Nunes Memo is flawed “information”, but will it work as a political hit piece?

Developments on Day 379 of the Trump Administration:

See also An 8-Point Guide to Nunes Memo, Trump v. FBI, & Attempt to End Russia Inquiry
Podcast: Explaining Trump-Nunes Anti-FBI Memo and the Russia Investigation
TrumpWatch, Day 378: Hoping to End Russia Inquiry, Trump Releases Nunes Memo on Friday

White House Circulates Nunes Memo

The Trump Administration disseminates the political memo of its ally, Representative Devin Nunes, trying to discredit the FBI and curb or even halt the Trump-Russia investigation.

However, the document is soon criticized for its sparse, misleading, and distorted information. It may even have unwittingly supported the FBI’s legitimacy in approaching a top-secret Government court in summer 2016 for surveillance warrants for Trump campaign advisor Carter Page and Russian officials and entities.

The four-page memo by the staff of Nunes — a former member of the Trump transition team and chair of the House Intelligence Committee — tried to portray the FBI as acting from anti-Trump bias in finally obtaining the warrant, from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, to monitor Page in October 2016.

However, its central assertion was soon exposed as flawed.

The memo says the “essential” support for the FBI’s application to the court was a dossier compiled in 2016 by private intelligence firm Fusion GPS of contacts between Trump, his campaign staff, and Russian officials.

But the FBI says its case was based on multiple sources of intelligence, a claim backed up by its attention to Page since 2013, when it was first believed that Russia was recruiting the would-be oil executive as an agent.

Even if the Fusion GPS “opposition research” — with many claims of intelligence that have been corroborated subsequently — was the basis for the FBI approach, the memo distorts the origins of the document. It says that the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign financed the work, omitting that it was a conservative Republican outlet, the Washington Free Beacon, which made the initial commission.

And the memo inadvertently gives further support to the FBI’s version of events with its mention, tacked on at the end, of Trump campaign advisor “George Papadopoulos” as a subject of investigation.

Papadopoulos did draw the attention of the FBI. In March 2016, he urged the Trump campaign to support his mission for a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a series of meetings with Russian-linked operatives, Papadopoulos was offered material damaging to Hillary Clinton, eventually bragging in May 2016 to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer about the contacts as they drank in a London pub.

The Australian diplomat told US agencies of the meeting — in other words, one of the streams of intelligence that backed up the FBI’s application to the FISA court.

The Nunes memo clings to the claim that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told the House Intelligence Committee that no surveillance would have been sought without the Fusion GPS dossier.

But Democrats said that Nunes’ staff distorted McCabe’s testimony, explaining that he said that the Fusion GPS material — compiled by former British MI6 official Christopher Steele — was only part of a wide range of “compelling evidence” that raised serious suspicions about Page.

Republicans have blocked any publication of a 10-page Democratic response setting out the claimed distortions and omissions in the Nunes memo.

Trump’s War: FBI is “A Disgrace”

None of this bothered Trump as he pressed his war against the FBI on Twitter and in a statement to the press. He previewed the release of the memo on Friday morning:

In his comments to reporters, Trump said of the supposed FBI misconduct, “I think it’s terrible. I think it’s a disgrace.” He declared certain people should be “ashamed of themselves”.

Asked if he would use the document to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who approved the extension of the surveillance of Page in spring 2017, he responded, “You figure that one out.”

According to officials, Trump has told staff that he wants to dismiss Rosenstein, who is the only official with formal authority to remove Special Counsel Robert Mueller from the Trump-Russia investigation.

In his efforts to halt the inquiry, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. He tried to dismiss Mueller in June, but was blocked by White House lawyer Don McGahn.

Trump and his allies then applied pressure to other FBI and Justice Department personnel, a campaign which yielded the resignation of FBI Deputy Director McCabe last week.

In October, Carter Page, the subject of the FBI inquiry, appears to point to the memo trying to discredit the agency (from 7:03):

When Speaker Paul Ryan says the FISA warrant — the details about the dodgy dossier and what happened and all the documents around that — that’s what I’m excited about. The truth will set a lot of people free.

The Atlantic profiles the long-running campaign of Nunes staffer Kash Patel to tar the FBI by pursuing Fusion GPS’s Christopher Steele, without telling the GOP and Democratic senior members of the House Intelligence Committee.

Nunes staffer Damon Nelson, another contributor to the memo, was also involved in the effort to find Steele, sending Patel and another staff member to London.

In November, Patel circulated an internal memo urging Nunes to hold top officials at the Justice Department and the FBI in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents related to the Obama Administration’s alleged use of the Fusion GPS dossier to monitor Trump associates during the transition.

In 2016, Patel was issued an “order of ineptitude” by US District Judge Lynn Hughes over the lawyer’s handling of the prosecution of Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, accused of trying to support the Islamic State.

FBI Stands Firm, Comey Returns With Comment

Current and former officials stood firm against Trump’s latest assault.

After the FBI’s statement earlier this week about fundamental flaws in the Nunes Memos, CIA Director Christopher Wray issued a message of support to staff on Friday.

Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure….

Keep doing your great work and keep being the great people you are. I consider it an incredible privilege to work beside you — and that I’m determined to defend your integrity and professionalism every day.

Remember: keep calm and tackle hard.

Ex-FBI Director Comey returned via Twitter with a message for the Trump camp and backing of his former colleagues:

But perhaps more damaging for Trump and Nunes was the reaction of GOP Representative Trey Gowdy, who took over as leading Republican on the House Intelligence Committee for the Trump-Russia inquiry after Nunes was forced to recuse himself last April.

Gowdy, who reportedly pored over intelligence as the memo was written, said the questions which it raised were “important” with “serious concerns with the FISA process”, but he then drew a line over the ousting of Mueller and a halt to the inquiry:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave Rosenstein a vote of confidence at a Friday morning ceremony, saying his deputy represented “the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department”.

Ethics Office OKs Legal Defense Fund for White House Staff

White House officials and former Trump campaign aides who are subjects in the Trump-Russia investigation can have their legal bills covered by an outside fund.

Lawyers have created a limited liability company called the Patriot Legal Expenses Fund Trust, which will raise money from donors to pay legal expenses for multiple individuals, according to e-mails between attorneys and a government agency.

A handful of White House officials are already in line to receive funding, said “a source familiar with the deliberations”.

The Office of Government Ethics said that the Fund had met legal criteria to ensure government officials will not receive money from “prohibited sources” such as lobbyists and that the fund will not accept anonymous donations.

“The terms of this fund as OGE understands them, should ensure that employees who receive distributions from the fund do not violate the standards of conduct,” the OGE said.

The Fund’s draft agreement says it cannot cover Donald Trump’s legal bills. It is unclear whether Trump can contribute to the Fund for payments to members of his staff or former campaign aides.

Husband of Ex-Trump Household Staffer Gets EPA Job

The husband of one of Donald and Melania Trump’s former household staff has been hired as an official at the Environmental Protection Agency, the latest example of someone with a personal connection to the Trump family being employed by the Administration.

Home improvement contractor Steve Kopec joined EPA’s Region 2 office in New York as a special assistant on December 18.
Region 2 Administrator Pete Lopez wrote, “Steve comes to us from private industry, where he fashioned his career around customer service and organizational efficiencies. Steve is an experienced manager with skills in team building, management, and organization.”

In June, Trump appointed Lynne Patton, a party planner who arranged events at Trump golf courses and at Eric Trump’s 2014 wedding, to head the New York office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Kopecs have regularly visited the Trump White House, with photos showing the contractor and wife Dagmara with Donald and Melania Trump, communications director Hope Hicks, counselor Kellyanne Conway, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.