COUNTERPUNCH. Democrats Shred Devin Nunes' Surveillance Memo
The memo is in response to one declassified by President Trump alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI.
SCOTT BIXBY
02.24.18 5:00 PM ET
Two weeks after President Donald Trump blocked its release on national security grounds, the House Intelligence Committee on Saturday released a 10-page memo intended to counter Republican claims that the FBI acted inappropriately in pursuing a warrant to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
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Moments after he was fêted as a conquering hero at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the memo’s release on Saturday was a body blow to his credibility as a government watchdog. The Schiff-authored memo undermines many of the claims made in Nunes’ document. Among them, the memo declares that Steele’s intelligence reporting “did not inform the FBI’s decision to initiate its counterintelligence investigation,” and that the special counsel investigation into Page’s potential links to the Russian government were based on “troubling” information unrelated to the dossier.
Schiff’s memo also appears to undercut Nunes’ argument that the FBI had hidden the fact that Steele’s had been backed by Trump’s political opponents from the FISA court.
“Far from ‘omitting’ material facts about Steele,” the memo states, “DOJ repeatedly informed the Court about Steele’s background, credibility, and potential bias.” The Department of Justice, the memo alleges, explained Steele’s financial relationship with those who had “likely political motivations” behind the dossier, and that the FBI still had reason to find Steele credible on matters relating to Russia.
The memo states that “senior FBI and DOJ officials have repeatedly affirmed to the Committee the reliability and credibility of Steele’s reporting,” and called the process to vet his allegations—including those against Page—as “rigorous.”
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