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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Nunes Memo Mystery: Why Did Trump Release This Dud? - By Joe Conason
Full article posted with the permission of the author - DonFebruary 2, 2018 6:12 pm
The only mystery that still surrounds the Nunes memo concocted by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee and named for its chairman Devin Nunes is why Congressional Republicans and President Trump authorized its release with such maniacal hype.
Promoted as proof of a scandal far worse than Watergate, in the feverish phrasing of Fox News host Sean Hannity, the document is a comical historic dud. Its four pages not only fail to discredit the special counsel investigation but only seem to bolster its importance.
All the controversy over the Nunes memo has achieved so far is to undermine Congressional oversight of the intelligence community; harm the relationship between the FBI and the White House; and wreak untold damage upon the morale of the nations chief bulwark against espionage and terrorism.
The humiliation of Nunes and his committee colleagues already badly embarrassed by his attempt to show that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower is now complete. And the Russian autocrats, whose social media machinery has pushed the GOPs #releasethememo campaign, must be laughing hardest.
So what does the memo prove? Certainly nothing that protects Trump. (Knowing his work habits, I suspect he hasnt bothered to read it himself. Hed rather listen to Hannity talk about it.)
Lets begin with the Republican narrative that the Nunes memo was supposed to confirm. According to the GOP version, FBI and Justice Department officials premised the Russia investigation on a tainted partisan source the so-called Steele dossier put together by a former British intelligence agent for Trump opponents, including the Democratic National Committee. They allegedly further poisoned the investigative process when they obtained a warrant on Carter Page, a Trump foreign policy adviser with Russian connections, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
As FBI Director Christopher Ray and other knowledgeable officials noted, the Nunes memo omits many essential facts that contradict the Republican narrative. Yet even in the absence of a counter-memo prepared by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, which the Republicans succeeded in suppressing temporarily, it contains a telltale sentence on the final page.
Discussing the FBIs FISA application on Carter Page, which must be approved by a special court, the Nunes memo mentions that the application cited information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.
This information was the fact, first reported by the New York Times, that Papadopoulos had disclosed to an Australian official the Trump campaigns awareness of dirt on Hillary Clinton obtained by the Kremlin. Subsequently, Australian intelligence authorities conveyed that disturbing episode to the FBI. The Nunes memo then offers this devastating acknowledgment about the origin of the Russia investigation:
The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Peter Strzok.
In other words, the Russia probe did not originate with the Steele dossier, as claimed by countless fakers and frauds in the right-wing media and on Capitol Hill.
Equally ruinous to the Republican narrative is what the Nunes memo omits from its tendentious bullet points. Evidently the authors were foolish enough to believe that if they left salient facts out of their document, nobody would ever know. But that isnt how democratic debate works.
For instance, the memo simply ignores the basic fact that Carter Page has been a subject of interest to the FBIs counterintelligence division since 2013, when he turned up in an investigation of a Russian spy ring. Although Page was not indicted in that case, which led to the imprisonment of one Russian agent and the expulsion of two confederates, the FBI warned him that he had been a recruitment target.
So the legal basis for investigating Page had been established years before he met Donald Trump, let alone played a role in Trumps presidential campaign. Indeed, the Trump campaign and the White House have repeatedly minimized Pages participation in the campaign, presumably as part of the overall cover-up.
As the Democrats explained in a press release that summarized parts of their counter-memo:
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.
Moreover, the memos misleading assertions are sure to instigate the release of additional information that belies its content and exposes its authors. Consider its claim concerning the sealed testimony of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI who left the bureau this week under pressure from the White House. He supposedly testified that the Carter Page FISA warrant would not have been issued without the inclusion of the Steele dossier.
But Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, who were present for McCabes testimony, say that badly misrepresents what he said. One way or another, the McCabe transcript will be released and that is very unlikely to support the Republican argument.
In coming days we will learn more about the Nunes memo, its fallacies and falsehoods, especially when the answer prepared by the competent Democrats on the intelligence committee is finally released. We may discover why the FISA court renewed the FISA warrant on Page more than once which would not have occurred if the surveillance of Page had produced nothing of concern. Both Page and his patrons may well find themselves regretting that they opened this Pandoras box.
The first time that the White House depended on protection by Devin Nunes quickly turned into a disaster. The second time is proving their bad faith, dishonesty, and incompetence beyond a reasonable doubt.
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http://www.nationalmemo.com/nunes-memo-mystery-trump-release-dud/
SWBTATTReg
(22,143 posts)No mystery here. Remember, he's had at least four bankruptcies already to his credit, his governing abilities are zilch, and he's lazy. Period.
Thanks for posting ... very informative.
Cicada
(4,533 posts)He doesnt think they are necessarily trying to persuade anyone about anything, just get people to think its all just politics. So when bad news arrives it can be brushed aside as just politics. I wish I were smart at politics like Axlerod is.
rusty fender
(3,428 posts)that Trumpasses are rallying around that claims that the memo proves Hannity's talking point. It gives his base, and the bots, a propaganda tool
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)mitch96
(13,912 posts)"sign this and we'll get you off the hook"....
Yhaaaaa right..
m
gulliver
(13,186 posts)Trump is likely watching to see how it is received. If it looks strong enough, he'll use it to justify doing something like firing Rosenstein.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)by releasing the memo, he ruined their strategy of trying to create smoke where there was no fire.
With Baby Bush, I always wondered whether he was as dim as he seemed or if he was just very disciplined in his efforts to appeal to those barely competent enough to figure out how to vote.
Trump leaves no doubt which side of that equation he falls on.
He appeals to the stupid because he R one.
randr
(12,412 posts)He probably threatened them all with a temper tantrum if they did not concoct some excuse that Faux could profit from for a week or two.