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ByDebRiechmann and Eileen Sullivan The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheRepub- lican chairman is stepping aside from leading a con- gressional investigation of Russian interference in last year's U.S. presidential election, citing ethics com- plaints that he mishandled classified information. The decision by Rep. Devin Nunes of California comes amid partisan tur- moil on the House intel- ligence committee. Dem- ocrats have alleged that Nunes, who was on Presi- dent Donald Trump's tran- sition team, is too close to the White House and can- not lead an impartial in- quiry. In an extraordinary step, the usually-quiet House Ethics Committee said that it is investigating whether Nunes improperly disclosed classified infor- mation. President Donald Trump said Nunes is "a very honorable guy." Nunes blamed "left-wing activist groups" for filing accusations against him with the Office of Congres- sional Ethics. "The charges are entirely false and politically moti- vated and are being leveled just as the American people are beginning to learn the truth about the improper unmasking of the identities of U.S. citizens and other abuses of power," Nunes said in a statement. Nunes' move could be seen as a win for Democrats whose cries for an indepen- dent panel to investigate Russia's possible ties with the Trump campaign have grown. They have pointed in particular to two Nunes trips to the White House — one announced, one not — as evidence that his loy- alty to Trump outweighs his commitment to leading a bipartisan investigation. By all accounts, the intel- ligence committee's grow- ing partisanship has be- come a distraction from its underlying investigations. The top Democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff of California, said he appreci- ated Nunes' decision to step aside from the Russia inves- tigation. "There was a cloud hang- ing over us after the White House incident," Schiff told The Associated Press on Thursday. While Schiff said the panel's investigation is back on track, the Republi- cans had not signed off on rescheduling a public hear- ing with former Obama ad- ministration officials. Schiff said it was important that the public hear testimony from former acting Attor- ney General Sally Yates about why Trump's first na- tional security adviser was fired. Nunes canceled the hearing. As the majority party in the House, Republicans will keep the committee chair- manship. GOP Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, with help from Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, will temporarily take charge of the investigation, said Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that he doesn't knowConaway,butheheard he was well-respected. "High quality," Trump said. Nunes last month dis- closed that Trump associ- ates' communications had been swept up by U.S. spy agencies and, he suggested, mishandled by Obama ad- ministration officials. The announcement was striking, as it is unusual for a member of the committee to publicly discuss the exis- tence of what would be clas- sified intelligence reports. Nunes later acknowl- edged that the material had been shared by a secret source on the White House grounds, raising fresh ques- tions about his coordina- tion with the White House. Trump seized on the infor- mation as evidence backing up his unfounded claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped the phones at his New York skyscraper. Schiff later saw the same material, but refused to publicly discuss what he learned. He said Thursday he understood the material was now to be shared with other intelligence commit- tee members. CONGRESS Nu ne s st ep s aw ay f ro m Ru ss ia probe, citing ethics complaints PABLOMARTINEZMONSIVAIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., leaves Capitol Hill Thursday. Nunes will temporarily step side from the panel's investigation of Russian meddling in the election. By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a con- frontation that could re- shape the Supreme Court for generations, Republi- cans tore up the Senate's voting rules Thursday to allow Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch to ascend to the high court over furious Democratic objections. Democrats denounced the GOP's use of what both sides dubbed the "nuclear option" to put Gor- such on the court, call- ing it an epic power grab that would fur- ther cor- rode poli- tics in Con- gress, the courts and the nation. Many Republicans bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats for pushing them to it. "We will sadly point to today as a turning point in the history of the Sen- ate and the Supreme Court," declared Demo- cratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. "This is going to be a chapter, a monumental event in the history of the Senate, not for the better but for the worse," warned Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior Republican. A final confirmation vote on Gorsuch is ex- pected Friday, and he should be sworn in soon to hear the final cases of the term. He was nomi- nated by President Don- ald Trump shortly after the January inauguration. The Senate change, af- fecting how many votes a nominee needs for confir- mation, will apply to all fu- ture Supreme Court candi- dates, likely ensuring more ideological justices chosen with no need for consul- tation with the minority party. Trump himself pre- dicted to reporters aboard Air Force One that "there could be as many as four" Supreme Court vacancies for him to fill during his administration. "In fact, under a certain scenario, there could even be more than that," Trump said. There is no way to know how many there will be, if any, but several jus- tices are quite elderly. Even as they united in indignation, lawmakers of both parties, pulled by fierce political forces from left and right, were unwill- ing to stop the confirma- tion rules change. The maneuvering played out in a tense Sen- ate chamber with most members in their seats, a rare and theatrical occur- rence. First Democrats tried to mount a filibuster in an effort to block Gorsuch by denying him the 60 votes needed to advance to a fi- nal vote. That was success- ful only briefly, as Gorsuch fell five votes short. Then Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., raised a point of order, suggesting that Supreme Court nom- inees should not be sub- jected to a 60-vote thresh- old but instead a simple majority in the 100-mem- ber Senate. McConnell was over- ruled, but he appealed the ruling. And on that he pre- vailed on a 52-48 party- line vote. The 60-vote fil- ibuster requirement on Supreme Court nominees was effectively gone, and with it the last vestige of bipartisanship on presi- dential nominees in an in- creasingly polarized Sen- ate. Go rs uc h he ads f or confirmation as Senate tears up its own rules 'NUCLEAR OPTION' Gorsuch | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 4 B ★