Devin Nunes

Background & Congressional Career

Devin Nunes was born October 1, 1973, in the Central Valley of California to a Portuguese-American dairy farming family. He began working on the family farm in childhood and started a harvesting business as a teenager. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural business and a master's degree in agriculture from California Polytechnic University, demonstrating early expertise in agricultural policy and rural economics.

Nunes represented California's 21st congressional district from 2003 to 2013, then California's 22nd district from 2013 to 2022, serving a total of 19 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He became a high-profile figure during the Trump era, serving as chair of the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 to 2019. During this period, he gained national attention as a staunch defender of President Trump, particularly during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and again during Trump's first impeachment proceedings. His committee work brought him into contact with classified intelligence matters and policy concerning national security, espionage investigations, and foreign interference operations.

Trump Media Leadership (2022–2026)

Following his congressional departure in 2022, Nunes became chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in January 2022. He led the company through its March 2024 public listing via SPAC merger and positioned Truth Social as a prominent conservative social media platform and free-speech alternative to mainstream networks. However, the company struggled financially—reporting just $3.7 million in revenue in 2024 and a net loss of $712 million. In April 2026, Nunes stepped down from the CEO role to focus full-time on his intelligence advisory responsibilities.

Intelligence Advisory Board Chairman (2025–Present)

On January 20, 2025, President Trump appointed Devin Nunes as Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), a civilian oversight body tasked with advising the President on intelligence matters. The board consists of distinguished citizens from outside the federal government, enabling independent assessment of intelligence operations.

This appointment positioned Nunes as a key figure overseeing the Trump administration's UAP declassification and transparency initiative launched in 2025. Under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program, the Department of War coordinated multiagency efforts to declassify and publicly release decades of accumulated UFO and unidentified anomalous phenomena records. Multiple tranches of declassified files were released beginning in May 2026, with Nunes' oversight committee responsible for ensuring those releases met security and classification standards while maintaining the administration's push for transparency.

Role in Disclosure Era

While Nunes has not made extensive public statements specifically about UAP matters, his intelligence advisory role during 2025–2026 placed him at the center of the Trump administration's historic UFO disclosure push. He operates as a political architect coordinating between executive intelligence agencies, the Department of War, congressional disclosure advocates (including Reps. Eric Burlison and Tim Burchett), and the White House. His prior experience chairing the House Intelligence Committee gave him institutional credibility and established relationships with both civilian and military intelligence leaders, positioning him to evaluate the classification sensitivity of historical UAP-related documents.

Nunes represents a bridge between Trump's political circle and institutional intelligence leadership—a government insider leveraging both partisan trust and security clearance authority during an unprecedented period of UAP records release to the public.