The Nunes memo has been released, and it’s clear now that the Republicans have desperately overplayed their hand in an attempt to shield Trump and discredit the FBI.
The memo is a brief summary of classified information alleging FBI surveillance abuses, but has been divorced from the underlying intelligence and as such is said to be deeply decontextualized and biased. Until the Democrats are able to release their counter-memo, providing more context and explanation, we are only getting a part of the story.
That said, the part of the story that we are getting isn’t very damning for the FBI. It shows that former Trump associate Carter Page was placed under surveillance under FISA laws.
It also states that George Papadopoulos, another Trump team member, was under investigation before Page, undermining the Republicans’ narrative that Page was unfairly targeted and exploited to surveil the Trump campaign. Papadopoulos has since pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI.
Read the full memo below:
Twitter was less than impressed with the contents of the memo.
The FISA warrant on Carter Page was renewed three times. That means DOJ presented the court evidence that shows it got information corroborating the original warrant. The Steele dossier becomes irrelevant.
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 2, 2018
I've read the Nunes memo.
I hate this word, but I feel like it's finally applicable: It's truly a nothingburger. Pretty fucking underwhelming. Yet, I'm sure Trump's cultists will find a million ways to spin this bullshit. #MemoDay
— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) February 2, 2018
If that ridiculous nothingburger is the "bombshell" revealing crimes "worse than Watergate"….man, Trump & Nunes are so totally screwed.
— John Schindler (@20committee) February 2, 2018
This memo is a dud…
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 2, 2018
The Nunes memo is exactly the pathetic joke I expected it to be.
1) It admits that the Steele dossier is only a part of the FISA application. It even resolves once and for all that the Russia investigation did not start based on the dossier. It was based on "coffee boy".
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 2, 2018
2) The entire premise of its insuffiency is the fact that the FBI/DOJ didn't tell the FISC that Steele was biased against Trump. So the hell what? They're not REQUIRED to reveal that in every case. @OrinKerr did an exhaustive piece on the 4A issues for @lawfareblog
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 2, 2018
Unless that bias somehow renders the information, in and of itself, unreliable, it doesn't matter if Steele wore a "I'm with Hillary" button. It's irrelevant.
3) Release the FISA application. The FBI has to do it now. It would likely have been 50-100 pages. Release it.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 2, 2018
Wait. So this entire memo is just about renewing approval to continue surveillance on Carter Page, the most obviously compromised man in all this?
Aahahahhahahhahahahahahhaha!
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) February 2, 2018