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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBREAKING: Democrats release Nunes response memo
House Intelligence Committee Minority Response to Release of Chairman Nunes Misleading MemoWashington, DC Today, the Minority of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence responded to the release of HPSCI Chairman Nunes memo:
Chairman Nunes decision, supported by House Speaker Ryan and Republican Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to publicly release misleading allegations against the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation is a shameful effort to discredit these institutions, undermine the Special Counsels ongoing investigation, and undercut congressional probes. Furthermore, their refusal to allow release of a comprehensive response memorandum prepared by Committee Democrats is a transparent effort to suppress the full truth.
As the DOJ emphasized to Chairman Nunes, the decision to employ an obscure and never before used House rule to release classified information without DOJ and FBI vetting was extraordinarily reckless. The selective release and politicization of classified information sets a terrible precedent and will do long-term damage to the Intelligence Community and our law enforcement agencies. If potential intelligence sources know that their identities might be compromised when political winds arise, those sources of vital information will simply dry up, at great cost to our national security.
The Republican document mischaracterizes highly sensitive classified information that few Members of Congress have seen, and which Chairman Nunes himself chose not to review. It fails to provide vital context and information contained in DOJs FISA application and renewals, and ignores why and how the FBI initiated, and the Special Counsel has continued, its counterintelligence investigation into Russias election interference and links to the Trump campaign. The sole purpose of the Republican document is to circle the wagons around the White House and insulate the President. Tellingly, when asked whether the Republican staff who wrote the memo had coordinated its drafting with the White House, the Chairman refused to answer.
The premise of the Nunes memo is that the FBI and DOJ corruptly sought a FISA warrant on a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, and deliberately misled the court as part of a systematic abuse of the FISA process. As the Minority memo makes clear, none of this is true. The FBI had good reason to be concerned about Carter Page and would have been derelict in its responsibility to protect the country had it not sought a FISA warrant.
In order to understand the context in which the FBI sought a FISA warrant for Carter Page, it is necessary to understand how the investigation began, what other information the FBI had about Russias efforts to interfere with our election, and what the FBI knew about Carter Page prior to making application to the court including Carter Pages previous interactions with Russian intelligence operatives. This is set out in the Democratic response which the GOP so far refuses to make public.
The authors of the GOP memo would like the country to believe that the investigation began with Christopher Steele and the dossier, and if they can just discredit Mr. Steele, they can make the whole investigation go away regardless of the Russians interference in our election or the role of the Trump campaign in that interference. This ignores the inconvenient fact that the investigation did not begin with, or arise from Christopher Steele or the dossier, and that the investigation would persist on the basis of wholly independent evidence had Christopher Steele never entered the picture.
The DOJ appropriately provided the court with a comprehensive explanation of Russias election interference, including evidence that Russian agents courted another Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos. As we know from Papadopoulos guilty plea, Russian agents disclosed to Papadopoulos their possession of stolen Clinton emails and interest in a relationship with the campaign. In claiming that there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos, the Majority deliberately misstates the reason why DOJ specifically explained Russias role in courting Papadopoulos and the context in which to evaluate Russian approaches to Page.
The Majority suggests that the FBI failed to alert the court as to Mr. Steeles potential political motivations or the political motivations of those who hired him, but this is not accurate. The GOP memo also claims that a Yahoo News article was used to corroborate Steele, but this is not at all why the article was referenced. These are but a few of the serious mischaracterizations of the FISA application. There are many more set out in the Democratic response, which we will again be seeking a vote to release publicly on Monday, February 5th. Unlike Committee Republicans, however, we will ask the relevant agencies to propose any necessary redactions to protect any sources and methods not already disclosed by Chairman Nunes document.
It is telling that Chairman Nunes put out this memo without bothering to read the underlying materials, and that he ordered changes to the document without informing his own committee members. It is a terrible lapse in leadership that Speaker Ryan failed to intervene and prevent the abuse of classified materials in this way. It is tragic, if all too predictable, that this President would allow the release of the memo despite FBI and DOJs expressions of grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the [Republicans] memos accuracy. But most destructive of all may be the announcement by Chairman Nunes that he has placed the FBI and DOJ under investigation, impugning and impairing the work of the dedicated professionals trying to keep our country safe.
The memo and letter from the White House can be found here.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)It admits that Poppadoppapuppadopaoulous was the trigger, and that Page was under surveillance for YEARS before the Steele Dossier was even begun.
Nothing else about it needs to be considered; it's 100% bullshit.
herding cats
(19,564 posts)Cha
(297,272 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)I guess all they have are shovels and they just keep on digging deeper.
Cha
(297,272 posts)nobody can take it away from him.. oh well..
BigmanPigman
(51,605 posts)obstructing justice. Mueller should thank Nunes for providing more evidence of their intent and motive. The only harm done was to the FBI and their credibility and it tells the Russians how we obtain FISA warrants.
Cha
(297,272 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)involved with Russia. (assuming they did their homework). Page had
FISA approval 3 years before Trump ran for potus.
FakeNoose
(32,639 posts)triron
(22,006 posts)regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)...which remains classified.
Also, if it's a pack of lies, call it a pack of lies. Never say it "fails to provide vital context." To far too many people, that translates to "the information is true, but, wait, we can explain..." Most people stop listening then and there.
jimmil
(629 posts)Instead of, "To far too many people," you should have written, "To stupid people who the GOP represents." You are welcome for the correction.
Beartracks
(12,814 posts)And that's probably most of America.
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Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)It references it, but that hasn't been released yet.
orangecrush
(19,569 posts)Some Putin ass
robertpaulsen
(8,632 posts)If they can't get that vote on February 5, there is no real transparency.
nocalflea
(1,387 posts)#Lock every single one of these bastards up.
OliverQ
(3,363 posts)Schiff said he was giving as much information as he can on twitter for now until the Dem memo is released.
orangecrush
(19,569 posts)BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)It doesn't get any simpler than that. The memo shows Page was/is a Russian spy and Trump blithley went ahead and hired him anyway.
Also, Nicolle Wallace said on her show that her sources indicated that Nunes had worked with the WH on the memo.
H2O Man
(73,558 posts)Thank you.