Tag: secret memo

Nunes Memo Could Weaken FISA, Congressional Panels

The following article by Gopal Ratnam was posted on the Roll Call website February 2, 2018:

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has pushed releasing a committee-drafted memo despite reservations from the FBI and Justice Department. Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Releasing a four-page memo authored by aides to House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., alleging abuse of surveillance power by the FBI could ultimately weaken the process by which U.S. intelligence agencies seek secret court orders to conduct surveillance on foreigners, lawmakers and former intelligence professionals say.

Moreover, releasing the memo could erode the trust between the intelligence community and the congressional intelligence panels, these officials say.

President Donald Trump and his top White House aides are said to favor releasing the memo as early as Friday, without any changes, despite strong objections by the Justice Department and the FBI. Republicans in Congress, breaking with past practice, have said they would not allow a dissenting memo from the House Intelligence panel’s Democrats to be made public alongside the Nunes memo. Continue reading “Nunes Memo Could Weaken FISA, Congressional Panels”

Here’s what’s actually in the Justice Department memo that Republicans claim is so shocking

The following article by Melanie Schmitz was posted on the ThinkProgress website January 29, 2018:

The memo is reportedly filled with cherry-picked facts meant to paint the Justice Department in a nefarious light.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 03: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (C) leaves the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) January 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The contents of a secretive memo being circulated by Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill were finally made public on Sunday, after sources spoke with The New York Times and laid them out in detail. For the most part, the report appears to back what Democrats have contended: that the memo is comprised of “cherry-picked” facts meant to paint the Justice Department — which is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials — in a bad light.

The memo, which Republicans have called “shocking,” “troubling,” and “worse than Watergate,” reportedly focuses on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was appointed in April 2017. The Times report states that the memo shows Rosenstein “approved an application to extend surveillance” on former Trump campaign associate Carter Page, a subject in the ongoing Russia investigation, shortly after taking office. Continue reading “Here’s what’s actually in the Justice Department memo that Republicans claim is so shocking”

Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein

The following article by Nicolas Fandos, Adam Goldman and Sharon LaFraniere was posted on the New York Times website January 28, 2018:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein at a hearing in December. Mr. Rosenstein is said to have approved an application for surveillance of a former Trump associate. Credit Pete Marovich for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.

The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent. But the reference to Mr. Rosenstein’s actions in the memo — a much-disputed document that paints the investigation into Russian election meddling as tainted from the start — indicates that Republicans may be moving to seize on his role as they seek to undermine the inquiry. Continue reading “Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein”