What the battle of memos on FBI surveillance showed

opposition research, at least was likely hired by somein part, to obtain a surveilone “looking for informalance warrant on a former tion that could be used to WASHINGTON — In the batTrump adviser? discredit” that candidate’s tle of the classified memos A: Yes. It’s clear from campaign. in the House Intelligence both memos that Steele’s The GOP memo focuses Committee, both sides material was used as part on the fact that the applihave now had their say on of the initial FISA appli- cation does not specifiwhether the FBI and Justice cation. The application cally mention Clinton or Department acted inap- itself remains classified, the Democratic National propriately as they began so the public can’t assess Committee. investigating President Don- on its own how much it Trump seized on that ald Trump’s ties to Russia. was used. The Republican point in a tweet Saturday

A Democratic memo that document says the compi- evening: “Dem Memo: FBI was declassified Saturday, lation of memos drafted did not disclose who the cliwith sections blacked out by Steele, now known as ents were - the Clinton Camand after weeks of delays, the Trump-Russia “dos- paign and the DNC. Wow!” aimed to defend the FBI sier,” made up an “essenIn an interview with The and Justice Department’s tial part” of the surveillance Associated Press on Saturconduct. That was after application. The Demo- day, Schiff said the Repuba declassified Re p ubli- cratic memo says the FBI licans’ complaint about can memo released Feb. “made only narrow use the missing identifiers is 2 implied that the departof Steele’s sources” in the “ironic” given a separate ment had conspired against government’s FISA appliinvestigation by RepubTrump in the investigation. cation for Page. licans on the panel into

Now that both are out, The Democratic memo whether Obama adminiswhat have we learned? And says the Justice Department tration officials inapprowhy does it matter? Some provided “additional inforpriately made requests questions and answers on mation from multiple inde- to “unmask” identities of the dueling memos: pendent sources that cor- Trump campaign officials roborated Steele’s reportin intelligence reports. ing” in the dossier. Most of the details of the corQ: Trump says the GOP roborated information memo “vindicates” him in are blacked out, but they the special counsel’s Russia appear to reference Page’s investigation. Was that the meeting with Russian offi- point of the memo? cials. A: Republicans say it was

The Democratic docunot, pushing back after ment also asserts that the Trump tweeted that the FBI’s concerns about Page GOP memo “totally vinlong predate the dossier and dicates ‘Trump’ in probe. that the government’s appli- But the Russian Witch Hunt cation to monitor Page’s goes on and on.” communications details susCongressional Democrats picious activities he under- and Republicans, including took during the 2016 pres- House Speaker Paul Ryan idential campaign. and Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who helped draft the GOP memo, have said it shouldn’t be used to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s campaign and Russia’s election interference.

So f ar, Mueller has charged nearly 20 people as part of his investigation. Three Trump associates have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Q: Why did Republicans write their memo? And why did the Democrats feel the need to respond?

A: Republicans say they are alerting the public to abuses they say they’ve uncovered at the Justice Department and FBI. The GOP memo describes the department’s use of infor- mation compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in obtaining a secret warrant to moni- tor the communications of onetime Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

Steele’s anti-Trump research was paid for by Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Dem- ocratic National Committee. The warrant was first obtained in 2016 and then renewed three times by a secret court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveil- lance Act, or FISA.

Democrats say the unprecedented four-page memo written by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee “cherry picked” information from the classified FISA warrant and other sources to make a political point. Led by California Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrats wrote a 10-page rebuttal memo to add detail and context to what the Republicans had written.

Both classified memos had to be approved by President Donald Trump for release. Trump declassified the GOP memo with no redactions over the objections of the Justice Department, but initially blocked the Democrats’ document and forced them to negotiate with Justice over what should be blacked out. The final Democratic memo has several redactions.

Q: Did the Justice Department and FBI use political

Q: Did the Justice Department omit important infor- mation about the funding of Steele’s research when it obtained the secret surveillance warrant on Page?

A: According to the Dem- ocratic memo, the Justice

epartment disclosed Steele’s political motivations, telling the secret court that Steele was hired to research Russian ties to a candidate and that he

D