John Oliver marvels at how Devin Nunes made Trump's 'Stupid Watergate' scandal 'even stupider'


John Oliver kicked off Sunday's Last Week Tonight with updates on the scandal he calls "Stupid Watergate," because, he explained, "it has all the potential consequences of Watergate, but everyone involved is really stupid." Sunday's brief recap centered on House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and his "seemingly huge claim" about President Trump and wiretapping that "quickly unraveled" for reasons Oliver laid out. Still, Trump said the claim made him feel "somewhat vindicated." Oliver shook his head. "Trump feels vindicated by dubious sources all the time," he said, channeling Trump holding a specific coffee cup: "We don't need to invest in clean energy. It says right here on this cup that 'America Runs on Dunkin.'"
Still, that was before last week's revelations that Nunes' source was the Trump White House. "To recap, Devin took what appears to be an unnecessary trip to tell what appears to be unimportant news to what may have been the source of the news itself," Oliver said. "So what Nunes brought to light has turned out to be a bunch of smoke and mirrors as convoluted as it is pointless." Amazingly, though, "Stupid Watergate found a way to get even stupider" when Republicans flubbed trying to prove Nunes' independence from the White House, Oliver said, playing the clip of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) saying that Nunes works for and answers to the president — then, when challenged, that Nunes works for both Trump and his constituents in Florida.
Oliver disagreed. "No! You absolutely do not!" he said, animatedly. "That is literally the whole point of Congress. And that's why this story is Stupid Watergate: It could very well take down the government, but nobody involved understands why, or how to cover it up, or what the government f—ing is, or possibly how to breathe without getting regular reminders." Watch the occasionally NSFW clip below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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