How Democratic memo compares to GOP one

WASHINGTON — It’s a war of the memos.

First came a four-page Republican document released Feb. 2. Now comes a 10-page Democratic rebuttal.

Both declassified memos focus on how the FBI and Justice Department applied to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court shortly before the 2016 election for a warrant to eavesdrop on Carter Page, an energy consultant who had served as a foreign policy adviser for the Trump presidential campaign.

The surveillance started in October 2016, shortly after Page left the campaign in the wake of questions about his Russian contacts.

But the dueling memos offer different conclusions as to whether the warrant was justified.

Republicans contend they uncovered scandalously improper surveillance, and Democrats say law enforcement officials acted appropriately to conduct a counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the campaign.

Here’s a look at the differences between the memos. And before the Russia case began, Steele was a known and trusted FBI source.

They point to a disclosure in the FISA warrant application that says Steele was politically motivated. And the application says that the person who hired Steele “was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit (Trump’s) campaign.” context.

Democrats say Page was on the FBI’s radar for a while before receiving Steele’s research, and FBI agents even interviewed him in March 2016, the same month he became an adviser to the Trump campaign.

In addition, Democrats say law enforcement made only “narrow use” of Steele’s research and obtained information “through multiple independent sources” to corroborate it.

ARTYOM KOROTAYEV/ABACA PRESS 2016 The memos offer different conclusions as to whether a FISA warrant to eavesdrop on Carter Page was justified. He became an adviser to the Trump campaign in March 2016.