The chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, David Nunes, met a source on White House grounds before making his disclosure last week that President Donald Trump was caught up in “incidental” surveillance, according to his spokesman.
Nunes’ spokesman Jack Langer told reporters Monday that “Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source.”
Previously, Nunes’ would not say where he met his source, and has still not revealed the identity of the source.
The White House said it was aware of the reports regarding Nunes but said any questions concerning the meeting should be directed to Nunes himself.
Last week, Nunes’ announced that he received information from an undisclosed source that conversations by President Trump and his staff had been swept up in “incidental collection” activities by U.S. spy agencies targeting foreign agents.
WATCH: Nunes on incidental collection of Trump transition team data
Nunes spoke with reporters and the president about the material without informing any of the other 21 members of the House Intelligence Committee, angering Democrats on the committee who questioned Nunes’ credibility.
Nunes later apologized to the committee for not first telling them about the information.
Trump, who tweeted earlier this month, unsubstantiated allegations that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped his campaign while he ran for office, has said he was “somewhat vindicated” by Nunes’ statement about the surveillance.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has said that there is no information to support Trump’s allegation that Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower. Trump has asked Congress to investigate.
Nunes, as chair of the House intelligence committee, is leading a Congressional investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, including possible ties between Trump associates and Russia.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, Congressman Adam Schiff, said Nunes’ actions last week, including briefing Trump, his political ally, before committee members “casts quite a profound cloud over [the committee’s] ability to do the work,” and he called for the formation of an independent commission.
“If the chairman is going to continue to go to the White House rather than his own committee, there’s no way we can conduct this investigation,” Schiff said.
WATCH: Schiff on need for independent commission
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