GOP Releases Anticlimactic Nunes Memo
If you pay any attention to politics I’m sure you have heard about the “bombshell memo” that the GOP has been clamoring to release since early January of 2018 if not longer. You may also be aware that that same memo was finally released today.
If you did not get a chance to read it, I did, and let me save you the trouble. It’s a limp noodle.
I have no issue criticizing Democrats, exposing corruption, and punishing people who break the law and abuse the trust of American citizens. That being said, none of that was here. I read the memo (all 6 pages of it) twice, and was incredibly disappointed with the lack professionalism and objectivity that should come standard with the House Intelligence Committee.
The memo is one sided and conveniently seems to leave out material facts that would be crucial to making an objective decision on what happened. The memo claims that the FBI and DOJ used the infamous Steele dossier to get a FISA warrant to spy on Carter Page, a mid to low level Trump campaign volunteer with questionable ties to Russia.
The memo also focuses on who hired the contractor that produced the dossier and made the link from the FBI to the Hillary Clinton campaign using a law firm and a research firm, Fusion GPS.
While Carter Page has yet to be charged with a crime, we do know that the federal government has been suspicious of his ties to Russia dating back to 2013.
Listen folks, you’re all free to make your own decision on this, but in my opinion Devon Nunes and the GOP are using this memo to protect the president in a way that corrupts the system of checks and balances. They are attempting to undermine the judicial branch and the independence of the Department of Justice because of the Russia investigation. They are attacking the arm of the government charged with determining Russia’s impact on our election and if the sitting POTUS was involved, and discrediting the FISA court system that helps advance the mission of our intelligence agencies that are tied to all of this.
Without seeing all the evidence presented to obtain the warrants to investigate Carter Page, how can anyone say the FBI or the courts didn’t do their job? All of the evidence presented would provide the Viagra that this limp weenie story needs.
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memorandum accusing the Justice Department and FBI of abusing their authority in the early stages of an investigation into collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Republican committee members believe the memo’s release will expose political bias surrounding law enforcement officials’ decision, in the throes of the 2016 presidential election, to obtain a wiretap on a former Trump campaign adviser.
The memo’s authors claim their findings “represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses” related to procedures the government must follow to get surveillance approval.
We reviewed the memo and found that it makes a largely one-sided case that appears to bolster the Trump administration’s efforts to undercut the Russia probe. Critics charge that the memo cherry-picks information to portray law enforcement in an unflattering light, while leaving out facts that would create a different impression.
The GOP memo claims that officials selectively withheld information when they obtained a warrant to monitor Carter Page, a former Trump campaign associate suspected of working as a Russian agent.
While an adviser to the campaign, Page traveled to Moscow in July 2016, when he met with Russia’s deputy prime minister and a high-ranking Russian oil official. Page reported back to Trump campaign staffers in an email that the deputy prime minister had “expressed strong support for Mr. Trump,” and that he had gleaned “incredible insights and outreach” in Russia.
Page had been on the U.S. counterintelligence radar as early as 2013, but his Moscow visit played a major role in persuading the FBI to investigate connections between Russia and Trump’s campaign, according to the New York Times.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
