Tag: Devin Nunes

The Trump White House’s laughable spin that releasing the Nunes memo is all about ‘transparency’

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website February 2, 2018:

After releasing the Nunes memo on Feb. 2, President Trump said that “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that.” (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The Trump White House and GOP leaders have zeroed in on one main justification for releasing the controversial Devin Nunes memo: It’s all about transparency. “I’ve always believed in the public’s right to know,” Vice President Pence saidThursday. “We have said all along, from day one, that we want full transparency in this process,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN Wednesday.

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly leaned into it even harder Wednesday on Fox News Radio: “Frankly, in every other case that I can remember in my lifetime where a president was in some kind of trouble, the president, the White House attempted to not release things. This president has said from the beginning . . . ‘I want everything out. I want this thing, I want the American people to know the truth.’” Continue reading “The Trump White House’s laughable spin that releasing the Nunes memo is all about ‘transparency’”

The most important part of the GOP memo is all the things it does not say

The following article by Judd Legum was posted on the ThinkProgress website February 2, 2018:

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, walks away from a meeting with House GOP members, on Capitol Hill January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

What’s missing is a lot more telling than what is there.

House Republicans and Donald Trump released the infamous “memo” on Friday afternoon that purports to show corruption and malfeasance by the FBI. It mostly focuses on the process used to obtain a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former Trump adviser, arguing the process was flawed and partisan. It was written by staffers for House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA). The document, while rehashing a lot of known facts about the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, is more notable for what it does not say. Continue reading “The most important part of the GOP memo is all the things it does not say”

Nunes Memo Could Weaken FISA, Congressional Panels

The following article by Gopal Ratnam was posted on the Roll Call website February 2, 2018:

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has pushed releasing a committee-drafted memo despite reservations from the FBI and Justice Department. Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Releasing a four-page memo authored by aides to House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., alleging abuse of surveillance power by the FBI could ultimately weaken the process by which U.S. intelligence agencies seek secret court orders to conduct surveillance on foreigners, lawmakers and former intelligence professionals say.

Moreover, releasing the memo could erode the trust between the intelligence community and the congressional intelligence panels, these officials say.

President Donald Trump and his top White House aides are said to favor releasing the memo as early as Friday, without any changes, despite strong objections by the Justice Department and the FBI. Republicans in Congress, breaking with past practice, have said they would not allow a dissenting memo from the House Intelligence panel’s Democrats to be made public alongside the Nunes memo. Continue reading “Nunes Memo Could Weaken FISA, Congressional Panels”

Did Trump just reveal the real reason this memo was written?

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the Washington Post website February 2, 2018:

President Trump on Jan. 30 told Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) that he will “100 percent” release a memo alleging misconduct by the FBI. (The Washington Post)

Republican leaders in Congress have one main defense for releasing a controversial memo on the FBI’s Russia investigation: It reveals mistakes and even bias at the FBI, not with the separate, independent special counsel investigation set up by the Justice Department.

The memo, said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday, isn’t “an indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice.” Continue reading “Did Trump just reveal the real reason this memo was written?”

Who is Carter Page? Subject Of Nunes Memo Has Ties To Russia — And Spies

The following article by Nicole Goodkind of Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website February 1, 2018:

Carter Page started out as an unknown foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Now he’s at the center of a national scandal about Russia, secret courts, and surveillance of U.S. citizens.

That’s because a controversial Republican memo, created by GOP Congressman Devin Nunes, apparently alleges that the FBI and the Department of Justice used misleading evidence for a surveillance warrant against Page in the fall of 2016.

Though he was not well known in Russian policy circles, Page had spent years working in the region before signing up with the Trump campaign.  An ex-Moscow-based investment banker, he attracted the attention of the FBI in 2013 when a Russian spy tried to recruit him. Page is one of the Trump administration’s many friendly links to the government of Vladimir Putin—ties that have fueled speculation and questions about the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Continue reading “Who is Carter Page? Subject Of Nunes Memo Has Ties To Russia — And Spies”

The memo, the dossier and the political weaponization of misinformation

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website February 2, 2018:

The Russia probe got its start with a drunken conversation, an ex-spy, WikiLeaks and a distracted FBI. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

There are few things that warm the cockles of President Trump’s most ardent opponents like the Steele dossier. Right there on paper is the alleged Russia conspiracy they had convinced themselves existed, complete with salacious scenes from Russian hotel rooms and shadowy meetings between Trump allies and Russian officials.

But as we’re finding out this week, while spreading unverified information that conforms to your preexisting beliefs may be cathartic, it can also be weaponized against you. And that is exactly what’s happening with the impending release of the Nunes memo. Continue reading “The memo, the dossier and the political weaponization of misinformation”

Comey praises FBI for speaking up against ‘weasels and liars’

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website February 1, 2018:

Former FBI Director James Comey on Thursday expressed appreciation for the FBI standing up against “weasels and liars” as debate rages over a classified memo that purports to show political bias within the Justice Department.

“All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would,” Comey tweeted.

Continue reading “Comey praises FBI for speaking up against ‘weasels and liars’”

Sean Hannity Has Been Advising Donald Trump on the Nunes Memo, Because of Course He Has

The following article by Lachlan Markay and Asawin Seubsaeng was posted on the Daily Beast website February 1, 2018:

Donald Trump continues to get his policy advice from the people on ‘the shows.’

Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast

President Donald Trump is at odds with his own chief law-enforcement officers over a controversial memo fueling Republican allegations of a conspiracy against the Trump presidency. But by all indications, the president is less amenable to the concerns of his own FBI than those shared by a less formal, more bombastic adviser.

That adviser is Sean Hannity, who has been hyping the so-called Nunes memo all week, and with whom the president continues to speak regularly. Continue reading “Sean Hannity Has Been Advising Donald Trump on the Nunes Memo, Because of Course He Has”

White House worried FBI director could quit over Nunes memo release

The following article by Dana Bash, Jeff Zeleny and Evan Perez was posted on the CNN website February 1, 2018:

Washington (CNN) — Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.

Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official. Continue reading “White House worried FBI director could quit over Nunes memo release”