House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said he’s seen no evidence of collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. Picture: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Based on “everything I have up to this morning — no evidence of collusion,” US Representative Devin Nunes, head of the House Intelligence Committee, said on the Fox News Sunday television program.

He made his remarks one day before FBI director James Comey is due to appear before his panel, facing politicians seeking answers about Mr Trump’s potential Russia ties and the president’s extraordinary accusation of wire-tapping by his predecessor.

Mr Nunes also told Fox News Sunday there “never was” evidence that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“If you take the president literally, it didn’t happen,” he said. “Was there a physical wiretap of Trump Tower? No, there never was, and the information on Friday continues to lead us in that direction.”

US Representative Devin Nunes says there is no evidence Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. Picture: AFP/Getty/Win McNameeSource:AFP

CONWAY’S HUSBAND TO GET PLUM JOB

Mr Trump has chosen the husband of White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway to head the civil division of the Justice Department, The Wall Street Journal reported.

George Conway was chosen to head the office that has responsibility for defending the administration’s proposed travel ban and defending lawsuits filed against the administration, the newspaper reported.

Mr Conway is a partner at the New York law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The law firm’s website says Mr Conway has extensive experience in litigation involving securities, mergers and acquisitions, contracts and antitrust cases.

He graduated from Harvard and then Yale Law School. He joined the law firm in 1988, soon after his graduation from law school. He has been involved in numerous complex, high-profile cases with that law firm, where he has been a partner since 1994.

The White House and the Justice Department would not confirm the pick on Saturday.

George Conway (right), the husband of White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway (left), has been chosen to head the office in charge of defending the administration's proposed travel ban. Picture: AP Photo/Matt RourkeSource:AP

WHITE HOUSE SECURITY THREAT

A person is in custody after a suspicious vehicle drove up to a White House checkpoint on Saturday night, the Secret Service said, after CNN reported that the driver claimed to have a bomb.

CNN, citing two law enforcement sources, said there was no confirmation of any device in the vehicle but that security at the White House had been upgraded.

The Secret Service said an unidentified driver was taken into custody after a suspicious vehicle approached a checkpoint, but made no mention of any claims of an explosive device. Several streets around the White House were closed.

Other authorities could not be reached immediately to confirm more details. It was the second scare at the White House on Saturday after a person earlier jumped over a bike rack in a buffer zone in front of the White House.

US Secret Service officers stand in the cordoned off Lafayette Park after a security incident near the fence of the White House. Picture: AP Photo/Alex BrandonSource:AP

ALLEN ON BEING A CONSERVATIVE IN HOLLYWOOD

Actor Tim Allen says that living in Hollywood right now is akin to Nazi Germany.

“You gotta be real careful around here,” the comedian said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody else believes. This is like ‘30s Germany.”

The 63-year-old plays an outspoken conservative on the TV show Last Man Standing and is one of the few actors in Hollywood to profess having right-wing leanings.

When Kimmel asked him about attending the inauguration ceremony, the Home Improvement star’s eyes bulged and he stammered: “I was invited, we did a VIP thing for the vets, and went to a veterans ball, so I went to go see Democrats and Republicans.”

“Yeah I went to the inauguration,” he added.

DEATH THREATS OVER ANTI-TRUMP BILLBOARD

An artist and activist commissioned to create an anti-Trump billboard in the US state of Arizona claims she has received death threats.

Karen Fiorito’s red billboard shows Mr Trump wearing a Russian flag pin, flanked by mushroom-cloud explosions and dollar signs that resemble Nazi swastikas.

“Billboards are perfect, because you don’t have to go to a gallery to see it. You’re creating a dialogue with the public. You’re reaching people you’d never reach with your artwork,” she told The Arizona Republic.

“I’ve been called a communist, a Satan worshipper. I’ve been told I’m a ‘very, very sick person.’ I’m not sure what that means. I haven’t been answering the phone. My husband has because he’s not afraid to talk to anyone, but he told me he received a couple death threats this morning. ... He said, ‘They were coming to get us with their boys’,”

The billboard was commissioned by a Phoenix art gallery and was erected on Friday.

MEETUP LEAPS INTO TRUMP RESISTANCE

Meetup.com is taking a leap into the Trump resistance. The New York-based networking site will unveil plans in the coming days to partner with a labour group — under the guidance of a former Hillary Clinton aide — to co-ordinate protests among more than 120,000 activists already involved with anti-Trump Meetup groups.

It’s a risky move for a tech company that has helped millions come together to share interests of all kinds, from hiking to languages to Mr Trump himself. But it reflects an increasing willingness of some major technology firms to push back against the Republican president.

Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman said the new arrangement, to be known only as #Resist, gives the loosely-organised protest movement the infrastructure needed to execute large responses to the new president’s policies.

“It’s one thing for a CEO to say, ‘I’m going to stand up against a politician’,” Mr Heiferman said. “It’s even further for the company itself to mobilise people.”

For Heiferman and other tech leaders, Mr Trump’s push to block immigration from several Muslim-majority countries marked a tipping point.

“When a certain line is crossed,” he said, “we have a civic duty not to be quiet.”