Republicans release Nunes memo alleging FBI abuse of power

World Today

The all-important memo is out.  Around mid-day Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the release of the memo, and within minutes the House Intelligence Committee made it public, by putting it on-line.

Republican faithful say the memo shows how the FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice abused their power to tie the Trump Presidential campaign to an alleged Russian effort to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, and tip the scales in Trump’s favor.

Trump was quick to blister top law enforcement leaders, saying, “I think it is a disgrace,” –and that people should be “ashamed.”

The head of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes, said “The Committee has discovered serious violations of the public trust, and the American people have a right to know when officials in crucial institutions are abusing their authority for political purposes.”

But, above all, critics of the memo and its public release say it is a document not written by investigators, instead by partisan Republicans, and is a GOP perception of how the investigation was handled.

THE FBI SOUNDS OFF

Trump is at odds with FBI Chief Christopher Wray, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who did not want the information made public –fearing it would reveal classified information.

The FBI Agents Association issued a statement and said, “The American people should know that they continue to be well-served by the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency…FBI Special Agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission.”

The memo also fails to point out that top law enforcement officials leading the Russia probe are Republicans –members of Trump’s own party.  

The FBI , expressed what it called “grave concerns”, and suggested the memo itself, is simply inaccurate.

“The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it. As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

Trump has called the federal investigation into his camp’s alleged work with Russia to meddle in the election, a witch hunt.

The memo makes it clear, it believes federal officials had the knives out for the Trump campaign.

WHAT IS GPS FUSION?

Republicans on the House Committee allege a “dossier” compiled by British spy Christopher Steele was used as the trigger to launch the investigation into the Trump campaign –and ties to Russia.

It goes on to allege that GPS Fusion an opposition research team commissioned the dossier, but it was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign to dig up dirt.

Given that information, the GOP drafted memo states, “concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions” involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act –or FISA.
FISA allowed federal officials to spy on former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.

Page was thrilled by the memo’s release and issued a statement to Fox News saying, “The brave and assiduous oversight by Congressional leaders in discovering this unprecedented abuse of process represents a giant historic leap in the repair of America’s democracy.”

But many critics say there is nothing noble about the work the House Ethics Committee released.

U.S. Senator John McCain said, “The latest attacks on the FBI and the Department of Justice serve no American interest –no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s –referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Now the question becomes, will release of the memo be enough to derail Mueller’s ongoing investigation –and if that does happen what will be the public outcry?