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Republicans differ with Trump on whether memo undercuts Russia probe

By Jonathan Landay and Doina Chiacu

 

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One for travel to Palm Beach from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Republican lawmakers disagreed on Sunday with President Donald Trump's assertion that a memo released last week by the House Intelligence Committee vindicated him in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

 

Tweeting from his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Trump called Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of election interference a "witch hunt" and a "disgrace" and said the memo "totally vindicates" him.

 

But several Republican lawmakers played down the memo's significance for Mueller's probe, including Representative Trey Gowdy, a member of the intelligence committee and one of the authors of the four-page memo.

 

Speaking on the CBS programme "Face the Nation," Gowdy said he believed the Republican memo showed sloppiness by investigators in the handling of an application to the top secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.

 

But he said the Russia probe should continue regardless.

 

"I am on record as saying I support Bob Mueller 100 percent," Gowdy said. "I say investigate everything Russia did, but admit that this was a really sloppy process that you engaged in to surveil a U.S. citizen."

 

The Republican memo has fuelled a battle between Trump and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which argued against the document's release.

 

The memo accuses senior FBI and Justice Department officials of using unverified information from a politically biased source when they sought approval from the FISA court to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page on Oct. 21, 2016.

 

Investigators had asked for permission to monitor Page as part of the wider probe into alleged Russian meddling in the election and potential collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

 

Russia has denied meddling. Trump has insisted there was no collusion by his campaign.

 

Democrats accuse Trump and his Republican allies of trying to use the memo to undermine the Russia probe and possibly make the case for the firing of Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, the No. 2 official at Justice who is overseeing Mueller.

 

'TURN OVER EVERY ROCK'

 

The comments on Sunday from Republican lawmakers suggest Trump could face resistance if he sought to use the Republican memo as a basis to try to fire either Mueller or Rosenstein.

 

The Republican memo was commissioned by Republican Representative Devin Nunes, a staunch Trump ally who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

 

The FBI had objected to the memo's release, saying it had "grave concerns" that the document gave an inaccurate account of the application to carry out surveillance on Page.

 

Republican Representatives Will Hurd, Brad Wenstrup and Chris Stewart, all of whom sit on the House Intelligence Committee, agreed with Gowdy that the Republican memo should have no impact on Mueller's investigation.

 

"Bob Mueller should be allowed to turn over every rock, pursue every lead, so that we can have trust in knowing what actually the Russians did or did not do," Hurd said on ABC News' "This Week."

 

Stewart, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said the "memo has nothing to do with the special counsel … they are very separate and I hope the special counsel will complete his work and report to the American people.”

 

Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" if the Republican memo would provide justification for Trump to fire either Rosenstein or Mueller, Wenstrup said: "No, I don't."

 

On Monday, the House intelligence panel will consider whether to release a memo from Democratic lawmakers that is expected to outline what they see as flaws in the Republican memo.

 

Two sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Sunday that the intelligence committee would consider declassifying the Democratic memo on Monday and making it public. One said the meeting would take place at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) and that there would be a vote.

 

A Democratic member of the intelligence committee, Representative Michael Quigley, said on Sunday he was concerned that Trump could censor the Democratic memo that must be sent to him for a five-day security review before it is released under the same rule by which the Republican document was made public.

 

"I think he would redact (the Democratic document) in a fit of hypocrisy," Quigley said in a phone interview. "I have more concern about the president than I do about my committee. The president is seriously delusional."

 

The White House declined to comment on Quigley's remarks, but said earlier the president would be open to releasing the Democratic memo after it was subjected to a security review. "If voted out, we'll consider it. Nothing more to add," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said on Sunday.

 

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-05

[isaanbanhou]

 

 

'TURN OVER EVERY ROCK'

 

Under a rock  ..That's where he lives alright

 

[The Snark]

When a president's judgement is ruled and regulated by a biased new agency, ... the White Hose (sic(k)) is dealing in beads and running on milkshakes. While the Nunes memo is simply wonderful from a paparazzi point of view, two problems:

1. This is earth.

2. Any cops reading this forum care to chime in on 'rules of evidence' pertaining to the alteration of any document and it's admissibility in any court? AKA Trial by popularist media?

 

 

[boomerangutang]

If Trump or his shielders said his turd smelled like roses, all Trump fans would agree.

 

Maybe it has something to do with the age of television (being told what to think from a screen) transformed into the age of hand-held devices (being told what to think by an even smaller screen) - .....maybe that explains how so many people think like sheeple.

[joecoolfrog]

My mum always said I was an angel , didn't make it true !

[Thakkar]

#yomemojokes is trending on twitter. Some of my favorites:

 

Yomemo so dumb, it failed to graduate from Trump U.

 

Yomemo so bad, Stormy Daniels spanked it with a magazine.

 

Yomemo so fake, Obama wants to see its birth Certificate.

 

Yomemo so sloppy, Bannon thought it was his long lost twin.

[lannarebirth]

18 minutes ago, Thakkar said:

#yomemojokes is trending on twitter. Some of my favorites:

 

Yomemo so dumb, it failed to graduate from Trump U.

 

Yomemo so bad, Stormy Daniels spanked it with a magazine.

 

Yomemo so fake, Obama wants to see its birth Certificate.

 

Yomemo so sloppy, Bannon thought it was his long lost twin.

 

I don't see anything in the so called memo that exonerates Trump in any way. I do believe it warrants investigation however; just as Trump does. That said, if a memo had been released by Democrats (Top Secret of course) prior to the election asserting biased Republican FBI agents were handling the Hilarry Clinton email investigation I believe THAT memo would be treated as if golden tablets had been delivered from on high and a credulous media would have agreed.

 

 

[Thakkar]

7 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

I don't see anything in the so called memo that exonerates Trump in any way. I do believe it warrants investigation however; just as Trump does. That said, if a memo had been released by Democrats (Top Secret of course) prior to the election asserting biased Republican FBI agents were handling the Hilarry Clinton email investigation I believe THAT memo would be treated as if golden tablets had been delivered from on high and a credulous media would have agreed.

 

 

 

As long as we’re being hypothetical, Trump wouldn’t be president if evangelicals had been less hypocritical and had stayed home rather than vote for an unrepentant philandering fake Christian.

[lannarebirth]

19 minutes ago, Thakkar said:

 

As long as we’re being hypothetical, Trump wouldn’t be president if evangelicals had been less hypocritical and had stayed home rather than vote for an unrepentant philandering fake Christian.

 

No question. Just as Hillary Clinton wouldn't have won her party's nomination if Black Americans didn't vote against their interests.

 

Anyhow, all I'm looking for is good governance and a media that is long on facts and short on bullshit.  I don't think I'll be getting either anytime soon.

 

Oh, and more perceptive fellow citizens.

Edited February 5, 2018 by lannarebirth

[ilostmypassword]

8 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

No question. Just as Hillary Clinton wouldn't have won her party's nomination if Black Americans didn't vote against their interests.

 

Anyhow, all I'm looking for is good governance and a media that is long on facts and short on bullshit.  I don't think I'll be getting either anytime soon.

 

Oh, and more perceptive fellow citizens.

And exactly what interests would those be?

[Thaidream]

The clock is ticking- On February 8th- unless a new budget or another continuing resolution is voted on the US Government shuts down again.

 

Instead of  Congress and the President meeting and negotiating on budget issues and the DACA program- the public is assaulted by a worthless Memo that was written by the Republican Chairman and his staff. In addition President Trump calls the Memo and FBI 'Shameful' and jets to his Florida 'Palace' for a weekend of golf. I might add all being paid for by the American people's 'dime'.

 

There is shame alright- but the shame sits solely on the shoulders of Trump and his Republican sycophants who could care less about the public or the country itself. Not only is this deceit shameful- it is a disgusting example of the complete abuse of power.

[lannarebirth]

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

And exactly what interests would those be?

 

Just off the top of my head. Illegal immigration, which affects the Black workforce disproportionately to the White workforce. Illegal immigration suppresses wages at the lower end of the income spectrum.

 

Clinton labeling them "superpredators" and backing her husbands crime bill that has done so much damage to that community.

 

I'm sure you can think of others.

[heybruce]

31 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

The clock is ticking- On February 8th- unless a new budget or another continuing resolution is voted on the US Government shuts down again.

 

Instead of  Congress and the President meeting and negotiating on budget issues and the DACA program- the public is assaulted by a worthless Memo that was written by the Republican Chairman and his staff. In addition President Trump calls the Memo and FBI 'Shameful' and jets to his Florida 'Palace' for a weekend of golf. I might add all being paid for by the American people's 'dime'.

 

There is shame alright- but the shame sits solely on the shoulders of Trump and his Republican sycophants who could care less about the public or the country itself. Not only is this deceit shameful- it is a disgusting example of the complete abuse of power.

Don't worry about February 8, the author of "The Art of the Deal" will fix everything.

 

Just look at all the great deals Trump has negotiated in the past year.   What....? There aren't any?

[Silurian]

53 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Don't worry about February 8, the author of "The Art of the Deal" will fix everything.

 

Just look at all the great deals Trump has negotiated in the past year.   What....? There aren't any?

 

How about the not implementing the new Russian sanctions as part of the compensation for Russian assistance in the presidential election? That deal seemed to work out okay.

 

[spidermike007]

The charlatan huckster will do everything in his power to deflect potential guilt. He is an absolute master at the game of spin, and has gone so far as to create a fake narrative that has the Clintons responsible for the Russian meddling. He will do or say anything, to accomplish an end. The truth, integrity, honor, ethics, morality, and doing the right thing, mean nothing to him, nor to his entire team. It is all about the end. Not the means. This is the true sign of a criminally minded, pathological super freak. Throw the intelligence community and the FBI under the bus, if you have to, in order to deflect. 

 

Donald Trump. The art on not being able to make a deal to save his life. The art of being the least popular president, with the lowest approval rating in history. Denial, deflection, and making up his own version of fake news, on a daily basis. 

[Jingthing]

Yes all that is true but the tragedy is that he has enough complicit republicans that have his back that at this point in time, it can argued that he actually is winning. He's framing the narrative on almost everything in the way he pushes. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Jingthing

[Thaidream]

I agree- he may be winning at the moment but as the Mueller investigation gets closer and closer to him- his Republican sycophants will move away from him like rats running from a sinking ship. They will try and save their own skins and remain in power rather than support someone they know is doomed.

 

I remember the same think happened to Richard Nixon- the Repubs supported him even trying to block an investigation but once the tapes came out and the evidence became clear hat Nixon obstructed justice- they turned on him.

 

Trump will continue to  weave his false narrative of 'fake news'; the FBI is out to get him and even the CIA doesn't want him as President. However, if the Mueller investigation follows the money and connects Russian money into the Trump Empire; plus Russian hacking and even an attempt to get into the voting system- it may force Trump to resign to save members of his family and himself. Of course, he will continue to claim he was set up and there will be at least 10% of the population who voted for him that believes it. Pence will give pardons and everyone will hope Trump simply goes away.

[Berkshire]

5 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

I agree- he may be winning at the moment but as the Mueller investigation gets closer and closer to him- his Republican sycophants will move away from him like rats running from a sinking ship. They will try and save their own skins and remain in power rather than support someone they know is doomed.

 

I remember the same think happened to Richard Nixon- the Repubs supported him even trying to block an investigation but once the tapes came out and the evidence became clear hat Nixon obstructed justice- they turned on him.

 

Trump will continue to  weave his false narrative of 'fake news'; the FBI is out to get him and even the CIA doesn't want him as President. However, if the Mueller investigation follows the money and connects Russian money into the Trump Empire; plus Russian hacking and even an attempt to get into the voting system- it may force Trump to resign to save members of his family and himself. Of course, he will continue to claim he was set up and there will be at least 10% of the population who voted for him that believes it. Pence will give pardons and everyone will hope Trump simply goes away.

I'm thinking a large number in the GOP secretly wishes that Trump would just go away, but can't say so publicly because they are deathly afraid of Trump's rabid base.  It's like the NRA, small in number but very vocal and with huge political clout.  But if you took a secret poll of Republicans and ask them if they preferred Trump or Pence as President, close to 100% would prefer the latter.  So America is sort of screwed in the short term.  It's either a religious nutter or a complete nutter, that's all we've got.  

[Jonnapat]

Sick to death of this story and this man !!! 

Will we never have a rest from it?

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, Silurian said:

 

How about the not implementing the new Russian sanctions as part of the compensation for Russian assistance in the presidential election? That deal seemed to work out okay.

 

That will be a chapter in Trump's next book, "The Art of Avoiding Dealing with Legal Requirements". But yes, that was a good deal for Russia.  Not so much for the US.

Edited February 5, 2018 by heybruce

[Jingthing]

36 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

Sick to death of this story and this man !!! 

Will we never have a rest from it?

Not until he can be removed. 

[riclag]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The charlatan huckster will do everything in his power to deflect potential guilt. He is an absolute master at the game of spin, and has gone so far as to create a fake narrative that has the Clintons responsible for the Russian meddling. He will do or say anything, to accomplish an end. The truth, integrity, honor, ethics, morality, and doing the right thing, mean nothing to him, nor to his entire team. It is all about the end. Not the means. This is the true sign of a criminally minded, pathological super freak. Throw the intelligence community and the FBI under the bus, if you have to, in order to deflect. 

 

Donald Trump. The art on not being able to make a deal to save his life. The art of being the least popular president, with the lowest approval rating in history. Denial, deflection, and making up his own version of fake news, on a daily basis. 

On the Sunday news networks,they all had their FBI spoke persons on, spouting their narrative and talking points about the FISA abuse memo. Knowing all the documented events that took place between the demoted FBI officials bias texting,together with the unverified British spy documents that was sponsored by the Clinton campaign anyone who doesn't  believe that the FBI senior officials have had bias and conspired to take down a presidential nominee and a democratically elected President have to ask themselves a question. Do I suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome?  

  It appears Trump haters are very worried that the efforts to discredit Comey and  Russian interference in the election  isn't faring well . Going forward it appears the Republican house committee  members will be focusing on the Obama DOJ next.

And than of course the IG investigation should be coming to a close within the month.

 

  The art of the deal is faring well, despite of what you say, according to Rasmussen Reports’ daily Presidential Tracking Poll for (Feb 2)Friday listed Trump’s approval rating at 49% among likely U.S. voters, the highest approval rating Trump has earned since March 7, 2017. Another 49% of respondents disapprove of Trump’s performance, according to Rasmussen.

http://time.com/5132016/donald-trump-approval-rating-rasmussen/

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

[heybruce]

12 minutes ago, riclag said:

On the Sunday news networks,they all had their FBI spoke persons on, spouting their narrative and talking points about the FISA abuse memo. Knowing all the documented events that took place between the demoted FBI officials bias texting,together with the unverified British spy documents that was sponsored by the Clinton campaign anyone who doesn't  believe that the FBI senior officials have had bias and conspired to take down a presidential nominee and a democratically elected President have to ask themselves a question. Do I suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome?  

  It appears Trump haters are very worried that the efforts to discredit Comey and  Russian interference in the election  isn't faring well . Going forward it appears the Republican house committee  members will be focusing on the Obama DOJ next.

And than of course the IG investigation should be coming to a close within the month.

 

  The art of the deal is faring well, despite of what you say, according to Rasmussen Reports’ daily Presidential Tracking Poll for (Feb 2)Friday listed Trump’s approval rating at 49% among likely U.S. voters, the highest approval rating Trump has earned since March 7, 2017. Another 49% of respondents disapprove of Trump’s performance, according to Rasmussen.

http://time.com/5132016/donald-trump-approval-rating-rasmussen/

 

You stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that anti-Clinton bias in the FBI, resulting in an investigation that was supposed to be conducted in private being made very public, and then very publicly re-opened days before the election, is what put Trump in the White House.

 

You also refuse to acknowledge that the dossier was funded by both Republicans and Democrats, that the parts used to justify the FISA court warrant were verified, and that many of these "FBI senior officials" were Republican and approved by Republicans, as is Mueller.

 

What brilliant deal making did Trump do that got his approval rating close to 50% in one poll?

[riclag]

15 minutes ago, heybruce said:

You stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that anti-Clinton bias in the FBI, resulting in an investigation that was supposed to be conducted in private being made very public, and then very publicly re-opened days before the election, is what put Trump in the White House.

 

You also refuse to acknowledge that the dossier was funded by both Republicans and Democrats, that the parts used to justify the FISA court warrant were verified, and that many of these "FBI senior officials" were Republican and approved by Republicans, as is Mueller.

 

What brilliant deal making did Trump do that got his approval rating close to 50% in one poll?

It wasn't the republicans who brought it to the Fisa court and  purported it as verified counter intel.It was the politically motivated DOJ and FBI senior officials that conveniently left out  one of the sources, a Clinton Campaign funded  opposition research paper .Need a SI to investigate the investigators 

Edited February 5, 2018 by riclag

[riclag]

"FBI senior officials" were Republican and approved by Republicans, as is Mueller".

Sorry that doesn't past the smell test. A small percentage of   Republicans hate PT  

[ilostmypassword]

14 minutes ago, riclag said:

It wasn't the republicans who brought it to the Fisa court and  purported it as verified counter intel.It was the politically motivated DOJ and FBI senior officials that conveniently left out  one of the sources, a Clinton Campaign funded  opposition research paper .Need a SI to investigate the investigators 

In fact the DOJ let the judge know that the Steele Dossier was funded by a political group. It didn't say what political group but why would it have to? The judge would be aware that it was funded by partisans.

What's more, even if the DOJ had said nothing about the Steele Dossier, they offered plenty of other evidence.

Edited February 5, 2018 by ilostmypassword

[heybruce]

41 minutes ago, riclag said:

It wasn't the republicans who brought it to the Fisa court and  purported it as verified counter intel.It was the politically motivated DOJ and FBI senior officials that conveniently left out  one of the sources, a Clinton Campaign funded  opposition research paper .Need a SI to investigate the investigators 

The political motivation you imagine is just that, imaginary.  This was the FBI and DOJ doing their jobs. 

 

The DOJ left out two of the sources, the Republicans doing opposition research, and the Democrats doing the same. Instead the judge was informed that the research was politically funded.  If the fact that the research had been funded by both parties been pointed out, it would have given the evidence more credibility, not less.  

[riclag]

42 minutes ago, heybruce said:

The political motivation you imagine is just that, imaginary.  This was the FBI and DOJ doing their jobs. 

 

The DOJ left out two of the sources, the Republicans doing opposition research, and the Democrats doing the same. Instead the judge was informed that the research was politically funded.  If the fact that the research had been funded by both parties been pointed out, it would have given the evidence more credibility, not less.  

 The Political motivation was supported by the fact they neglected to report in the app Clinton Campaign funded.Without digging into the Network bias,you and I  can show FBI and CIA agents past and present that support  both  narratives on the Fisa abuse .How you can deny that law enforcement of the USA are capable of wrong doing  is very disturbing.

 Law enforcement do their jobs everyday as well, most good but a small percentage bad,they end up being investigated by the very departments that where created to keep honesty and integrity within their agencies,why else would their be internal affairs and oversight committees !  There needs to be a SI to investigate the investigators!

Edited February 5, 2018 by riclag

[ilostmypassword]

5 minutes ago, riclag said:

Without digging into the Network bias,you and I  can show FBI and CIA agents past and present that support  both  narratives on the Fisa abuse .How you can deny that law enforcement of the USA are capable of wrong doing  is very disturbing.

 Law enforcement do their jobs everyday as well, most good but a small percentage bad,they end up being investigated by the very departments that where created to keep honesty and integrity within their agencies,why else would their be internal affairs and oversight committees !  There needs to be a SI to investigate the investigators!

Carter Page boasted about his Russia contacts 2 months after the FBI warned him the Kremlin was trying to recruit him as an agent

• Carter Page, an early foreign-policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, touted his Russia contacts in a 2013 letter that TIME magazine obtained.
• He sent the letter two months after the FBI informed him the Russians may have been trying to recruit him as an unwitting agent.
• The 2013 letter undermines Nunes' argument that the FBI improperly surveiled Page solely based on a controversial dossier alleging ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
• http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-bragging-about-russia-contacts-2013-letter-undercuts-nunes-memo-2018-2
•  

[heybruce]

41 minutes ago, riclag said:

 The Political motivation was supported by the fact they neglected to report in the app Clinton Campaign funded.Without digging into the Network bias,you and I  can show FBI and CIA agents past and present that support  both  narratives on the Fisa abuse .How you can deny that law enforcement of the USA are capable of wrong doing  is very disturbing.

 Law enforcement do their jobs everyday as well, most good but a small percentage bad,they end up being investigated by the very departments that where created to keep honesty and integrity within their agencies,why else would their be internal affairs and oversight committees !  There needs to be a SI to investigate the investigators!

Try repeating 100 times:  "Republicans funded and initiated the Steele dossier, Republicans funded and initiated the Steele dossier, Republicans funded and initiated the Steele dossier....."  Maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to see past your blinders and understand that Republicans funded and initiated the Steele dossier.

 

As already noted, telling the FISA judge that both Republicans and Democrats funded the research, instead of telling the judge it was funded from political sources, would have enhanced the credibility of the research.

 

Nothing in the memo exonerates Trump or discredits the Russia investigation.  People who don't want to investigate Russian meddling in elections and look for ways to prevent it must really hate the US and democracy.

 

Maybe there have been past examples of FISA abuse, but this isn't one.