记录显示，众议院情报委员会的共和党高级成员、众议员德文·努恩斯(Devin Nunes)花了近5.7万美元前往欧洲，据称是为了调查前副总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)。
这些数字似乎证实了这一点Lev Parnas的指控——一个出生在乌克兰的美国人，在被刑事指控前曾为鲁迪·朱利安尼做“调解人”——他说他帮助努恩斯安排与乌克兰官员会面，挖掘拜登的丑闻。
帕纳斯说，他在2018年11月至12月期间秘密前往奥地利维也纳会见了努内斯，并与乌克兰前检察长维克托·肖金取得联系。肖金是一名律师，在受到包括拜登在内的西方领导人的压力后，他于2016年被解职，拜登表示，他在打击腐败方面做得不够。
报告提交给众议院秘书办公室显示努恩斯声称在11月30日至12月3日这段时间去欧洲旅行四天的费用。斯科特·格拉贝、乔治·帕帕斯、德里克·哈维和努恩斯本人申请了四张“商业机票”。
每个人都要求为他们的访问支付14 201.43美元，其中包括每日津贴，共计56 805.72美元。
努恩斯似乎否认帕纳斯的指控在周五接受布莱巴特采访时，尽管他在评论中没有直接提到帕纳斯或欧洲之行。然而，他威胁要起诉出版“这些明显虚假和可耻的故事”的媒体出版物。
如果这些指控是正确的，它们可能会产生非常尴尬和破坏性的影响，因为努恩斯所在的委员会正在调查唐纳德·特朗普总统在民主党当前推动弹劾案中的表现。
2019年11月20日，在DC华盛顿国会山举行的美国情报委员会听证会上，德文·努恩斯(右-中)作为弹劾调查的一部分。他现在面临“可能”的道德调查。
他们指控特朗普及其同伙涉嫌试图招募外国政府挖掘国内政治对手的丑闻，而国会批准的援助在请求得到满足之前一直被搁置——实质上是贿赂。
努恩斯一直是特朗普在委员会中最尖锐的捍卫者之一，他一再将弹劾调查称为“马戏”，如果指控属实，他应该退出诉讼。
众议院军事委员会的最高民主党议员亚当·史密斯证实努恩斯可能会面临道德调查索赔。
此前，民主党联盟向众议院道德委员会发出了一封信，提出了利益冲突，并呼吁进行调查。
该信称，“努恩斯众议员涉嫌利用纳税人资金会见海外国会代表团的外国官员，这些资金似乎与仅为国内政治目的获取材料有关。”。
“努恩斯议员目前正在监督一项调查，该调查似乎是事实证人，并且可能审查他自己与外国官员会面的活动。
“努恩斯众议员意识到他与众议院情报委员会为弹劾调查目的而调查的人员之间的实际利益冲突，而众议院情报委员会必须就此发布报告，但他既没有披露他与调查的利益冲突，也没有向委员会披露他对相关人员的第一手资料。
"这是对努恩斯议员滥用职权违反众议院第二十三条的控诉。"
新闻周刊已经联系了努内斯的办公室征求意见。
DEVIN NUNES SPENT $57,000 ON FLIGHTS TO EUROPE TO ALLEGEDLY INVESTIGATE BIDENS AS ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED OVER 'ABUSE' OF OFFICE
Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican member on the House Intelligence Committee, spent nearly $57,000 on a trip to Europe for him and his staff to allegedly investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, records show.
The figures seem to confirm allegations made by Lev Parnas—a Ukrainian-born American who worked as a "fixer" for Rudy Giuliani before being indicted on criminal charges—who said that he helped Nunes arrange meetings with various Ukrainian officials to dig up dirt on Biden.
Parnas said he met Nunes in a secretive trip to Vienna, Austria, between November and December 2018, and put him in touch with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin—the lawyer who was ousted from his position in 2016 after pressure from Western leaders, including Biden, who said he was not doing enough to combat corruption.
Reports filed with the Office of the Clerk for the House of Representatives show that Nunes claimed expenses for a four-day trip to Europe at the time in question between November 30 and December 3. Four entries for "commercial airfare" were claimed for Scott Glabe, George Pappas, Derek Harvey and Nunes himself.
Each claimed $14,201.43 for their visit—which included daily allowances—and came to a total of $56,805.72.
Nunes seemed to deny Parnas' allegations in an interview with Breitbart on Friday, although he did not mention Parnas or a trip to Europe in his comments directly. He did however threaten to sue media publications who published "these demonstrably false and scandalous stories."
If the allegations are correct, they could have deeply embarrassing and damaging repercussions as the committee Nunes sits on is the one investigating President Donald Trump in the Democrats' current push for impeachment.
Devin Nunes (R-CA) during aHouse Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on November 20, 2019. He now faces a "likely" ethics investigation.
They accuse Trump and his associates of allegedly attempting to enlist a foreign government to dig up dirt on a domestic political opponent, while Congressionally approved aid was withheld until the request was met—in essence, bribery.
Nunes, who has been one of Trump's most strident defenders on the committee, repeatedly labelling the impeachment inquiry a "circus," should have recused himself from the proceedings if the allegations are true.
It has since been confirmed by the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, that Nunes will likely face an ethics investigation into the claims.
It follows a letter that was sent by the Democratic Coalition to the House Ethics Committee that raised the conflict of interest and called for an investigation.
"Rep. Nunes allegedly met foreign officials on an overseas Congressional delegation using taxpayer funds which appears to be related to obtaining materials solely for the purposes of domestic politics," the letter said.
"Rep. Nunes is currently engaged in overseeing an investigation which it appears he is a fact witness, and which may examine his own activities meeting with foreign officials.
"Rep. Nunes is aware of the actual conflict of interest from his relationships to persons under investigation by the House Intelligence Committee for the purposes of an impeachment inquiry upon which it must issue a report, but failed to either disclose his conflict of interest with the investigation or that he has firsthand knowledge of the persons of interest to the committee.
"This is a complaint against Rep. Nunes for abuse of his official office in violation of House rule XXIII."
Newsweek has contacted Nunes' office for comment.
