Trump Awards Medal of Freedom to Two Great Patriots and Friends of the Center: Reps. Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan

President Trump is awarding the prestigious Medal of Freedom to two great patriots in Congress who have fought tenaciously to protect our democracy against the weaponization of intelligence for political purposes: Congressmen Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH). Nunes was presented with the medal on January 5. Jordan will receive it next week.

Both lawmakers became known as truth tellers on the Russia-Trump collusion hoax and the Democratic impeachment ploy against the president – and endured unrelenting attacks from the press and congressional opponents for their efforts.

Representatives Nunes and Jordan strongly objected to the impeachment process – especially secret depositions conducted of impeachment witnesses in the House Intelligence Committee.

Nunes and Jordan fought CIA source’s political abuse of whistleblower protection

They also challenged the motives of an anonymous CIA source who initiated the impeachment process by secretly bringing his accusations to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. The secret intelligence source used whistleblower status as protective cover. Nunes and Jordan disputed this CIA officer was a legitimate whistleblower and condemned House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for refusing to make him available for questioning by House Republican members or the president’s lawyers.

In his November 13, 2019 opening statement to the first impeachment hearing in the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes called out Democratic members and staff of the committee for the over-the-top political way they handled the so-called CIA whistleblower:

“And most egregiously, the staff of the Democrats on this committee had direct discussions with the whistleblower before his or her complaint was submitted to the Inspector General, and Republicans cannot get a full account of these contacts because the Democrats broke their promise to have the whistleblower testify to this committee. Democrat members hid these contacts from Republicans and then lied about them to the American people on national television.”

Jordan was one of the President’s most able defenders during the impeachment hearings as he exposed the weakness of the impeachment case with his aggressive questioning of hostile witnesses in impeachment hearings. In a 2019 floor speech, Jordan said the partisan, thinly-sourced effort to impeach President Trump was “dangerous” and “harmful to our country.” He also noted that the impeachment effort reflected how partisan politicians refused to accept the legitimacy of President Trump’s 2016 election:

“Democrats have never accepted the will of the American people … the 63 million folks who voted for this guy and made him president in an Electoral College landslide.”

Chairman fought politicization of intelligence and of the oversight process

Nunes distinguished himself as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from January 2015 to January 2019 and since that time as ranking Republican member. For most of that time he investigated and exposed the false narrative promoted by the Obama administration and the Hillary Clinton campaign that the Trump campaign – and later the Trump transition and administration – collaborated with Russia.

Often fighting virtually alone, Nunes exposed how intelligence agencies broke the law by abusing FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign and how Obama officials “unmasked” Trump campaign officials from intelligence reports, almost certainly to leak this information to the press.

Nunes doggedly investigated the sham Steele Dossier, proving the FBI misled the FISA Court about the dossier’s flaws and how it was funded by the Democratic National Committee when the FBI fraudulently used it to get a FISA warrant from the court to spy on Trump campaign officials.

Nunes had to endure unprecedented politization of the Intelligence Committee over the last two years due to Chairman Schiff’s constant efforts Schiff to weaponize and leak intelligence to hurt President Trump politically. Schiff’s actions also damaged the vital legislative oversight process of the intelligence community. Democrats and their media allies then applied heavy pressure to discredit Nunes and force him off the Intelligence Committee.

Devin Nunes: Center for Security Policy’s Keeper of the Flame

On September 13, 2018, the Center for Security Policy recognized the distinguished public service of Rep. Devin Nunes with its 2018 Keeper of the Flame Award.

The congressman used this occasion to deliver a forceful call for accountability in the face of evident malfeasance on the part of key CIA, FBI and Department of Justice officials and for vigilance and preparedness to contend with the “real threat” from Communist China. The video below shows Nunes making his remarks at the awards dinner.

The importance of Nunes’ service to our country at “such a time as this” was applauded in a moving introductory testimonial by his colleague and fellow congressional leader, Jim Jordan. A video of Rep. Jordan’s remarks at the dinner is below.

President Trump’s decision to award the Medal of Freedom to Congressmen Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan recognized two patriots who courageously fought for our democracy and told the truth about those who would subvert it. The Center for Security Policy congratulates these two great friends.