But facing questioning from Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Nunes declined to respond.
“I guess I would request an explanation from the ranking member why he is just not prepared to respond to a simple question whether he has received materials that have been called into question that seem designed to denigrate a former vice president of the United States, but, at a minimum, to share them with the rest of the committee,” Maloney said.
A committee source says the Democrats were “so concerned” that they alerted the FBI to the shipping receipt in late January 2020.
But at this week’s committee meeting, Nunes would not comment when asked about the materials — or say if he would share them with Democrats on the panel.
“Mr. Chairman, there have been public reports that the minority has received materials from Andrii Derkach, and those materials would not be classified and they would not be prohibited from disclosure,” Maloney said during the meeting. “But, at a minimum, I also understand that majority staff has requested of the minority that they be shared with majority staff so that we might evaluate them independently.”
Maloney added that his question is whether Nunes is “prepared to disclose to the committee whether he has received materials that have been called into question in the public reports from Andrii Derkach and, if so, whether he is prepared to share them with the rest of the committee.”
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, then chimed in, asking, “Does the ranking member wish to respond?”
Nunes replied, “No.”
Maloney pressed on, asking Nunes why he would not confirm receipt of nor share materials from Derkach that Maloney said seemed intended to disparage Biden.
“I mean, as I understand it, committee staff is in possession of evidence that a package was received. None of this is classified,” Maloney said.
Maloney added: “Is the ranking member prepared to even respond to the question? How about it, Mr. Nunes? Did you receive a package from Andrii Derkach or not? And would you share with the committee or not? Well, I guess this is a case where silence speaks volumes.”
Schiff then adjourned the meeting.
Johnson told CNN earlier this month that he wasn’t aware of any Russian disinformation sent to his committee but that his staff vets any evidence the panel is provided and takes anything coming from Ukraine with a “huge grain of salt.”
“I’m not aware of every piece of information our committee has gathered. We’re encouraging people to send us information, but then we fully vet it,” Johnson said. “We take everything with a grain of salt we get from Ukraine. I think you have to.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Friday.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
Source : CNN