or the other.”
“I swear to God I didn’t know that,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee’s work, he said, “The level of trust and the level of everything down there is – it’s poison. It’s absolute poison down there.”
The idea that Nunes has had anything amounting to a “brainchild” seems a stretch. But nonetheless, here we are, making America great again.
And the Republicans who are trying to put this on Nunes without taking any responsibility for it—like Conaway, who’s technically overseeing the panel’s Russia investigation—are shameless. If they didn’t know before, they do now. Fix it.
The real problem for the House Intel panel is that the GOP side is currently gripped by the conspiracy theory fever that has overtaken much, if not most, of the caucus. Their resulting jags are so wild and indefensible that they clearly don’t want Democrats knowing what they’re doing, and they certainly don’t want any hint of reasonability penetrating the minds of their staffers. Thus, a wall.