USA TODAY International Edition
Secret House memo: Serious allegations or misleading hype?
Panel members spar over document
WASHINGTON – A secret memo written by Republicans from the House Intelligence Committee either reveals “shocking” spying abuses by the FBI and Justice Department, or it’s just a Republican-created distraction away from the Russia investigation, just as the inquiry moves closer to President Trump.
House Republicans are pressing for the memo’s public release and are joining a “#ReleaseTheMemo” campaign on social media that Democrats say is being promoted by the Russian government to discredit the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. The Democrats cited reports by the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy that researchers couldn’t recall the last time an issue had been promoted so much by Russian bots and trolls.
House Intelligence Committee members’ investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has been marred by infighting.
Last Thursday, committee Republicans voted to allow any House member to come into a secure room and read a memo prepared by Republican staff on behalf of Chairman Devin Nunes, RCalif. They were not allowed to copy or take the memo with them because it contained classified information.
Republican House members soon began putting out news releases citing what they described as the memo’s “shocking” revelations that threatened democracy itself — which they declined to disclose because revealing classified information is a federal crime.
“The facts contained in this memo are jaw-dropping and demand full transparency,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, RFla. “There is no higher priority than the release of this information to preserve our democracy.”
Gaetz later coordinated a letter signed by 65 House Republicans calling on Nunes to release the memo.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the conservative House Freedom Caucus, described the memo as “revealing alleged surveillance abuses in the U.S. government.”
“I’m here to tell all of America ... that I am shocked to read exactly what has taken place, Meadows said in a speech on the House floor last week. “I would think it would never happen in a country that loves freedom and democracy like this country.”
Although Meadows did not describe the “surveillance abuses,” Republican lawmakers and even the president have accused intelligence agencies of spying on Trump and his associates during the campaign and the transition period right before Trump took office. Trump even charged that former president Barack Obama wiretapped him at Trump Tower — an allegation that the Justice Department said last fall lacks any supporting evidence.
FBI and Department of Justice officials have complained that they have not been able to view the memo. Democrats say the document is a misleading attempt by Nunes and other Republicans to cast doubt on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, possible collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
Mueller, a former FBI director, was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May to conduct the investigation.
Mueller’s inquiry has resulted in guilty pleas by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign aide George Papadopoulos on charges of lying to the FBI. Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates, were charged in October with conspiracy, money laundering and acting as unregistered foreign agents. Both pleaded not guilty.
Mueller is now reportedly seeking to interview Trump.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a former prosecutor who is the Intelligence Committee’s senior Democrat, said Republicans are trying to distract from Mueller’s investigation.
The memo is “a profoundly misleading set of talking points drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI and its handling of the investigation,” Schiff said in a statement. “Rife with factual inaccuracies and referencing highly classified materials that most of Republican Intelligence Committee members were forced to acknowledge they had never read, this is meant only to give Republican House members a distorted view of the FBI. This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals.”
Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., wrote Tuesday to the CEOs of Twitter and Facebook asking them to examine whether Russian bots and trolls are pushing the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign online.
Republicans on the House committee appear to be moving closer to making their memo public. Schiff said Democrats on the committee have prepared their own memo and want it released if Republicans release theirs.
“This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.