Hasta La Gadget!

The New York Times on Thursday revealed the names of two White House officials who helped Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) obtain information suggesting Trump transition officials were inadvertently swept up in surveillance operations.

Ezra Cohen-Watnick is the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council. Michael Ellis, who worked as general counsel on Nunes’ House Intelligence Committee, is a lawyer working at the White House Counsel’s Office on national security issues.

The two men “played a role” in getting the documents to Nunes, who leads the House Intelligence Committee, the Times reports. Nunes’ committee is investigating President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 election. 

Earlier this month, Trump claimed in a tweet that former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower, offering no evidence. Then, Nunes appeared to partially back up the claim, saying he had information from a “source” that Trump and members of his transition team were inadvertently included in routine surveillance of suspected foreign spies.

Nunes then briefed the president on the matter, raising doubts about Nunes’ ability to lead an impartial probe.

CNN reported Monday that Nunes met with a source on the White House grounds in order to view the secret documents about the surveillance.

On Tuesday, Nunes vowed to “never” reveal where he got his information, even to other members of the House Intelligence Committee. Nunes’ spokesman said the chairman “will not confirm or deny speculation about his source’s identity, and he will not respond to speculation from anonymous sources.”

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer refused to deny the Times’ report during his daily press briefing on Thursday. A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that Nunes has Ryan’s “full confidence,” but said Ryan does not know Nunes’ source.