Memo: FBI abused spy power
GOP says Trump aide targeted; top law officials, Democrats decry release
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Friday approved the release of a controversial memo alleging that the FBI and Department of Justice abused their surveillance authority to target Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016.
The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, who had staff write the memo, made it public within minutes.
The White House made no changes to the memo, spokesman Raj Shah said, and declassified the document “in full.” The president repeated his charges of bias by investigators after signing off on the memo’s release.
“I think it’s a disgrace,” Trump told reporters. “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves.”
Trump had tweeted earlier Friday that “the top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans.”
Democrats have denounced the memo as a blatant attempt by Trump and House Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The memo alleges that top law enforcement officials relied on an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele to get a warrant to conduct surveillance of Page, who had served on the campaign’s foreign policy advisory team.
The dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign to look into Trump’s ties to Russia; the Nunes memo alleges that the FBI knew of the partisan agenda behind the dossier but did not alert the surveillance court.
Democrats responded that the dossier was neither the only nor the critical piece of information the FBI used to get the warrant on Page.
Among the pieces of information not contained in the Nunes memo is that the FBI’s interest in Page and his possible ties to Russia dated to 2013 – three
years before the surveillance order described in the memo.
In the 2013 case, federal investigators were concerned that Page had been targeted by Russian intelligence agents for recruitment.
In a statement Friday, Page said: “The brave and assiduous oversight by congressional leaders in discovering this unprecedented abuse of process represents a giant, historic leap in the repair of American democracy.”
Among those who certified the application for the initial warrant and subsequent renewals were former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired last year; former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who just retired; and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s investigation.
Rosenstein is the only top official who hasn’t been fired or taken a new job.
Comey wrote on Twitter: “That’s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.”
Democratic leaders from the House and Senate sent a letter to Trump on Friday afternoon warning him not to use the partisan memo as a basis to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.
The release puts Trump at odds with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Rosenstein, who had urged the White House not to release it for fear that it could reveal classified information and jeopardize national security.
Democrats on the intelligence committee have complained that the memo cherry-picks information designed to discredit the investigation into Russia’s election interference and possible collusion with Trump associates.
Mueller’s probe is also looking into possible obstruction of justice by Trump in his efforts to limit the investigation.
Nunes has been a close ally of Trump and worked on the Trump transition after the election.
FBI agents defended the bureau after the memo’s release.
“The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution,” said Tom O’Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association.
“FBI special agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission.”